Kael stumbled into his apartment, feeling the weight of another sleepless night hanging over him. His mind was still foggy from the dreams, and the sense of dread from them hadn't faded. His dreams weren’t ordinary—there were people he didn’t recognize, but somehow, he knew them. Faces, places, and fragments of memories that didn’t belong to his life... but they were familiar. Then, there was the watch, his father’s watch, which had been acting strange lately. It would buzz randomly, the hands spinning faster than they should, and it had started to feel... alive. Kael couldn’t shake the feeling that it was trying to tell him something, something important. But what?

Shaking off the unease, Kael hurried through his morning routine. He was running late for his shift at the coffee shop, and the last thing he needed was to show up to work in a bad mood.

As he stepped into his car, a quick glance at his phone caught a message from Peter:

“Dude, I keep hearing you’re having crazy dreams lately. What’s going on?”

Kael’s fingers hovered over the screen. He wanted to explain, but how could he? The dreams were too strange, and he had no idea what they meant. He typed back:

“You have no idea. Something’s been off. The dreams, the watch... it’s like I’m in another world, but it’s my life. And my dad’s watch... it’s acting weird.”

Peter’s reply came instantly:

“Sounds like you need coffee, man. Get to the café. We’ll talk then.”

Kael chuckled, appreciating the simplicity of Peter's solution. Coffee it was. He had barely slept, but the one thing that kept him going was the café, his daily routine, and the small sense of control it gave him.

He pulled into the parking lot, quickly grabbing his bag and making his way inside the coffee shop. The moment he walked in, the familiar aroma of roasting coffee beans and the hum of the espresso machine hit him, grounding him for a moment.

“Morning, Kael!” Coral called from behind the counter, her bright smile lighting up the room.

Love what you're reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on.

“Morning,” Kael replied, though his voice carried the weight of exhaustion. He grabbed his apron, tying it around his waist. “Another crazy night,” he added, trying to shake off the lingering tension from his dreams.

“Tell me about it,” Owen chimed in from the back, wiping down tables. “How’s the watch been? Still acting up?”

Kael paused, fingers brushing against the cold metal of the watch on his wrist. “Yeah, it’s been weird. Buzzing, spinning faster than it should. I don’t know what’s going on with it.” He hesitated before adding, “And I keep seeing these faces. People I don’t recognize, but... they feel like I should know them. Like they’re important.”

“Whoa,” Lev said from the corner, setting down a stack of napkins. “That’s freaky. Sounds like something out of a movie.”

“I wish it was,” Kael replied with a small, uneasy laugh. “But it’s not just the dreams. It’s everything. The watch. The faces. The feeling like something’s coming.” He took a deep breath, trying to push the growing anxiety away. “I don’t know. I think I’m losing it.”

“You’re not losing it,” Mark said as he walked in, his presence always calming. He grabbed a coffee from the counter and leaned against it casually. “Maybe there’s more going on than you think. Have you ever thought that maybe you’re being shown something? Like you’re supposed to be seeing these things?”

Kael looked up at his friends, unsure of what to think. “What do you mean?”

“I mean, maybe you’ve got a purpose in all of this,” Mark continued, his gaze intense. “Maybe the dreams and the watch are part of something bigger. Something that’s waking up inside of you.”

Before Kael could respond, the door to the café swung open, and a cold gust of wind swept inside. As the door closed, a group of strangers walked in. They were dressed in dark, tailored suits, their eyes locking on Kael as if they had been waiting for him. It wasn’t their clothes or their look that unsettled him—it was the way they moved. Their precision was unnatural, almost robotic, as if they were in sync with each other.

Kael’s heart raced. Something about them felt wrong.

“What the hell is going on?” Kael whispered, his pulse quickening.

“Get out of here,” Amara said, her voice low and urgent as she leaned over the counter. “Kael, you need to leave. Now.”

Kael didn’t hesitate. The hair on the back of his neck stood on end. He grabbed his things, ready to bolt, when his wrist buzzed again. The watch was pulsing now, its vibration urgent, like it was trying to warn him.

“Who’s there?” Kael muttered, his heart pounding in his chest.

A voice—calm, mechanical—echoed inside his head: “Kael... you’re not crazy. You’re just awakening.”

The café seemed to go deathly silent. The noise, the chatter, the hum of the machines—they all faded as Kael focused on the voice in his mind.

“What... who is that?” Kael whispered aloud, his eyes darting around the room, but no one seemed to hear him.

“I am Nexu,” the voice continued, steady and unwavering. “I’ve been waiting for you, Kael. It’s time for you to remember who you are.”

Before Kael could react, the strangers’ eyes locked on him even harder. There was no mistaking it now—they weren’t just watching him. They were waiting for him to make a move.

“You need to leave. Now,” Nexu urged.

Kael’s heart thudded in his chest. Panic surged through him, but something in his gut told him this was the moment. The moment everything would change.

Without another word, he grabbed his bag, his heart racing as he made his way toward the door, the buzz of the watch growing louder and louder with every step.

As Kael stepped into the cold morning air, the world around him felt different—like something hidden just beneath the surface was about to break free.

And Kael had no idea what was coming

next. But he knew one thing: his life was about to change forever.