Rain lashed against the windowpanes of a small, dimly lit apartment in the heart of the city. Amelia sat on her bed, scrolling through old photos on her phone. A picture of her and Ethan, her boyfriend of two years, appeared. They were smiling at the beach, his arm wrapped protectively around her. Her chest tightened as tears welled in her eyes.

Ethan’s face had been the last thing Amelia had seen before the accident. One moment, they were laughing in the car, and the next, the world turned to a blinding flash of light, screeching tires, and unbearable pain.

Now, everything was different. Amelia wasn’t alive anymore.

At first, she didn’t realize it. She woke in the same apartment, the same bed. But the air was different—heavier, colder, and silent. She called for Ethan, expecting to see him at the door, but no one came. She walked to the mirror and gasped. Her reflection was faint, like a shadow.

Days, or what felt like days, passed. Time seemed meaningless. Amelia began to piece it together. She was dead, trapped in a liminal space, unable to move on. But her longing for Ethan anchored her to the living world. She needed to tell him she was still there, to assure him she loved him, even beyond death.

1: The Static Between Us

Amelia tried everything to reach Ethan. She screamed his name until her voice cracked, but he never heard. She threw objects across the room, but they passed through her hands. Frustrated and desperate, she sank to the floor, sobbing.

One night, as she sat in...