Anya's POV
I regretted agreeing to this.
That was the first thought in my head when I stepped outside my house and saw Lux waiting near the gate.
He was leaning against the wall while scrolling through his phone.
The moment he noticed me, he looked up.
Then frowned.
"What is that?"
I looked down.
"My bag?"
"You packed enough stuff to survive a natural disaster."
"It's called being prepared."
"We're going for a few hours."
"I don't trust your planning skills."
He looked offended.
"As if yours are any better."
"They are."
"They aren't."
"They are."
"They aren't."
A familiar smile slowly appeared on my face.
Good.
Everything was normal.
Exactly how it should be.
We spent the next fifteen minutes arguing about absolutely nothing before finally beginning our journey.
The road towards his grandfather's place was quieter than the city.
There were fewer vehicles.
More trees.
More open fields.
The air felt cleaner somehow.
I walked beside Lux while kicking random stones along the roadside.
"This place is so empty."
"It's peaceful."
"It's boring."
"Same thing."
"No."
"Yes."
"No."
He sighed dramatically.
"Your poor future husband."
I stopped walking.
"What husband?"
"The one who will have to argue with you everyday."
"He can argue back."
"Then you'll kill him."
"Probably."
"See?"
I nodded proudly.
Lux looked like he had made a terrible mistake bringing me here.
Good.
That made me happy.
---
His grandfather's house was much larger than I expected.
An old two-story building surrounded by a huge garden.
The moment we entered the gate, an elderly man came outside.
His eyes immediately landed on me.
Then on Lux.
Then back on me.
A smile slowly appeared on his face.
"So this is the girl."
Lux nearly choked.
"Grandpa!"
"What?"
"Nothing!"
The old man laughed.
I liked him immediately.
Unlike his grandson.
---
An hour later, I was sitting beside Grandpa while Lux looked betrayed.
"Grandpa, your grandson is annoying."
"I know."
"GRANDPA."
"He talks too much."
"I KNOW."
"GRANDPA!"
The two of us ignored him completely.
The garden behind the house was beautiful.
Flowers covered one side.
Vegetables occupied the other.
The entire place felt warm.
Comfortable.
Like a place where nothing bad could happen.
For the first time in days, I felt relaxed.
---
Then I noticed the clouds.
Dark.
Heavy.
Gathering slowly above the fields.
My gaze lingered for a moment.
Then I looked away.
It's fine.
It probably won't rain.
I continued listening to Grandpa's stories.
A few minutes later, my eyes drifted upwards again.
The clouds looked darker.
My smile faded slightly.
I quickly focused back on the conversation.
It's fine.
It's just weather.
Nothing more.
---
"Looks like rain."
Grandpa's casual comment made something tighten inside my chest.
I immediately looked towards the sky.
A low rumble echoed somewhere far away.
My fingers curled slightly.
No.
It's still far.
It won't happen.
Probably.
---
Later, Grandpa asked us to bring some vegetables from the garden.
Lux complained.
I complained louder.
And somehow we still ended up going.
The garden stretched farther than I expected.
Rows of plants swayed gently in the wind.
The sky above looked darker now.
The air felt strange.
Heavy.
The kind that comes before rain.
I swallowed.
Then forced myself to keep walking.
You're not a child anymore.
Stop acting like one.
A few drops won't kill you.
---
The first drop landed on my hand.
I froze.
For a brief moment,
A flash.
A school fence.
Wet shoes.
Children laughing.
A locked gate.
My breath caught.
Then it disappeared.
Gone.
As if it never happened.
I blinked.
The garden returned.
The vegetables.
The trees.
Lux.
Everything normal.
Everything fine.
I quickly looked away.
My heart was beating slightly faster now.
---
"Anya?"
Lux's voice reached me.
"Hmm?"
"You okay?"
"Why wouldn't I be?"
"You look weird."
"Your face looks weird."
"That's not an answer."
"Good."
He stared.
I stared back.
Eventually he gave up.
Thank God.
---
The rain began properly.
Not heavy.
Not yet.
Just enough to make the leaves tremble.
Another drop.
Then another.
A distant rumble echoed again.
My breathing became shallower.
No.
No.
No.
It's fine.
You're fine.
Nothing is happening.
---
Then another flash came.
A younger version of me.
Standing alone.
Rain.
Cold.
Voices.
Laughter.
Someone walking away.
The memory vanished before I could fully see it.
I stopped walking.
Only for a second.
Then immediately continued.
Faster this time.
As if I could outrun whatever was trying to catch me.
---
"Anya."
Lux called again.
I didn't answer.
My eyes remained fixed ahead.
The rain was getting stronger.
And for some reason,
I suddenly couldn't stop hearing children laughing.
Even though there were no children here.
Only the sound of rain.
"Anya."
Lux's voice reached me again.
I still didn't answer.
The rain was falling harder now.
The drops struck the leaves, the soil, the small garden path.
Every sound felt louder than it should have.
My breathing was becoming uneven.
I hated it.
I hated this.
I hated rain.
No.
I hated what came with it.
Another flash crossed my mind.
A wet school uniform.
Cold fingers.
Someone laughing.
The memory disappeared before I could fully see it.
I clenched my fists.
"Anya."
This time his voice sounded closer.
I immediately looked away.
"I'm fine."
The words came out too quickly.
Even I knew they sounded fake.
The rain continued pouring.
The clouds above growled softly.
My chest tightened.
Suddenly something landed on my head.
I froze.
Darkness.
Warmth.
I blinked.
A jacket.
Lux had taken off his jacket and thrown it over my head.
"What are you doing?"
My voice sounded irritated.
Good.
I preferred irritation.
Anything except fear.
He didn't answer immediately.
Instead he stepped in front of me and lowered himself slightly to look at my face.
For once, he wasn't smiling.
For once, he wasn't making fun of me.
For once, he looked serious.
"We're going back."
"What?"
"We're going back."
His voice remained calm.
As if the decision had already been made.
I stared at him.
"What do you mean we're going back?"
"I mean exactly what I said."
"No."
"No?"
"No."
I pulled the jacket off my head and shoved it towards him.
"I am perfectly fine."
He looked at me.
Then at my hands.
Then back at me.
My hands were shaking.
I immediately hid them behind my back.
His expression didn't change.
"You can't even lie properly."
I looked away.
"I am not lying."
"You are."
"I am not."
"You are."
"Stop saying that."
"Then stop lying."
I hated how calm he sounded.
I hated how he wasn't arguing normally.
I hated how he kept looking at me as if he could see right through me.
The rain grew heavier.
The sound echoed across the entire garden.
Another flash appeared.
Dark sky.
Rain.
A locked gate.
I squeezed my eyes shut.
Go away.
Go away.
Go away.
When I opened them again, Lux was still standing there.
Watching.
Waiting.
Not asking questions.
Just watching.
That somehow made it worse.
Because if he asked, I could argue.
If he joked, I could insult him.
If he laughed, I could punch him.
But this?
I didn't know what to do with this version of Lux.
"What?" I snapped.
He sighed.
"Nothing."
"Then stop looking at me."
"You stopped talking."
"So?"
"You never stop talking."
I froze.
He continued.
"You've been quiet for ten minutes."
"It has not been ten minutes."
"Eight."
"That is not better."
A small smile appeared on his face.
Just a little.
Barely there.
For some reason, it made the tightness in my chest ease slightly.
Only slightly.
The rain continued falling.
Neither of us moved.
Then he spoke again.
"You don't have to tell me."
I looked up.
His gaze was fixed somewhere beyond the field.
Beyond the rain.
Beyond everything.
"You clearly don't want to."
For a moment, I couldn't respond.
Because that wasn't what I expected.
I expected questions.
Curiosity.
Pity.
Not this.
A strange feeling settled in my chest.
The kind I couldn't describe.
The kind that made me uncomfortable.
The kind that made me want to laugh and cry at the same time.
I quickly looked away.
The rain slowly began weakening.
The sky was still grey, but the worst had passed.
Lux glanced towards the house.
Then back at me.
"Can you walk?"
"What kind of question is that?"
"Anya."
"I have two functioning legs."
"Good."
He turned around.
"Let's go."
I stared at his back.
"What if I don't want to?"
"You'll catch a cold."
"What if I want to catch a cold?"
"Then you're an idiot."
"What if you're an idiot?"
"I am."
The answer came so quickly that I paused.
Then despite everything,
despite the rain,
despite the memories,
despite the fear,
a small laugh escaped me.
Lux glanced back.
The tension in his shoulders finally eased.
As if that laugh was what he had been waiting for all this time.
And for the first time since the rain began,
I realized something.
The thing that scared him wasn't my fear.
It was my silence.
Iris's POV
By the time I left the café, the sky had already turned dark.
The streets were quieter than usual.
I had my phone pressed against my ear while slowly walking home.
"...and then what?" I asked.
On the other side of the call, Anya groaned.
"For the last time, nothing happened."
I smiled.
"Hmm."
"Stop saying hmm."
"Hmm."
"Iris."
I could practically hear her glaring through the phone.
I laughed.
"You spent an entire day with a boy and you're telling me nothing happened?"
"He is Lux."
"Which makes him a boy."
"He is an idiot."
"Those two things are not mutually exclusive."
"I am hanging up."
"You won't."
"I will."
"You won't."
A long silence followed.
Then—
"His grandpa was nice."
A smile appeared on my face.
There it is.
The first useful information.
"Oh?"
"He made me tea."
"Wow."
"He also called me 'the girl'."
I immediately straightened.
"The girl?"
"Don't start."
"I wasn't starting."
"You were."
"I wasn't."
"You were."
I laughed softly.
Anya sighed dramatically.
"I regret telling you anything."
"As you should."
She mumbled something that sounded suspiciously like an insult.
Then the call ended.
I was still smiling when I reached home.
---
The front door was unlocked.
I stepped inside.
The living room was empty.
But I could hear movement from the kitchen.
Without even looking, I already knew who it was.
I placed my bag near the sofa and sat down.
The house felt peaceful.
Comfortable.
For a moment, I simply leaned back and opened my phone.
Just a little scrolling before dinner.
---
A familiar face suddenly appeared on my screen.
I paused.
It was the woman from the hospital.
The same woman whose head was bleeding in that dark alley.
I clicked her profile.
Fashion influencer.
Over two hundred thousand followers.
The account looked normal enough.
Photos.
Videos.
Brand promotions.
Perfect smiles.
Perfect outfits.
Perfect life.
I scrolled further.
Then opened the comments.
My smile disappeared.
The comments were brutal.
Too fat.
Too skinny.
Attention seeker.
Cringe.
Go disappear.
Nobody cares.
I frowned.
Why were people so unnecessarily cruel?
I continued scrolling.
The criticism never stopped.
Every post.
Every video.
Every photograph.
There was always something.
Something people hated.
Something people mocked.
The last upload was almost a month ago.
Nothing after that.
---
"What are you looking at?"
I looked up.
Kaizer had finally come out of the kitchen carrying two mugs.
I handed him the phone.
He sat beside me and quietly looked through the account.
A few moments later he frowned.
"Why are they criticizing her so much?"
"That's what I was thinking."
"It's just normal content."
I nodded.
Exactly.
The videos weren't controversial.
The outfits weren't strange.
Nothing seemed unusual.
Yet people kept attacking her.
---
We continued scrolling.
One post.
Another.
Another.
Then—
A video appeared.
This time she was wearing a very revealing outfit.
The moment it appeared on screen, Kaizer immediately handed the phone back.
Far too quickly.
I stared at him.
Then at the phone.
Then back at him.
A smile slowly appeared on my face.
"That was fast."
His expression remained perfectly calm.
"I saw enough."
"Did you?"
"Yes."
"Very quickly."
"Iris."
I bit the inside of my cheek to stop myself from laughing.
"You looked at her for almost half a second."
"I did not."
"You did."
"I didn't."
"You panicked."
"I didn't panic."
"You absolutely panicked."
He looked away.
Which only made it worse.
I finally failed to hold back my laughter.
"Senior Iris."
His voice sounded warningly calm.
Unfortunately, that made me laugh harder.
"You should have seen your face."
"There was nothing wrong with my face."
"There was."
"There wasn't."
"There was."
He stared at me for a few moments.
Then stood up.
"I'm going to my room."
I laughed again.
He looked completely offended.
Good.
---
A few moments later, his room door closed.
The living room became quiet again.
I leaned back against the sofa.
The smile slowly faded from my face.
My eyes drifted back towards the phone screen.
Towards the account.
Towards the comments.
Towards the last post.
Something about it bothered me.
I couldn't explain why.
Maybe because she had looked so normal.
So ordinary.
Just another person trying to live her life.
Yet somehow...
she had ended up in a hospital.
---
I locked my phone and walked towards the balcony.
The night air felt cool.
A faint breeze brushed against my face.
I rested my arms on the railing and looked down towards the narrow alley below.
---
And froze.
The little girl was there again.
Standing exactly where she always appeared.
The same dark alley.
The same strange timing.
The same smile.
She looked up.
Directly at me.
Then smiled wider.
For some reason, a chill ran through my body.
She was cute.
Almost too cute.
Like a doll.
A perfectly harmless little girl.
Yet something felt wrong.
Very wrong.
Where were her parents?
Why was she always alone?
---
The little girl suddenly turned her head.
As if somebody had called her.
Then she looked back at me again.
And raised her hand.
A small wave.
A goodbye.
The smile on my face slowly disappeared.
The girl turned around.
And ran.
Disappearing into the darkness beyond the alley.
---
I continued staring at the empty spot.
A strange uneasiness settled inside my chest.
Then—
Something crashed inside the house.
A loud sound.
As if something had fallen onto the floor.
I immediately turned around.
My heart skipped a beat.
The balcony suddenly felt much colder than before.