Chapter 306: Another Death Is Coming

The old woman didn’t speak right away. Her gaze stayed on the stone in my hand, heavy and unreadable, like she was weighing it.My throat tightened. I couldn’t afford her silence.

Without thinking, I dropped to my knees. "Please, malam... if you know anything, tell me. This isn’t just about me. It could mean everything to someone I love."

Her eyes lifted to mine. Calm, but sharp enough to cut. "The man who came with you before... he isn’t here this time?"

Riley knelt beside me so fast her knee hit the floor with a thud. "No, he’s not here," she said quickly, waving her hands like she could calm the air itself. "He’s far away. If you want me to bow too, I will. Just tell my sister what she needs to know."

"Both of you," the old woman said firmly, "get up."

Her voice wasn’t cruel. It was final. The kind of tone that made my instincts obey before my mind even caught up.

Riley and I stood, then sat cross-legged on the floor the way she did, like we were guests in a place that had its own rules.

The old woman’s fingers rested on her ocarina, slow and steady.

"After you left last time," she began, "that man came back to see me."

A cold shiver crawled up my spine.

Of course Lewis would handle things his own way. If he sensed a threat, he would eliminate it. Quietly. Completely.

"What did he say?" I asked, forcing my voice to stay level.

She rubbed the smooth surface of the instrument as if it helped her remember. "He gave me money. Told me to leave this place."

My hands curled into fists in my lap.

He was scared I’d learn the truth.

And if he thought she could expose him, he wouldn’t let it go.

Lewis’s softness belonged to me. Everyone else met the other side of him the Alpha side. The side that didn’t ask twice.

"I left," the old woman continued, still calm, "but I knew you would come."

Her words hit like thunder.

Riley and I stared at her, stunned.

"You knew?" Riley blurted. "How? That makes no sense."

The old woman’s smile deepened a little, and the wrinkles around her eyes softened her face. For a second, she looked almost... familiar. Like a memory I couldn’t hold onto.

She ignored Riley’s question completely and looked at me instead.

"What do you want to ask me?"

I took a shaky breath. "Last time, I thought I understood what this was. But now... I’m not sure. Maybe I was wrong. Maybe someone lied to me."

My fingers tightened around the stone.

"You know it," I went on, words spilling faster. "Please tell me the truth. What is it? What does it do? Is there a second one? And what did you mean by what you said before?"

She set the ocarina down carefully and reached out for the stone. Her hands were old, worn by time, but gentle. She traced the surface again and again like she was reading something written under the skin of it.

"This," she said at last, "is the Stone of Duality."

My stomach dropped.

"You were right," she continued. "There is another piece. The black one holds the negative pull. The one you carry holds the positive pull."

Riley’s eyes widened. "Elena... how did you even figure that out?"

I barely heard her.

My focus was locked on the old woman. "What does it do?"

She looked straight at me. Her gaze didn’t waver.

"It changes fate."

The words didn’t sound dramatic. They sounded simple. Like a fact of nature.

"Whoever holds the Stone of Duality can overturn what was written," she said quietly. "If you live well, another shares your blessings. If your life ends early... their fate follows yours. Neither side walks away clean."

My chest felt tight, like the air had turned thick.

Riley leaned forward, refusing to accept it. "But how could he know she was going to die? How could he plan for that?"

The old woman’s expression didn’t change. "Life and death are already written. No one gets something for nothing."

The room went silent.

Something in her presence felt larger now. Like she was standing on a higher step than us in a staircase we couldn’t see.

I grabbed her hand before I could stop myself. "Please. Tell me more. How does it work? What has to happen? Is it too late to change anything?"

She didn’t pull away. She simply watched me.

"Are you sure you want to change it?" she asked. "If you do, you may die again. He brought you this stone to take your place. To trade his life for yours."

Riley’s anger exploded. "Why does Elena have to die again? The ones who deserve it are those monsters, not her!" She turned to the old woman, voice shaking. "There has to be another way. Take my life instead. Nobody depends on me "

"Riley!" I snapped, shock and fear slicing through my tone. "Don’t say that!"

The old woman sighed, like she was tired of hearing brave words from girls who didn’t understand the cost.

"Follow me," she said.

Riley and I exchanged a look. I squeezed her arm, steadying her.

"Don’t do anything reckless," I whispered. "If she stayed here waiting for us, there’s still a chance we can fix this."

Riley forced a small smile. "Maybe she’s like... a guide. Someone who actually knows what she’s doing."

Her optimism barely touched me.

If Lewis Lewis could only find a life-for-life solution, what hope did anyone else have?

He wouldn’t do this unless he was out of options.

Still... I had to hold on. Even a thin thread of hope was something.

The old woman led us outside.

In the yard stood a cherry blossom tree, its branches full of delicate blooms. The air smelled clean and soft, and the wind chimes hanging from the branches sang gently as the breeze moved through them.

Beside the tree was an old stone well, its rim worn smooth, like too many hands had held it over too many years.

The old woman turned to me.

"Elena," she said calmly, "do you believe in past lives?"

My blood turned cold.

I hadn’t told her my name. Not once.

My mouth went dry. "I didn’t," I admitted, voice unsteady. "But now... I do."

"Then it’s time to face what’s waiting for you."

She unhooked one wind chime from a low branch and placed it in my palms.

"Drop this into the well."

The chime felt light, almost nothing. But my hands trembled like it weighed a ton. I held it over the dark mouth of the well, breathed in once, then let go.

It vanished.

The water below rippled.

Then it shifted.

The surface turned strange, like a mirror waking up. Like it was opening.

The air grew heavy. Electric.

Riley stood beside me, blinking like nothing was happening.

But I saw it.

Not in pictures. Not in dreams.

I saw a past that clung to my bones like it had always been there. I saw why the bond between Lewis and me felt older than this lifetime. Why his devotion didn’t feel learned it felt inherited.

Love like that doesn’t come from nowhere.

Bonds don’t form by accident.

They are forged across lifetimes.

He owed me something so deep he chose to repay it with the only thing he had left to give.

His life.

Riley grabbed my arm. "What did you see? I didn’t see anything!"

Tears spilled before I could stop them. I dropped to my knees again and clutched the old woman’s sleeve.

"You know who I am," I choked out. "You know my past. Please... tell me what I need to do."

Her gaze stayed steady.

"The Stone of Duality works over eighty-one days," she said. "How long have you kept it close?"

I swallowed, counting quickly. "A little over two months. Maybe... seven days left."

"Then destroy it," she said.

My breath caught.

"That will sever the bond," she continued, voice calm and cruel in its honesty. "But understand this without him taking your place, you may die again. This life you’re living isn’t yours. He gave it to you."

I shook, the words punching through me one by one.

"You were meant to die," she finished. "No matter what, that fate has not changed."

Riley’s face flushed with rage. "And the people who killed Elena? They get to live like nothing happened?"

The old woman shook her head. "No one escapes what’s written. Justice comes. Even if it’s slow."

Riley’s voice cracked, fear finally slipping through her anger. "What about me? I was dead too. How am I still here? Will I die again?"

The old woman looked at Riley with a firm, unyielding stare.

"This is her fate," she said. "And it’s yours, too."

Everything inside me went cold.

We were both living on borrowed time.

Even if we stole moments, life wasn’t ours to keep.

Riley’s voice dropped to a whisper, trembling. "How long do I have?"