The night did not fall gently upon the city, for it gathered itself in layers of dim light and quiet noise that clung to the streets like a restless breath, and Ella stepped through the narrow doorway of the bar with a composed stillness that did not match the pulse of music and murmured voices within, her shoulders held steady though a faint tension lingered beneath them, her gaze adjusting to the low amber glow as though she entered not a place of ease, but a space that watched in return.
The scent of something sharp and familiar hung in the air, mixed with laughter that did not quite reach warmth, and she moved forward without hesitation, her steps measured, her posture calm, though her fingers brushed faintly against the edge of the counter as if grounding herself against a world that shifted too easily beneath the surface.
