(Future) Cover of ETBHN ⬆️

If the title of this chapter didn't already tell you, this is not a new chapter. (I'm sorry). It's an author's note.

I talked about this in a Wattpad status a month or so ago, but there's been almost no mention of it since:

Basically, there's some stuff coming up in this book that references the HEAVY edits I've made to The Black-Hearted Ninja. I've published none of the new and improved version, which is much better than the original (cleaner, better writing, clearer plot, more character depth, etc.). I realized while I was writing some previous chapters of this book (Reversal) that I was talking about stuff that only I know about, and that's a little awkward :/ . It isn't fair for me to dump a bunch of character baggage on my readers without giving them proper background as to why it's *suddenly and unexpectedly* there.

Edited TBHN will now be known as ETBHN.

It's not like you can't read Reversal without reading ETBHN. But I highly suggest you do read it. When I actually publish it. (I can't force you to. I just suggest it, because then nothing will be confusing in Reversal, like my multi-book carryover metaphors :)

Since I'm not done editing, I decided to put this book (Reversal) on official pause for a few weeks until I get all my stuff together. I'll start writing again, much more consistently, once I've published the fully edited ETBHN and given a few days so that anyone who wants to read it can.

And if you're reading this after I've restarted the book (new readers, welcome!), know that this is the point where you might want to go and read ETBHN, just to know what the canon is for the story.

I have nothing to give you at the moment except for this never-seen-before excerpt from ETBHN that I've been working on for a while (it's Cole's NEW death! That's the catalyst for the rest of the story! Yay!)

(I guess it has Cole x Nya. I guess I should put that as a warning on the book, because of shipping wars or WHATEVER. It has Jaya TOO. And ETBHN might have some bruise as well... Don't hate me!)

(In this book he doesn't die from the crying pillow. It's a water gun (a special water gun) while they're in battle. Nya can't save him, Jay was supposed to be watching his back, it's complicated. MORE DRAMA 😈)

N y a

It's strange, how time works when someone dies. Like it's trying to make up for the life being taken away. Giving the dying person a few more fleeting seconds to live.

Time stretches, and everything is suddenly quiet. I only see Cole, who stumbles back as if punched by an invisible source.

My hand goes limp. My dagger falls, hitting the dirt with a dull thud.

Cole falls as well.

He doesn't make a noise. But I feel his impact in my chest.

There are people in my way but I push through them, and their voices are hushed and I want to shriek at them, help him. I can't seem to make the words.

It's getting dark but Cole doesn't glow. I trip over my own feet to drop next to him, landing on my knees.

"Cole, stop it." I say.

"Stop what?" He sounds so weak. Weak, vulnerable... something I'm not used to seeing on him, and it's catching me off guard. His voice is clearer than anyone else's but still very far away.

"Stop dying!" I can't tell at what volume my voice is actually pitched; all I know is it's shrill. I'm telling him what to do but obviously he isn't listening.

"I can't just...stop dying." Cole takes a desperate breath. He's fading, growing grayer by the second. "That's not really how it works, Nya..."

He smiles, one of those sad almost-smiles that drive me insane. It's not even an almost-smile. Almost means just a little more and you'll be there. But Cole's far off the mark. His mouth can barely shape the curve, and I swim in the pain of his eyes.

"Stop!" I say again. I tell Cole to stop a lot of things; I shouldn't be so harsh. Most of the things I bother him about are small, and I don't actually mean them. But I mean this more than I've ever meant anything else, this plea, stop dying.

And I'm trying to touch him, to find something to hold onto, because maybe if I hang on tight enough he won't slip away. But I pass through Cole every time I reach for him, his body growing more and more like mist. It's hopeless, and the reality is crashing into me now, shattering me, for I am a piece of glass- Cole is going to die.

There is nothing I can do to stop it. I am helpless; I have failed. Cole is going to die.

"If you die I'll kill you!" I say. Cole is so damn frustrating. He isn't even trying to live. Do something, I want to tell him. Do something about this, Cole Brookstone, or I swear you will regret it. I swear on my life, my power, I swear on every bit of my pride.

My hands pass through him again, feeling nothing but that damp chill which gets damper and chillier as the shadows descend upon us.

"That would be kinda...counterproductive, don't you think?" Cole manages to say, giving a dry cough. "Killing me because I'm dead?" A dark substance is seeping from the hole that goes clean through him; blood, I think. It isn't very red and it's cold when it soaks through the fabric of my GI.

He's out of time. Give him more time.

Please, I can't ask for anything but this. Don't let him die. Don't die. Stop dying. Stop it. Stay here.

I feel stone-cold fingers brush my own and look to see he's taken my hand.

"I have to save you." I hold onto Cole's rough palm tight, squeezing. There's already no pulse in his wrist, but it seems even more gone. "I have to keep you alive-"

"Don't." Cole cuts me off. The strain makes his tone grow thin, and he sounds like an echo. "This is how it's supposed to be. I knew I was going to die, Nya, I always knew..."

Everything about Cole has faded to black-and-white, the tone of his skin an ashen grey. Only his eyes have retained their color- the same color as the rich soil beneath him, under a blanket of dead leaves.

I cling to Cole's hand, feeling his story through the callouses on his palm, the muscles underneath his skin, the surprisingly delicate tips of his fingers.

"Stop dying..."

Every tear that falls from my eyes only hurts him more. The water hisses when it touches Cole's skin.

"Nya," He says. "I can't."

"Yes, you can!" I shout. "You can do anything! Cole, you can do so much... A ninja never quits!"

I'm angry, I realize. Furious. I want Cole to feel how I burn through our connected hands. Feel my rage. Feel the way I boil hotter every second you mist, you, you... Boulder Brain, you idiot, infuriating little... The pot's boiling over. I'll scream at you, do you want that? I'll do it. I swear, I swear I will.

Stop dying.

"Nya, let go." Cole was the one who gave me his hand and now he's telling me to let go of it? He gives me such mixed messages... You're so annoying. Stop it. No.

"No." I won't. I can't. I hate you. "We all need you."

"You have to let go."

I'm shaking my head. "No...I won't..." I hate you, Cole, I hate you so much.

"Let go."

"I need you." I hate you. I need you.

The realization is sudden. But true, I need you, Cole.

Cole's eyes are heavier every second. He's nearly smoke now.

"Let...me...go..." He breathes.

"Cole..."

I hate you.

My voice breaks. My heart breaks.

He reaches up, tucks a stray strand of hair behind my ear.

"I always wondered what it would be like to die..." Cole whispers. "I didn't think it would be like this. It's coming... you know it is. Don't follow me..."

"What do you mean?" I manage to say. His hand hasn't moved from my cheek; he'll keep it there until he dies. "Cole, you aren't making sense!"

"Nothing... makes sense... anymore..."

"Stop dying... Cole..."

"Nya," Cole says, opening his eyes as wide as he can, whimpering in the pain of the effort. "Nya, I-"

But the rest is lost as he dissolves. Into thin air.

Gone...

I still haven't let go.

What do you think? Are you going to read ETBHN when it comes out? Or take your chances reading Reversal without it?