Can’t Win Me Back

Jasper felt a pain unlike any he had ever known.

It wasn't a physical agony like having flesh torn away, but a slow, excruciating torture akin to being slowly sliced by a blunt blade.

It was a hundred times worse than dying instantly.

His mind raced through a chaotic sequence of images, like a black- and-white movie playing backward.

He saw people retreating and leaving —Javier, Anne, Newton, Landon, Lauren, Jonah, Axel...

He reached out desperately, trying to grasp any of them, but they were slipping away, one by one.

Finally, the image settled on Alyssa's radiant face.

"Lyse...

Don't go..." Tears streaming down his face, he lunged forward, wrapping his arms around her.

But she dissolved into golden dust, vanishing into the frigid air.

"No! iy A beep sounded in his ear as if everything had been reset.

and

there was just

staring at the

he was dead, but deep down, he

heard footsteps approaching from

to see Remy emerging

his face, Remy

even a glance at

leaving you

sure you have no objections,

motionless,

dressed, he looked like a man who had been thoroughly used

been drained of all his worth—now thrown away

opening in the statue of

laughing

your life has

reincarnation exists..." Before he could finish, the deafening roar

casting its shadow

crash, and with that, the

shards rained down, cutting Jameson's neck, cheeks, and