Reaching the end

I have just now reached the end of Elevated.

This does not by any stretch mean that it's done. Chapters 19-21 are in rough draft form and, in the case of the last chapter, it's still incoherent in places. Chapters 16-18 also need proofreading and last-minute touch-ups.

Still, it's a milestone. I finally got to the point I wanted to reach when I started this story back in August - more or less. After 400ish pages of plot and character development, the ending actually wound up must stronger than I originally envisioned.

That being said, it's not the story I imagined - even as I was writing chapter 15, the latest one currently on storiesonline.net. There have been hints since the first chapter of what's coming, but it's not a mystery novel. The reader isn't supposed to have enough information to solve it and feel intellectually superior to the brilliant protagonist who manages to be smart about everything except all the things that are essential to the story unfolding around them.

This isn't meant to be a tease, although it  sounds like one even to me. I just want to commemorate this moment and promise my readers that what's coming is even better than what they've already read.

Maybe that's the definition of a tease.

Either way, the conclusion I've written is a bit daunting. If it's not pitch-perfect, the whole story falls apart and starts to feel disrespectful. I sincerely hope I can do it justice.