The rain had stopped, leaving the streets slick and gleaming under the city lights. Amara tugged her coat tighter, balancing her bag against her side as she weaved through the crowd. The sidewalks of Silent Hill were a maze tonight, crowded with office workers hurrying home, couples laughing under umbrellas, and street vendors packing up their stands.
She hated being late, but her meeting with her new editor at The Echo Press couldn't wait. Yet, her focus on the café ahead faltered when a sudden collision nearly sent her sprawling.
"Watch it!"
Her voice hitched as she looked up and froze.
The man before her was tall, with dark hair plastered to his forehead, eyes deep brown and unsettlingly attentive. His blazer clung damply to his shoulders, and there was a casual confidence in the way he held himself — like he owned the city, or at least this corner of it.
"I… sorry," Amara stammered, brushing imaginary dirt off her coat.
He smirked, a tilt of amusement in his gaze. "You sure? You seemed to be aiming straight for me."
Her cheeks burned, half from embarrassment, half from something she didn't want to name. She adjusted her bag strap and muttered, "I wasn't."
"Uh-huh," he said, his grin widening. "The name's Elijah, by the way. And you are…?"
"Amara." Her voice was firm, though her pulse betrayed her calm.
Something in the way he said her name — soft, deliberate, like it belonged to him for a moment — made her stomach twist. She tried to focus on the café, the meeting, the work that had brought her here… anything. But her eyes kept flicking back to him.
"You always bump into strangers like this?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.
"I'll make it a habit," she shot back, though the corners of her lips threatened a smile.
The city around them blurred — neon signs reflected on wet asphalt, the distant hum of traffic, the laughter of pedestrians — but for a heartbeat, it felt like the street had contracted into a tiny world where only they existed.
Then a taxi screeched past, jolting Amara back to reality. Elijah stepped aside gracefully, and she finally crossed the street.
Yet even as she entered the warm light of the café, she couldn't shake the feeling that the collision wasn't an accident. Silent Hill had a way of introducing the unexpected… and some meetings, she realized, changed everything.