The coffee shop buzzed with the comforting hum of life—cups clinking, low conversations floating like soft background music, and the occasional hiss of the espresso machine. The smell of roasted beans and cinnamon filled the air, a stark contrast to the unease that coiled in Elara’s chest.

She stared into her cup, watching the foam swirl as if it could somehow settle the questions that refused to leave her mind. Across from her, Rina had launched into an animated story about her newest art class project, her hands moving expressively as she spoke.

“El? Earth to El?”

Elara looked up, startled to realize Rina had stopped talking and was now eyeing her with playful suspicion. “Sorry, what?”

“You’re worse than usual today,” Rina said, leaning back in her chair with a teasing smirk. “I’m starting to think your ‘mystery man’ has officially possessed you.”

Elara rolled her eyes but couldn’t deny the heat that crept up her cheeks. “That’s not—he hasn’t.”

“Then where are you right now? Because it’s not here.”

Elara opened her mouth to deny it but stopped herself. What was the point? Rina wasn’t wrong. Kael—the idea of him—had occupied her thoughts since that night, like a persistent whisper she couldn’t ignore.

“I don’t know,” Elara admitted softly, her eyes falling to her untouched coffee. “It’s like…” She hesitated, searching for the right words. “It’s like meeting him knocked something loose in me. Like he reminded me of something I’ve forgotten, but it’s just out of reach.”

Rina’s teasing smile faltered. She studied Elara quietly for a moment before leaning forward, her tone more serious. “This isn’t just about him, is it?”

Elara looked up, startled by how quickly Rina had cut to the heart of it.

“It’s about you,” Rina continued. “You’ve been carrying something lately. Like… I don’t know, like you’re waiting for something to happen.”

Elara blinked, caught off guard by how true that felt. Waiting. That was exactly it—like her entire life had been holding its breath, waiting for something to start. Or maybe… waiting for something to end.

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

The thought made her shiver.

“El?”

“I’m fine,” she said quickly, offering a faint smile she didn’t feel. “You’re overanalyzing me.”

“Me? Overanalyze?” Rina quipped, but her smile didn’t quite reach her eyes. “I’m just saying, don’t get lost chasing shadows. You’re allowed to be here, you know? In the present.”

In the present.

The words struck a nerve, though Elara couldn’t say why. She nodded vaguely, taking a sip of her coffee to avoid having to answer. Rina let the subject drop, launching into another story, but Elara’s thoughts wandered again—this time to the dreams.

And to him.

That night, Elara stood at her apartment window, her forehead pressed against the cool glass as the city stretched out before her. The streets below glowed with the soft blur of streetlights, cars weaving through the dark like moving stars.

Her fingers traced absent patterns on the glass as Kael’s words replayed in her head.

“We always do.”

The strange connection she felt toward him wasn’t fading. If anything, it was growing stronger, like a thread winding tighter around her heart. And the dreams—the hands in the dark, the voices calling to one another—were becoming clearer.

Tonight, she could still hear it as she stood there, almost as if the whispers of the dream were following her into the waking world.

“Elara…”

She froze. The voice wasn’t in her head. It was real.

She spun around, her heart in her throat, scanning the empty room. Nothing. Just the stillness of her apartment and the sound of her own uneven breathing.

A chill ran through her, and she turned back to the window—only to see him.

Kael.

He was standing on the sidewalk below, his figure unmistakable even in the distance. Her breath hitched as he looked up, his face shadowed but his gaze piercing, like he could see her as clearly as if she were standing beside him.

“Elara,” he said again, though his voice wasn’t loud enough to carry from the street.

It didn’t matter. She heard him. She felt him.

Before she knew it, she was grabbing her coat and rushing out the door.

The night air was sharp against her skin as she stepped outside, her heart pounding in her chest. Kael stood a few steps away, leaning casually against the brick wall of the building as though he’d been waiting there forever.

“You,” she breathed, stopping in front of him. “What are you doing here?”

Kael pushed off the wall, his expression gentle. “I told you we’d see each other again.”

“How did you—how do you know that?” Elara demanded, her voice breaking with frustration. “Why do you keep showing up, saying these things like they mean something to me?”

“They do,” Kael said softly. “You just don’t remember yet.”

Her chest tightened. “Remember what?”

Kael studied her for a moment, his eyes filled with something that looked like both sorrow and hope. “The truth.”

“That’s not an answer.”

“It’s the only one I can give you right now,” he said, his voice low. “You need to see it for yourself.”

Elara stepped back, her pulse racing. “I don’t understand any of this. You’re a stranger, Kael. I don’t know you, and yet…” Her voice trembled as she searched for the words. “And yet I feel like I do. I feel like I’ve always known you.”

Kael’s expression softened. “Because you have.”

Elara shook her head, overwhelmed by the weight of his words and the truth she could feel lurking beneath them. “This is impossible.”

“I know it feels that way,” Kael said, his voice steady. “But trust me, Elara—you’re not imagining this. And when the time comes, you’ll understand why.”

Something about the way he spoke, the calm certainty in his voice, made her believe him even when her mind screamed not to.

Before she could say anything else, Kael stepped closer, his gaze never leaving hers. “When you dream tonight, pay attention,” he said. “The answers are there, waiting for you.”

Before she could respond, Kael turned and walked away, his figure disappearing into the shadows of the night.

Elara stood frozen, her breath coming in shallow bursts as the silence closed in around her.

The wind stirred, brushing against her skin like an unseen hand. And as she turned to go back inside, one thought rang clear in her mind:

She wasn’t ready for the answers.

But they were coming anyway.