Chapter 14: The Last Stand
The aftermath was quiet. The spirits had faded, the darkness had retreated, but Elena felt a hollow emptiness inside. She had won, but at what price? The power inside her had been sealed, for now, but the cost was a permanent scar on her soul.
"Elena, you did it," Eligh said softly, his hands on her shoulders, his voice full of relief. "You stopped them."
But Elena didn't feel like a hero. She didn't feel like anything at all. The darkness still lingered, like an old wound that would never fully heal.
"I don't know if I'm ever going to be free of it," she whispered. "The shadows are always going to be inside me. I can feel them, even now."
Eligh cupped her face, making her meet his eyes. "You're still you, Elena. You always will be."
She closed her eyes, leaning into his touch, but a small part of her knew that things would never be the same again. The shadows had left their mark.
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Gateway of shadows
FantasyGateway of Shadows Love never dies. But some spirits don't rest. Elena Gilbert thought she left the supernatural behind-until the ghosts started following her. With the veil between life and death broken, Elena becomes a living gateway to the other...
