---
A broad-shouldered man stood behind us.
His dark blond hair, soaked through, clung to his forehead. A towel hung carelessly from one of his hands.
His pale green eyes slid over me, slowly, as if he were dismantling me piece by piece just to study every detail. A thin, controlled smile—almost amused—curved his lips.
"Who are you?" Daniel asked, defensive.
"Daniel… be polite," Mom intervened, tapping his arm.
"It's nothing, ma'am," the man replied, his voice surprisingly calm.
"I've already told you to call me Lauren," she said with a smile that didn't quite ring true. "I hope I didn't frighten you?"
"Not at all… Lauren," he repeated, with an almost mocking undertone.
I frowned.
"Mom… are you okay?"
"Of course. Why would you ask?" she replied before heading into the kitchen.
Daniel shot me a worried look.
"You're acting weird."
"No more than you are," she called back over her shoulder. "But tell me… where were you? I've been looking for you everywhere."
"In the… garden," I improvised.
The man tilted his head slightly.
"Curious… you're not wet."
Daniel narrowed his eyes.
"Why would we be?"
He gestured toward the window.
"Because it's been raining for quite some time."
We turned around. Rain was pounding violently against the glass, blurring the garden behind a gray curtain. The sky looked ready to swallow the house whole.
We hadn't noticed.
Suddenly, a shiver ran down my spine.
I turned back and met the stranger's gaze again. Too fixed. Too precise.
As if he were searching for something.
Something I didn't understand myself.
Mom came back with a blanket.
"Sit down. You must be freezing."
Her voice was calm, but the way her hand clenched the tray betrayed her.
Daniel whispered,
"We don't even know who he is…"
"Dani, stop," she murmured.
Then, passing behind me, she whispered softly,
"Stay close to your brother."
A warning.
"Okay," I whispered back.
She didn't fully trust him.
I took a breath and turned back to him.
"By the way… what should we call you?"
His smile stretched.
"No need to be so formal. I'm not that old."
"It's basic manners," Daniel shot back.
I pinched his arm.
"Stop it…"
"I can't. He's—"
"Suspicious," I finished.
His smile widened, as if he'd heard everything.
"Killian… Killian Shade," he said.
The name echoed in my mind.
"Killian… Shade…" I murmured.
---
Later
My gaze drifted back to him. I had a strange sense of déjà vu.
He reminded me of someone…
The man from this morning. The stranger at the diner. The same unsettling presence…
He stirred an odd curiosity in me—but also a deep, instinctive unease.
I looked away, uncomfortable.
"What is Mom even doing?" Daniel muttered.
"No idea. But we should clean this up—someone could get hurt."
I had completely forgotten about the mess.
We picked up the broken plates. Distracted, I cut my finger.
"You okay?" Daniel asked.
"Yeah. Just a scratch."
Killian was watching. Not blinking. Not looking away.
A cold sensation crept up my neck.
I hurried into the kitchen to rinse the cut under water.
A cold draft brushed against me, sending goosebumps across my skin.
I rushed to finish, then turned around abruptly.
My heart nearly exploded.
Killian was standing less than a meter away from me.
As if he'd appeared out of nowhere.
Thunder crashed at the same moment, making the entire room vibrate.
"Sorry," he said calmly. "I didn't mean to scare you."
"It's fine…" I swallowed hard. "Do you… need something?"
He stepped closer. Slow. Measured.
His voice sounded strange—almost amplified by the walls.
"Yes. I'm looking for something. Something very important."
I stepped back.
"And… what?"
His pale green eyes darkened instantly.
His expression shifted—harder. More… predatory.
He took another step.
"Well?" I insisted, breathless.
A twisted smile curled his lips.
"You."
---