I gaze around at my characters. The troubled, the lost, the happy, the powerful. All of them. I smile at the quartet, Wren, Beatrice, Ignatius, Clive with a halo around his messy hair.

I notice a few that I almost forgot about. Akiva, Athena, Camille, Alex with his halo, Nathan, Vinnie, Layla, Bev, and Phoebe

They all look at me. Some are angry, mostly Clive. He shouts at me, screaming. “Why did you end me so early? I had so many plans!” I remember that I made him this way. I made him suffer with his anger issues and his anxiety.

I made all of them suffer. Camille lost Alex. Phoebe watched Layla suffer. Nathan watched Camille suffer.

I try to apologize, find some explanation. But my mind wipes blank.

“You made me a monster,” King Ryuk says, “You made me a monster. You turned my broken heart into shards of glass, then threatened my townspeople with it. Now I lie in the ground, watching my true love live on”

Tears start to fall from my eyes. I did. I did make him the villain. I made my readers hate him. But he was just misunderstood. He was just heartbroken.

Camille steps forward. “You locked me in a hospital. I watched Alex’s heart stopped,” she says in spite.

I fumble. “The doctors did all they could. I’m sorry.”

She narrows her eyes. “They could’ve done better.”

None of them look happy to see me. Except Akiva, although she does look a little angry.

“You gave me your problems and made me deal with them. However, my story still made me suffer, just like you did. You made all of us suffer, you will pay for it.”

I’d never expect those words from Akiva. I made her a happy, kind girl. What happened to her?

Suddenly, my characters rush forward, attacking me. They each yell at me, saying what hurt them the most. Then they’d slap me. Each one takes a turn.

But when Ignatius steps up his face looks sad. “Sarah, you had me carry your mental health problems, that was not kind. But, now I see what you’ve had to deal with. I’ve also seen you cry over Alex and Clive’s deaths, so we’ve made you suffer too. I’ve seen you worry about Queen Zia and Layla’s escape. I’m truly sorry.”

Tears fall down my cheeks as my characters stare at me, in awe of my raw emotion. “It was so hard writing you guys. I never wanted to hurt you, but it had to happen. Wren, you would’ve never become the person you are. Camille, you would’ve never loved the way you did. I am sorry for the pain, but I am not sorry for the gain.”