The next night, the rain didn't stop.
It poured like the city itself was trying to drown its sins.
Aiden stood at the bar again, trying to act normal, though his thoughts kept drifting back to him.
The stranger in black.
Those eyes cold as lightning, sharp as guilt.
He hadn't even asked his name.
"You okay, Vale?" his co-worker asked, waving a hand in front of his face.
"You've been spacing out since last night."
Aiden forced a smile. "Just tired. Long shift."
But sleep hadn't come easy. Every time he closed his eyes, he saw the same image: a battlefield, a woman falling, and a man's voice crying her name Ariselle.
And when he looked at himself in the mirror that morning, for a heartbeat, his reflection smiled… even though he hadn't.
Midnight again.
The bar was closing, the neon lights flickering in tired rhythm.
Aiden wiped the counter, humming under his breath, when he felt it that strange pull again.
The air seemed to thicken, the world slowing around him.
And then, a voice low, calm, unmistakable:
"You attract trouble easily."
He turned.
Elias Thorn stood there, the same dark coat dripping rain, a faint bruise on his knuckles catching the light.
"You" Aiden stammered. "You're the guy from last night."
"You remember me."
The words came like a challenge, not a question. His tone was clipped, but his eyes… softened, just barely.
"Thank you," Aiden said, voice quiet. "For helping me."
Elias didn't reply. He studied him instead the way Aiden's hands trembled slightly, the faint confusion behind his gaze, the lingering trace of innocence in a world that had none left.
"You shouldn't be here," Elias murmured. "This place isn't safe."
"I need the job."
"Then find another."
Aiden frowned. "Why do you care?"
For a moment, Elias didn't answer. He looked away, as if the truth was too heavy to speak aloud.
When he finally did, his voice was softer almost human.
"Because I've seen you die before."
The words struck like thunder.
Aiden froze, the glass in his hand slipping and shattering against the floor.
"W-What did you just say?"
Elias stepped closer. The distance between them vanished the scent of rain, smoke, and something darker wrapping around Aiden like a spell.
"Forget it," Elias said. "I shouldn't have come."
He turned to leave, but Aiden caught his sleeve a small, desperate act he didn't understand.
When their skin touched, a current surged through him, sharp and electric.
Flashes blood, moonlight, the sound of steel, and that same voice again whispering her name.
Ariselle.
Aiden gasped, stepping back. His heart pounded like it was trying to tear through his ribs.
"Who are you?" he whispered.
Elias looked at him then really looked.
Those storm-gray eyes were full of something ancient, broken, and unbearably familiar.
"Someone who's been waiting a very long time," he said.
And with that, he was gone again.
Leaving Aiden in the dim glow of the bar, surrounded by the pieces of glass that glimmered like fallen stars.
That night, Aiden dreamed again.
He stood in a temple made of light, her reflection staring back at him through the water.
Her voice his voice whispered softly:
"He found us… but the curse hasn't ended."
Lightning tore across the dreamscape, and when he woke, his pillow was wet from rain or tears, he couldn't tell.