When You're Gone (Colette)

James finally left the hospital after Colette discharged herself. He reluctantly accepted her payment for the hospital fees, though he had initially refused.

It was only after Colette's biting words that he gave in.

"James, please don't force yourself," she said coldly. "You don't come from a well- off family, do you? I can afford the fees. I'd feel guilty if you had to work part-time just to pay for my hospital bills."

Flustered, he lowered his head.

Lately, his dreams had been full of visions of himself as someone else—James Zeller of the Zeller Group, a successful entrepreneur capable of thriving even if he lost everything.

But James Zeller was a far cry from James Vanderbilt, a penniless student who hadn't even graduated yet.

Demoralized, he lay on his bed in the dorm, unable to understand how everything had gone wrong just when he thought things were starting to improve.

Suddenly, a noise outside his dorm room caught his attention. He checked the time-it was after class.

Students walked in groups past the dorm, their chatter and youthful exuberance a stark contrast to the emptiness and bleakness of the dorm room.

The door to James' room flung open without warning. Light flooded in, and illuminated the space except for a corner of the room.

James' roommates barged in, talking amongst themselves. None of them noticed him lying on the bed.

As night fell, they turned on the lights. Noticing his absence, one of the guys muttered, "I thought James was the most serious of us all. He skipped all his classes today and was out late."

Another laughed. "Did you know he's been knitting a scarf? Finished it two days ago. I bet he was out on a date."

"With whom? Was it the girl from the student union?"

"Yup. That's the one."

...

James, the subject of the gossip, simply rolled over in bed with a frown, his eyes shut as if he were asleep.

His movements caught the attention of his roommates. Startled, they fell silent, quickly realizing he was merely sleeping.

They exchanged glances, on the verge of saying something, but ultimately kept quiet and shook their heads.

James didn't hear their

conversation. In the quiet of his dreams, be found himself

encountering two familiar figures. This time, he saw their faces clearly and was taken aback to realize it was himself and Colette.

He watched from a third-person perspective as James Zeller and Colette Anderson moved toward their tragic fate. He longed to intervene to speak to James Zeller.

Perhaps it was because of his

strong will that he somehow found himself inside James' body, able to control it. He answered Colette's call on the day of the house robbery, pushed Sophie Egan away, and did everything he could to make things right with Colette.

Finally, he managed to get Colette to accept him again.

To his despair, on the seventh day, he witnessed Colette die before his eyes, vanishing into thin air. In her last moments, she lay in his

and gently caressed his cheeton

"Uncle James, I never regretted fatting in love with you. But James Vanderbilt, I've fallen out of love with you."

His dreams crumbled away, plunging him into a dark abyss. He stumbled forward

in the darkness, feeling his memories fading rapidly.

Lost in a void of confusion, he couldn't grasp where he was, why he was there, or even who he was anymore.

He carried a vacant look. Suddenly, a massive and monstrous face appeared before him.noveldrama

He blurted out, "Who are you? Who am I? Why am I here?"

The face's voice was cold and unyielding. "The answers you seek aren't yours to know. What matters is that you failed to honor our deal. Now, I'm here to claim the time you've left."

The next morning, James Vanderbilt's roommates discovered his lifeless body when they tried to wake him up for class. The news spread quickly, reaching Colette, and she fell into a long, stunned silence.

Finally, a soft laugh escaped her lips.

"James Zeller," she thought. "What was it all for? I never wanted you to come back."