The Unwritten Ending

I've been running for hours, the shadows of the shadows of the city twisting around me, flickering in rhythm with panic clawing at my lungs, drying my throat, I don't know where to go - only that I have to keep moving, that I can't let him catch me. So I ran searching for places where I could hide even if for a while.

I knew I can't stay in nearby cities cause they're more or less like his turf, just one word and people will help him to track down a strange looking girl.

As I came to my senses, I realized not only I had to get away, but also had to change my appearance. I was glad we hadn't exchanged names. Still, I wouldn't use my real one here—it was too dangerous. The real problem, however, was money. The monetary system here was different. They used magical artifacts as currency too. Since I had neither money nor artifacts, I could only rely on the silent knowledge only a creator holds—even when forgotten. I could mend things, and maybe someone would pay for that.

Well since these magical artefacts were created after a lot of efforts and research so I can easily detect if anything was wrong with them, so with this in mind I visited several shops. A teahouse where I fixed a peculiar glass used for serving guests, it's striking feature was that it would change the temperature of the contents in it just as the customer touches it, as I touched it, it shimmered, not from heat but from memory, it knew me.

A bookstore, where I was handed a sealed book—one that refused to open. It was the key to the 12th case I once wrote. But when the story started turning too dark, I locked it away. That case was never meant to unfold. Had it continued, Jiang Xi would have become something even readers couldn't stomach. I destroyed all evidence of it, leaving only this book. I had changed its contents, but the book itself was beautiful and irresistible. So I chose to seal.

I took the book, clicked some hidden locks only I knew existed and the book flipped, like it was flipping its wings, like it became alive, the owner was really delighted by the sight and gave me handful of money which could last me for few weeks, next I fixed some locks from a locksmith, these locks rusty and cold, started clicking again under my touch and I was rewarded again, and I realized that people were gazing at me too much, some curious, some exited so I left that area after buying some normal clothes that blended into this world better and left.

I lost track of time and took out my phone, which showed no signal nothing. I checked for any new chapters but there wasn't one so I felt relieved, but my phone battery was nearing its end I don't know how long I can keep track of these chapter, they were like my demise and my lifeline at the same time, cause this way I could avoid meeting jiang xi by coincidence.

I took a Stagecoach which was rather slow and bumpy than our modern buses and trains but this world didn't had them yet. I reached on the outskirts of an abandoned city, which was perfect for me, this place was neglected by me in the work I just casually wrote a line about this city and that's it, so naturally there were less people and and chances of him coming here was really thin. Well it was a site which was about to be his case site but I changed the location so he briefly stopped here and apart from that brief stop he never came here, so it was perfect spot for me to hide and think of ways to get away from here.

Meanwhile in the real world -

Sierra came back from her trip and went to rhea's house, when she saw that the door was open and nobody was there, she panicked she called her few times before going to police and giving them account of what happened and her friend was gone, wasn't picking up her calls and probably was kidnapped or might be in a difficult situation.

She snapped at the officer who told her to calm down saying -" Officer, do you hear yourself?, my friend is missing ! its been two days and I've already called her dozens of times, I've asked her family and relatives but nobody knows where she is, the last time she spoke to me she was scared... Please if you don't find her soon , then I'm afraid something might happen to her, please officer I beg you!!! "

She pleaded with all her might and the officer said -" We understand your concern miss, but you need to give us some time in these kinda cases. I've already contacted several hospitals but there's been no new patients with the same name, and our teams will be shortly reviewing on all the camera footages of nearby locations, so I must suggest you keep calm, if your friend is not injured and indeed kidnapped we'll try our best to track her as soon as possible "

With that sierra went to several places where rhea frequented, cafes, restaurants, also her favorite dessert shops, clothing stores, she asked people showing her image asking about whether they have seen a girl like that, but nobody seemed to recognize her. But she didn't stopped and searched intently as she was really worried about her friend, part of this was because she was concerned about her but some part was because she felt guilt, towards her bestfriend, thinking that she might've pushed her too far on edge that she disappeared like this. But what that guilt was not known by anyone but sierra herself....

And in the bookstore-:

Jiang xi haven't slept a wink all night and it was middle of the day right now, only when the sun glared through the window glasses that he came back to his senses, he was sitting on his usual chair where he enjoyed his coffee with the cold mug still by his side.

He remembered all the incidents that happened last night, about how a strange girl came to his store, wearing strange looking clothes, read books like she knew them personally and also how she opened the block which could only be opened by him.

As he was thinking he remember the look on her face, she was only stunned at first when she entered the store but the moment he grabbed her hand, she was terrified, like she had seen a ghost, stuttering and making white lies, she also seemed to know which books to throw at him, 'did she specifically choose those books or it was a mere coincidence born from terror' he thought. But if by any chance she knew about these books, their function and speciality then she's no normal girl, she might be a spy, because he already had many enemies to begin with, so encountering a spy every now and then was no big deal for him. But the way she talked, behaved and the way she roamed around this place was not how any spy would do. No spy would look at books like they were their child, and hold them with care, no spy would be amazed at the sight of a mere bookstore like this, cause to ordinary people it was an ordinary bookstore.

But it looked like she had some special vision for everything. By now he was sure of one thing that he has to catch this girl. She had caught his attention now and he'll be giving it to her.

So with her in his mind he set out asking people about if they had seen some strange girl with strange clothes, he remembered that even when she was looking like a homeless person, she still looked good, like she would still catch everyone's attention the moment she walks by them. With his one word, the people around the city who admired him like a hero came to him one by one and said everything strange they saw this morning, the locksmith said- "oh yes, a girl came she fixed these locks in no time, like she had magic hands, she said she needed money and looked quite strange on first look, it was like she was a runaway from a prison or something".

Jiang xi knew it had to be her so he asked about whether she said anything else about where she's going or where she's from on that the locksmith replied-" She said she was from West and was going back "

Some more people who were present in the crowd and had seen her and chimed in telling him about how she fixed everything, how she talked nicely with everyone. One elder lady said" Young man, even if you fight with your lady, you shouldn't anger her this much that she ran away from you"

He was dumbfounded by how this elder came to a conclusion that they were lovers, he didn't even knew her name,and now he most likely detest her too. He asked around a few more places before going back to his book store to calm his mind. But as he came he went to his room which was just inside the bookstore's back.

A small compartment where he lived, he was sat in his chair dazed, looking up the ceiling when his eyes darted over a foreign wornout booklet, this booklet was shoved inside a brick and looked quite old. Upon inspection he found out that it was a diary.

He flipped the pages, the ink faded at the edges—but the words… they were too clear. Too intentional.

His eyes scanned each line with slow precision, but the more he read, the more still he became. His hand, once resting flat on the page, curled slowly into a fist.

His breath hitched once. Just once.

He leaned back slightly, jaw tightening, the muscle in his cheek twitching as if holding something back. Confusion. Anger. Or perhaps something older. Something raw.

His eyes flicked to the edge of the page, then to the next—and he turned it, slower this time. Not like someone reading a book.

Like someone uncovering evidence.

The room seemed darker, even though nothing had changed. The lantern above him swayed gently, casting uneven light across his face.

And then he stopped reading.

He closed the book—not all at once, but with a deliberate softness, as if it might shatter. His fingers lingered on the leather cover. His gaze unfocused.

He whispered something under his breath.

Just one word.

Not loud enough to be heard.

But heavy enough to fall like a sentence....