The wind brushed against Elijah's face, carrying the faint scent of flowers that never wilted. Below him, the city stretched endlessly, lights frozen in a permanent twilight glow.
All of a sudden, everything stilled. The darkness blanketed the sky as if it had devoured the sun for eternity.
No traffic sounds. No distant sirens. Just stillness.
Too still.
"Elijah."
Alexei was on his feet in an instant.
Before panic could fully seize him, Elijah stopped at the railing. He rested his hands on the cool metal and exhaled, shoulders slumping as if he had finally made a decision he'd been circling for far too long.
"I like it when I am with you," he said quietly. "But I like it more when it is real."
Alexei froze a few steps behind him, breath shallow.
"Don't stand there," he snapped, fear sharpening his voice despite his effort to rein it in. "Come back. I promise I'll make everything real. You want these flowers to wilt, right? There,"
