CHAPTER 7 — The Author Behind Every Nightmare
The words appeared one by one across the diary's blank page.
Not written by ink.
Written by an invisible hand.
Emma watched in horror as the sentence slowly formed.
"At exactly midnight... Emma will finally meet the Author."
The house began to shake.
Pictures crashed from the walls.
The old woman—Emma's future self—grabbed her arm.
"We're out of time."
"There has to be a way to end this!" Emma shouted.
"There is."
The older Emma pointed toward the deepest corner of the basement.
A brick wall slowly split apart, revealing a hidden chamber neither of them had noticed before.
Inside stood an enormous library.
Thousands of leather-bound diaries filled shelves that disappeared into darkness.
Every spine carried the same title.
THE LIFE OF EMMA CARTER
Some books were thin.
Others were thousands of pages long.
The oldest Emma walked to the center of the room where a single desk faced the shelves.
An antique typewriter rested on top.
The keys were moving by themselves.
Click...
Click...
Click...
Every word being typed instantly appeared inside Emma's diary.
Someone was writing her life...
As she was living it.
Then the typing stopped.
A fresh sheet of paper slid from the machine.
Emma picked it up.
Her knees nearly gave out.
It wasn't the next chapter.
It was tomorrow's newspaper.
INVESTIGATIVE JOURNALIST EMMA CARTER FOUND DEAD INSIDE ABANDONED FARMHOUSE.
Cause of death:
Unknown.
At the bottom of the page was a handwritten message.
"The ending only changes when the writer dies."
A cold laugh echoed through the library.
Not from behind them.
May you like
Not above them.
From inside every single diary.
