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The wind on the roof of the Axis Tower was just as violent as it had been thirty days ago. It whipped Elian's hair into his eyes, stinging and cold, but he didn't blink. He didn't want to miss the last few seconds.
Elian stood on the ledge. He wasn't shaking this time. He wasn't crying. He was wearing his favourite black hoodie and the ridiculous "I SURVIVED THE FIRE DEMON" t-shirt underneath, armour for his final battle.
He checked his watch. 11:55 PM.
"Five minutes," Elian whispered. The words were snatched away by the wind.
Lyra sat on the concrete parapet next to him, swinging her legs over the forty-story drop. She wasn't looking at him. She was looking at the moon, her profile glowing faintly against the dark sky. She looked solid tonight, almost real enough to touch.
"Five minutes," she echoed. Her voice was quiet, lacking its usual mischief.
"Does it hurt?" Elian asked.
Lyra paused. She traced a crack in the concrete with her finger. "I don't know," she lied. "I don't remember."
Elian took a deep breath. He looked out at the city, the gold, white, and red lights blinking like a motherboard. It looked different now. It didn't look like a cold machine or a graveyard. It looked like a place where he had eaten cake until he was sick. It looked like a place where he had danced until his legs gave out. It looked like a home.
"I'm going to miss it," Elian whispered, his throat tightening. "The coffee. The noise. Even the stupidity of it all."
"Good," Lyra said softly, turning to look at him. Her eyes were shimmering. "That means you finally used it."
11:58 PM.
The silence stretched. It was heavy and thick. Elian turned to her. He wanted to say so much. He wanted to thank her for the bungee jump. For the bullying incident. For sitting on his bed when he couldn't sleep. But the words felt too small.
"Stay with me?" Elian asked, his voice cracking. "Just until the end?"
"I'm right here," Lyra promised. She moved her hand so it hovered just over his. "I'm not looking away."
11:59 PM.
The final minute. Elian closed his eyes. He braced himself. He waited for the sharp pain in his chest. He waited for the slip of his foot. He waited for the "accident" she had promised.
Tick. Tick. Tick.
"Thank you," he said into the darkness. "For finding me."
"You're welcome, Dead Boy."
00:00 AM.
Elian held his breath. He squeezed his eyes shut tighter. He counted. One... Two... Three...
He waited for the darkness to take him. He waited for his soul to rip loose.
Four... Five...
The wind kept blowing. A car honked somewhere far below. His heart kept beating, thump-thump, thump-thump, strong, steady, and very much alive.
Elian frowned. He kept his eyes closed. Maybe it was delayed? 00:01 AM.
He opened one eye. The city was still there. The moon was still there. He patted his chest. Solid. Warm. Breathing. He wiggled his fingers. Alive.
"I'm..." Elian looked at his hands. "I'm still here."
He turned to Lyra, panic rising in his chest. "Why am I still here? Did you miss the timing? Is the clock wrong?"
Lyra was grinning. A wide, mischievous grin that reminded him of the noodle shop, but her eyes were wet. "Oops, Maybe I miscalculated?" she said.
"Oops?" Elian shouted, stepping back from the ledge. "You're a Reaper! You don't say 'Oops'! You don't make math mistakes! Did you forget to file the paperwork? Is there a glitch?"
"Nope," Lyra hopped off the ledge, landing lightly on the roof. She dusted off her coat. "I filed it perfectly. The paperwork says Elian lives to be eighty-two. He dies of old age in a warm bed surrounded by grandkids who find him annoying."
Elian stared at her. The world tilted. "But... you said 30 days. You showed me the book. You said I was dying."
"I lied," Lyra shrugged.
"What?"
"There was no deadline. No accident," she said, stepping closer to him. "I just told you that so you'd finally get off your butt and live."
Elian stood frozen. The shock washed over him, hot and fast. Then came the anger, a confused, sputtering anger.
"You lied to me?! For a whole month?!" Elian yelled, throwing his hands up. "I said goodbye to my parents! It was so awkward! I spent all my money! I jumped off a bridge! I ate a dancing chicken suit!"
"And wasn't it fun?" Lyra countered, her voice rising. "Didn't you finally say the things you wanted to say? Didn't you finally stop hiding in your room like a ghost?"
"I thought I was dying!"
"You were dying!" Lyra shouted back. She poked him hard in the chest, or tried to, her finger passing through his hoodie. "You were dying of boredom! You were dying of fear! You were dead long before you climbed this roof, Elian. I just gave you a reason to wake up!"
Elian opened his mouth to yell again, but the anger evaporated as quickly as it had come. He looked at her. Really looked at her. She hadn't killed him. She had tricked him into saving himself.
"You scammed me," Elian whispered, a laugh bubbling up in his chest. "You literally scammed me into liking my life."
"I'm a very good con artist," she winked, but a tear slipped down her cheek.
Elian stopped laughing. He looked at her, seeing the sadness behind the smile. "But... why?" Elian asked, his voice cracking. "There are millions of people. Why did you save me?"
Lyra looked at the concrete ledge. She traced the rough edge where they first met. "Because you didn't look scary," she whispered. "You just looked... tired."
She looked up at him, her eyes raw.
"You looked exactly like I did the night I jumped. And I realized... if someone had just sat with me... if someone had just stayed... maybe I wouldn't be wearing this coat."
Elian swallowed hard. She hadn't saved him because he was special. She saved him because she was trying to save herself.
"But the rules..." Elian stepped closer. "You said you can't stay. How were you here for thirty days?"
Lyra gave a sad, small shrug. "Remember I told you I had a holiday coming up? That I wanted to go to Paris?"
"Yeah."
"I didn't go to Paris," Lyra said softly. "I used my days here. On this roof. With you."
Elian stared at her. The realization hit him like a physical blow. Reapers didn't get days off. She had earned a few precious days of freedom, her only chance to see the world, and she had spent every single second of it watching him eat cake and sleep.
"You wasted your freedom on me?" Elian whispered.
"Best vacation I ever had," she smiled.
"But now..."
"Now my leave is up," Lyra said, her voice tightening. "I have to clock back in. I have to go back to work. If I stay any longer, the Boss will come for me. And he isn't as nice as I am."
"Wait." Elian stepped forward, panic seizing his chest. "You can't just fix me and leave! That's not fair!"
"Elian, stop."
"I'm not letting you go!" Elian tried to grab her hand, but his fingers passed through her wrist like smoke. The cold went straight to his bone.
Lyra stopped fading for a second. The playful mask dropped completely. She looked tired. She looked ancient. She looked at the edge of the roof, the exact spot where Elian had stood thirty days ago.
"I can't stay, Elian," she whispered. "It hurts too much."
"Hurts?"
"To watch," she said. Her voice broke. "Do you know what it's like? To be dead, and watch you feel the wind? To watch you hug your mother? I want that. I want to be alive. But I can't. I'm just watching through the glass."
She walked to the edge. She placed her transparent hand on the concrete.
"I wasn't a born Reaper, Elian," she said softly. "I was early too, once. I stood on a ledge just like this one. I was sixteen. I thought jumping would be peaceful."
She turned back to him. Her eyes were swimming with tears.
"It's not peaceful, Elian. It's detention."
Elian felt a cold chill. The realization shattered him. "You..."
"The ones who quit early..." Lyra said, her voice trembling. "We don't get to leave. We have to stay. We have to watch everyone else live the life we threw away. That's the punishment."
She smiled, but it was the saddest thing Elian had ever seen.
"I lied to you because I couldn't watch you do it," she whispered. "I didn't want you to end up like me. Stuck. Watching. Never touching."
She looked at him with such intense longing that Elian's heart broke.
"So don't you dare come back here early," Lyra said, pointing a shaking finger at him. "If I see you before you're eighty-two... if I see you trying to quit again... I will kick your ghost so hard."
"Lyra!" Elian shouted, tears streaming down his face. "I don't care! I want you! I'll find a way- "
"Live, coward," she whispered. "Live for both of us. Eat the cake for me. See Paris for me."
She stepped back. The wind caught her coat. She began to dissolve, into mist, into starlight, into nothing.
"LYRA!"
Elian lunged. He grabbed at the air where she stood. He fell through the mist. He hit the concrete of the roof, his arms wrapping around nothing but cold air.
"Don't go..." he sobbed into the empty rooftop. "Please don't go."
There was no answer. Just the wind. Just the city lights below, burning bright and alive.
Elian stayed there for a long time. He stayed until the moon went down. He stayed until the sky turned grey, then pink, then gold. The sun hit his face. It was warm. He hated the warmth. He wanted the cold touch of her hand.
But then, he remembered. Live for both of us.
Elian wiped his face with his sleeve. He stood up. His legs were shaky, but he stood. He walked to the ledge one last time. He looked down at the drop that had almost taken him. Then he looked up at the empty blue sky where she had vanished.
"Okay," Elian whispered to the empty air. "Eighty-two."
He touched his chest, feeling his heart beating, a drum that she had restarted.
"I promise."
He turned his back on the edge. He walked to the heavy steel door. He opened it and walked down the stairs. He had a long life to live. And he had a lot of stories to collect for her when they finally met again.
THE END...