Pitter…
Patter… pitter…
Rain softened into a thin mist as Kael approached the intersection where the crash had happened.
Broken glass still glittered on the asphalt like fallen stars.
He kept hearing it.
The echo.
His echo.
"Don't stay here too long."
Kael clenched his jaw.
"Why? What happens now?"
Silence.
Only the drip… drip… of rain sliding off street signs.
Just the rain.
He hated when the voice vanished—like it had said what it wanted and then slipped back into whatever future it came from.
He shoved his hands into his pockets and hurried home, eyes scanning every shadow.
Something had changed after last night.
The world felt… off.
Like time itself was breathing differently.
When he reached his apartment building, he stopped.
Someone was sitting on the steps.
A girl.
Short black hair, silver ring on her finger, and eyes that looked like she could see through people.
She looked up.
"You're Kael Ardyn, right?"
Kael froze.
He didn't know her.
"Don't trust the girl with the silver ring."
The echo had warned him days ago.
He swallowed. "Do I… know you?"
She shook her head. "No. But you survived something tonight. Something big." She stood and held out her hand. "I'm Lira."
Kael didn't shake her hand.
She smiled slightly. "Smart. Not trusting strangers."
He stepped back. "Why are you here?"
Lira's face softened. "Because… you're like me."
She tapped her temple. "You hear things you shouldn't, don't you?"
Kael's blood ran cold and heartbeat spiked.
Thump… thump… thump…
Lira continued, whispering now, "You hear echoes."
He stepped back again. "No. You're wrong."
"Really?" she said quietly. "Then how did you avoid the car crash?"
Kael stiffened.
Lira watched him carefully. "I know what it's like. The voices. The warnings. The glimpses of moments that haven't happened yet."
Kael didn't answer.
She leaned closer. "And you're not the only one being hunted."
Kael's eyes widened. "…What?"
Lira swallowed, her voice shaking for the first time.
"There's a man—no, not a man anymore—who moves through timelines without being changed by them. He's looking for people like us."
The streetlight above them flickered—zzzt… zzzt…—like reality itself was glitching.
Kael felt a chill run down his spine.
Lira's voice dropped to a whisper. "His name is Alden."
Kael froze.
His echo whispered instantly:
"Run. Now."
Before Kael could react, a shadow shifted at the end of the street.
A tall figure stepped into the dim light.
Black coat.
Grey eyes.
No reflection in the puddles at his feet.
Alden.
Lira grabbed Kael's hand. "Move!"
They sprinted down the alley as Alden's calm voice drifted after them:
"Kael Ardyn.
Your echoes belong to me."
The world seemed to blur—
but not from fear.
Time itself trembled, like something was about to break.
Kael heard one last desperate echo:
"If he catches you here… this timeline ends."