Chiaya was running to reach Karan's hand. Faceless men had taken him and were dragging him into a dark, unknown doorway. No matter how hard Karan resisted, no matter how far he stretched his hand, Chiaya just couldn't reach him. She tried to scream his name, but a hand covered her mouth and pulled her head back—
She woke up gasping for breath.
What kind of dream was that?
Most of Chiaya's dreams were weird blends of her daily life and fantasy—like flying, talking piglets taking her on a shopping trip to the mall.
But she hadn't had a nightmare this frightening in a long time. Maybe I'm just too worried about what Karan's going to do, she thought.
When she got out of bed and walked into the living room, she saw that Karan was still asleep. He had placed the blanket Chiaya had given him under his head, with one hand tucked beneath it.
Seeing how much space his long body took up, Chiaya thought about how small her couch actually was.
When she lay on it, there would still be enough room for a medium-sized dog and two cats. Impressive, she thought.
Karan made almost no sound as he breathed. If it weren't for the gentle rise and fall of his chest, she might have thought he was dead.
She stepped closer. She found herself looking at Karan's face.
His mouth, his nose — they looked like they'd been sculpted carefully.
His skin looked shiny and smooth, like porcelain. She nearly reached out to touch it. But then she caught herself — and pulled back. "What are you doing, like some kind of creep?" Chiaya muttered to herself.
Wait.
Karan was asleep.
Her eyes landed on the sack lying on the table.
What if it had something inside that could tell her who he really was?
An ID card or a business card… Even a receipt from somewhere he'd been — anything might help.
She walked over slowly and tried not to make a sound as she opened the mouth of the sack.
Inside was a pouch — the same one he had shown her before, filled with those strange forstones.
There were also dried herbs, a small bread-like item wrapped in a handkerchief, and a few small, beautiful bottles filled with liquids in different colors.
Chiaya picked one up and opened it. It had a nutty scent.
At the bottom of the sack, there was a small book. Its yellow pages were thick, and the cover felt like something between wood and leather — stiff, but not entirely rough.
She flipped through it quickly.
It was handwritten, but the letters didn't belong to any alphabet she recognized. Only on the last page, there was a name signed in ink: Elara
Maybe there really was someone named Elara Vardal.
She flinched at the sudden sound.
"Is it normal for humans to go through someone else's things?" Karan said, still lying on the couch just as he was before—except for his eyes, which were now open.
"It's not what you think, alright?!" Chiaya shouted.
"I wasn't going to steal anything! I just... I just—"
"Just what?"
She fell silent.
From the mischievous look on Karan's face, it was clear he was waiting for an answer.
Chiaya's face had turned tomato red, and the way she was trying to explain herself by shouting was honestly hilarious.
Which only made Karan tease her even more.
"You know, I still don't have any money," Karan said, closing his eyes again with a grin.
Chiaya yelled even louder, "What?! Steal from you! Look at yourself, and then look at me. You're strong enough to fold me up like a t-shirt ten times over, and you really think I'd try to steal from you!?"
Karan continued to smirk with his eyes closed.
After she calmed down, she opened her laptop and typed into the search engine: "sell gold."
She had never had to sell gold in her life—this was a first.
She needed to find the shittiest place possible, because any place that looked luxurious or corporate was more likely to ask for an ID.
Eventually, she found what she was looking for. The address listed on a site called something like sellyouroldgoldnow.com wasn't too far.
The website was so terribly outdated and ugly that if there was any place that would let her sell without asking too many questions, this had to be it.
Karan had gotten up from the couch and was now standing behind her.
His presence loomed so large it felt like his body was casting a shadow over Chiaya.
"Did you find a place to sell my things?" he asked.
"I did. It's not too far, but I'm not sure if they'll actually buy it," she replied.
"Come on, get ready. Let's go."