Elara woke up the next morning with the remnants of a dream clinging to her mind like a fog. It was the same as before—images of hands reaching for one another, a vast expanse of darkness, and two voices calling each other’s names. She couldn’t recall the details, only the feelings: longing, desperation, and something that felt like love, but with jagged edges that hurt to hold onto.

She sat up in bed, her fingers clutching the blankets as her breathing slowed. Sunlight spilled through the thin curtains of her room, too warm and bright for the weight pressing against her chest. For a long moment, she just stared at the wall, Kael’s words echoing in her head.

“Because we always do.”

What did he mean? What could he mean? And why did it feel like he was right? The rational part of her brain rejected it all—it was ridiculous, some strange coincidence blown out of proportion. But her heart, her instincts, told a different story.

With a frustrated sigh, she swung her legs over the side of the bed and stood. She needed to focus on something else—anything else—before she drove herself mad.

An hour later, Elara found herself in the university’s library, buried beneath a stack of dusty books and scattered maps. She wasn’t supposed to be here—her research advisor had given her the week off—but diving into her work was easier than thinking about the man who seemed to know her better than she knew herself.

“El, you’re on break, remember?”

Elara looked up sharply to see Rina standing across the table, holding two cups of coffee and wearing her signature don’t-you-dare expression.

“I am on break,” Elara replied, brushing a strand of hair from her face. “I just… needed a distraction.”

Rina set one of the coffees in front of her, then sat down across the table, eyeing Elara like she was some unsolvable mystery. “You’ve been weird ever since last night.”

“I’m not—”

“You are,” Rina cut her off. “And don’t tell me it’s because of the maps or the research. This isn’t your usual nerd spiral.”

Elara sighed, leaning back in her chair. She stared at the nearest window where streaks of sunlight danced against the glass. “It’s… complicated.”

Rina arched an eyebrow. “So explain it.”

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Elara hesitated, chewing on her bottom lip as she tried to form the words. Finally, she said, “Do you ever feel like you’ve met someone before, but you know you haven’t? Like, you recognize them, not just their face, but everything about them. The way they speak, the way they look at you…”

Rina tilted her head, curiosity replacing her teasing demeanor. “You’re talking about that guy. Kael.”

The sound of his name sent a strange chill through Elara. She nodded.

“Well,” Rina said slowly, “that’s either romantic or creepy as hell.”

Elara huffed out a laugh, though it didn’t reach her eyes. “Maybe both.”

Rina studied her for a moment before leaning forward, her voice softer now. “El, are you okay? Really?”

The concern in her friend’s voice nearly unraveled her. She wanted to confide in Rina, to tell her everything: the dreams, the strange pull she felt toward Kael, the way her heart felt both whole and broken when he spoke to her. But how could she? None of it made sense—not to her, and certainly not to anyone else.

“I’m fine,” Elara said finally, forcing a smile. “I just need to stop overthinking.”

Rina didn’t look convinced, but she didn’t push. Instead, she changed the subject, talking about her plans for the weekend and a new art exhibit opening downtown. Elara tried to listen, tried to focus on Rina’s words, but her thoughts kept drifting back to Kael.

That evening, Elara found herself in her small apartment, curled up on the couch with a book open in her lap. She wasn’t reading it. The words blurred together as her mind wandered, tugged once more toward questions she couldn’t answer.

With a sigh, she closed the book and rubbed her temples. She was being ridiculous. Obsessing over a stranger—no matter how strangely familiar he seemed—wasn’t healthy.

And yet…

She pushed herself off the couch, pacing across the room. The silence of the apartment felt heavier than usual, pressing in on her like a weight. She glanced at her desk, where her old journals sat in a neat stack.

For as long as she could remember, Elara had written down her dreams—fragments of visions that lingered long after she woke up. They were strange, often disjointed, but she’d always found a kind of comfort in recording them.

She hesitated for only a moment before walking over, pulling out the journal on top. She flipped through the pages, past years of scribbled notes and sketches, until she reached last night’s entry:

“Hands reaching for each other in the dark. A voice calls my name—Kael? I don’t know him, but I know him. I feel it. Like he’s part of me.”

She stared at the words, her chest tightening.

“Because we always do.”

She closed the journal with a snap, her breath unsteady.

The dreams, the strange pull toward Kael, the unshakable sense that he was right—it all felt too much like pieces of a puzzle she wasn’t ready to solve. But ignoring it wouldn’t make it go away.

Her phone buzzed on the table, breaking her thoughts. She glanced at the screen: a text from Rina.

“Let’s get out tomorrow—coffee, fresh air, and no thinking. Doctor’s orders. :)”

Elara smiled faintly, grateful for Rina’s insistence on pulling her back to normalcy. She typed out a quick reply and set the phone down.

And yet, as she stood there in the quiet of her apartment, she couldn’t shake the feeling that this was only the beginning.

Somewhere, deep in the quiet recesses of her mind, she knew that Kael wasn’t done with her and that she wasn’t done with him either.