Chapter 1
The night rain had turned the street into a glimmering mirror. Puddles reflected the dim, flickering light of the bus stop above, which seemed almost alive—blinking nervously in the empty street. She stood beneath it, umbrella in hand, but the cold wind still found its way to her, sending shivers down her spine.
A sudden chill ran through her, deeper than the cold itself. Someone was watching. She could feel it—a presence in the silence, a gaze that made her skin crawl. Her heart raced. Slowly, almost unwillingly, she lifted her eyes.
Across the street, in the mist, a shadow lingered. She could not make out his features, but every instinct told her that he was looking right at her.
A car’s headlights swept across the street, illuminating his face for a fleeting moment. She froze. He was impossibly handsome, but there was something in his eyes—a darkness, a hidden depth—that made her chest tighten with unease.
Memories flashed like lightning—this face, this smile… yes, it was him. The same man she had seen in her friend’s phone photo. The same man who had been quietly following her for days.
Step by step, he moved closer. Each footfall echoed through the wet street, heavier than the last. She wanted to move, to run, but her feet refused to obey.
He stopped a few feet away, his smile widening. The shadows in his eyes seemed to grow darker, deeper.
“D-do you… know me?” she asked, voice trembling.
His reply was slow, deliberate, almost a whisper, “Yes… perhaps we were meant to meet long ago.”
The sudden screech of a bus’s brakes shattered the tense silence. She dashed inside, the doors slamming shut behind her as the bus lurched forward through the rain.
Pressing her face against the window, she watched him. He was still standing there under the umbrella, a vague figure in the downpour. But his eyes… they burned like fire through the mist, fixed on her, refusing to let her go.
Even as the bus carried her away, a part of her knew—this encounter was only the beginning....
