Chapter One
The rain never seemed to stop in the city. That night, it came down in sheets, soaking the torn pamphlet Pearl Lynn held between her fingers.
The ink was blurred, smudged, but the words still clung to the paper like a whisper meant only for her,
Her chest felt heavy. She still couldn’t believe it. Just last week, her roommate had been here laughing, dancing, dragging her to late-night ice cream runs, filling every corner of their small apartment with light.
Three years of living together, and not once had she seen her break down. Not once had she guessed what was buried behind that dazzling smile.
And now… gone. Just like that.
No suicide note, no explanation. Only a chilling emptiness left in her place. The police had said they found search histories on her laptop, and her search list has found things about “depressing life,” “feeling empty,” and “ways to end it all.”
She couldn't believe that her roommate whom she had share so many good memories with who was always on good spirit would search stuff like this.
Words that felt foreign when she thought about the girl she knew. She couldn’t believe it. She didn’t want to believe it.
Her eyes drifted toward the other side of the room, where her roommate’s clothes still hung neatly in the cupboard, untouched. It felt wrong. The room wasn’t just empty, it was haunted by memories. Every object screamed of the life that had been here, and the silence mocked her grief.
Tears blurred her vision. She pressed her palms into her face. It wasn’t just sorrow, it was fear.
If someone so bright, so full of life, could suddenly… disappear, what did that mean about the people around her? About herself?
There are so many times she felt weighed down, breathless but she keep it going. there are times she didn't want to get out of bed but had too. That’s why it shocked her, the girl she thought so full of spirit had chosen to leave it all behind.
She hadn’t been sleeping, hadn’t been eating, and her tiny job at the café only kept her distracted for a few hours at best.
By night, the loneliness pressed on her chest like a weight she couldn’t breathe under.
But it wasn’t just the loneliness. In this city, she couldn’t afford to live in the apartment alone.
The café barely paid enough to cover her share of rent, and without someone else splitting the bills, she would be forced out within weeks.
She desperately needed a new roommate, or a new place altogether.
But she didn’t even have the luxury of grieving properly to her friend.
Because now, she was alone. And the rent, they had always split it.
Without her roommate, there was no way she could keep this place. Her café job barely paid for her meals, let alone the rent. She didn’t have a degree. No backup plan. No family she could turn to.
Her heart ached with loneliness, but her mind was racing with something colder, What now?
And then… this morning.
She had almost tripped over it. A pamphlet shoved under the door. Bold letters stared back at her:
“Roommate Needed – Immediate Move-In.”
It felt… strange. Almost too convenient. She had been calling around yesterday, desperately searching for options, and today this. Like someone knew exactly what she needed.
Her stomach twisted with unease, but desperation pressed harder. She couldn’t stay here. Not in this apartment filled with the memories of her friend. Not when every corner reminded her of what she had lost.
She picked up her phone, staring at the number printed on the pamphlet. Her thumb hovered over the keypad. Her heart pounded like a warning drumbeat in her ears. But something about it also felt like her only chance.
Finally, she pressed the digits one by one.
Her hand trembled as she hit call.
The ringtone echoed in her ear.
And as she sat there, listening, she felt as if her entire life was about to change.
