If someone had asked me when my life started falling apart, I would have said it began on an ordinary Tuesday.
Nothing dramatic happened that morning. No thunder cracked across the sky. No mysterious voice whispered my destiny. Just my alarm ringing for the third time while I buried my face deeper into my pillow, wishing reality came with a snooze button.
University life wasn't supposed to feel this exhausting.
I stared at the ceiling of my tiny apartment, watching faint sunlight crawl through the curtains. For a moment, everything felt strangely quiet — too quiet — like the world was holding its breath.
Then the feeling vanished.
"Great," I muttered, sitting up. "Another weird morning."
Lately, I'd been having dreams I couldn't remember properly. Not nightmares exactly… just fragments. Silver light. Endless skies. A voice calling my name from somewhere impossibly far away.
Every time I woke up, my chest felt heavy, like I had forgotten something important.
I shook the thought away and reached for my phone.
Late.
Again.
"Perfect," I groaned, jumping out of bed.
(Scene continues with daily routine, subtle hints reality feels off.)
Outside, campus buzzed with life — students laughing, rushing to lectures, arguing over assignments. Normal. Safe. Predictable.
Exactly how I liked it.
"Running late as usual?"
I turned to find Lucien leaning against the campus gate, coffee in hand and wearing that annoyingly calm smile he always had.
"Some of us need sleep to survive," I replied, grabbing the extra coffee he'd clearly bought for me.
He raised an eyebrow. "You say that like you didn't stay up reading conspiracy theories again."
"They were historical mysteries," I corrected defensively.
Lucien laughed softly, and the familiar warmth settled my nerves.
With him, things always felt grounded.
Normal.
Which was why I didn't tell him about the dreams.
Or the feeling that someone had been watching me lately.
As we walked across campus, a sudden chill brushed against my skin.
I stopped.
"What?" Lucien asked.
"…Nothing," I said slowly.
But I could have sworn the shadows beneath the trees moved against the direction of the sunlight.
For just a second.
And somewhere — though I couldn't explain how — I felt eyes on me.
Cold. Patient. Waiting.
(End Chapter Hook)
That night, far beyond the human world…
Someone finally found her.