April's POV
I opened the door slowly, praying it wouldn't creak. It was 10 p.m., and I was just getting back — much later than I should've. I hoped my uncle was passed out drunk on the couch like usual.
No such luck.
"Where have you been!" he barked, making me jump.
"Nowhere," I muttered, heading toward my room without making eye contact.
"Don't walk away from me when I'm talking to you!" he yelled, grabbing my wrist and yanking me back. I stumbled into him, uncomfortable at how close we were.
"Let go of me," I said sharply, struggling to break free.
But instead of releasing me, he leaned closer — too close — and stared at me in a way that sent shivers down my spine. His grip tightened. His other hand reached for my face.
"You're growing up to be a fine young woman, April," he said, his voice too smooth, too heavy. "Too beautiful to stay ignored."
My heart pounded.
He was crossing a line. A line I wasn't going to let him cross.
I shoved him away, hard.
"Don't touch me like that," I snapped.
He didn't flinch.
"You think you're tough now?" he growled. "I've taken care of you, fed you—"
"You stole everything my parents left me," I spat. "You ruined my life."
His eyes darkened. "You need to learn some respect."
I stepped back quickly and slammed my bedroom door shut, fumbling for the key — but it was gone.
No… no. Not now.
The lock twisted from the other side.
He had my key.
"You can't run from me," he said, stepping inside.
I scrambled back toward my desk, hands shaking, searching for anything — anything — to defend myself. My fingers landed on a pair of scissors.
"Stay away from me!" I warned, holding them up.
But my hands were trembling too much. He knocked them aside easily.
"Don't make this harder, April," he snarled.
I backed away in fear. He reached for me — and just as his hand caught my shoulder, he let out a sharp, guttural scream.
He clutched his arm, staggering backward.
I didn't think. I grabbed the first dress I saw and ran — down the hall, out the front door, into the cold night air. My bare feet pounded the pavement as I gasped for breath.
I pulled out my phone and called the only person I could trust.
"June," I sobbed. "Please come get me."
⸻
June didn't ask questions. She came for me immediately, rushing me into her warm home.
"What happened?" she asked gently, helping me out of the car.
I told her everything. Not everything I wanted to — but enough.
Her eyes welled up. "Oh, April…"
Grandma Sarah appeared behind her and wrapped me in a hug, murmuring, "You're safe now, child. You're safe."
"We need to report that monster," June said angrily.
"And we will," Sarah replied. "First thing in the morning. But for now, let her rest. Go draw her a bath. I'll warm up some soup."
June nodded and helped me to the bathroom. As I washed away the nightmare, one question remained:
Enzo's POV
"What's happening to you, Enzo?!" Laurel's panicked voice echoed, her hands shaking my shoulders.
"I… I don't know, Laurel. I don't even know where I am!" I could hear her clearly, but she couldn't hear me. My body sat motionless on the bed, frozen. My soul… had left.
I could see everything, yet I had no control. My mind was drifting — pulled away by a force stronger than anything I'd felt before. Wherever I was, it wasn't Nefaria. It wasn't the human world either. My blindness had returned. I was trapped somewhere in between.
Then I heard it — her voice.
"I swear I will make sure you rot in jail…"
It echoed in my mind like a memory trying to return. I didn't know who she was, but something in her voice twisted something in me.
"You dare, and I'll kill you!" A man's voice growled.
There was fury in her tone. Fear. Desperation.
Then I felt it.
Her cry wasn't just spoken — it came from deep within. A mental scream. A plea only someone like me could hear.
"Help."
And that was enough.
My spirit surged forward like a flame in the wind. I didn't think. I lunged toward the energy pulling me. I couldn't see, but I knew exactly where to go.
I found myself beside them. The man towered over her, and something inside me snapped. Without hesitation, I grabbed his arm and wrenched it back, throwing him off balance. He screamed in agony.
The girl scrambled off the bed — I still couldn't see her, but I could sense her presence. Her fear. Her urgency.
The man tried to catch her again, and I stomped hard on his foot. Another scream tore from him.
"I'll kill you, April!" he shouted after her.
April.
That name struck through me like lightning.
And just like that — I was yanked back.
—
"Enzo!" Laurel's voice cut through the fog as my body jolted upright.
She pulled me into a tight hug, breathing hard, her hands trembling. I opened my eyes slowly — and standing just a few feet away, arms crossed, was my father.
"Did you meet her?" he asked calmly.
I blinked, stunned. "Is she… is it her? April?"
"I can't be certain," he said, his voice unreadable. "But your soul wouldn't leave your body to save a random girl. She has to be the one."
He turned and walked out of the room, leaving Laurel staring at me in shock.
"You found her?" she asked, voice soft.
"I think so…" I murmured, still reeling. "I need to go."
"So soon?" Her voice cracked slightly.
"I have things to handle out there," I replied, standing. "Tell my father I'm leaving."
"I'll walk you out," she said, even though we both knew she didn't want me to go.
—
I reappeared in my hotel suite, heart still pounding. Her voice lingered in my head. It was her. I'd heard it before… but where?
I tapped my alarm clock.
8:00 a.m.
Moments later, my doorbell rang. It was Fred, my manager — the only person who knew about my condition. He came in with a stack of documents and updates for my performance later that night.
After sorting through paperwork, we grabbed breakfast in the hotel restaurant. Around 10 a.m., we were heading back when someone bumped into me, knocking the snack from my hand.
"I'm so sorry!" a girl's voice said quickly, bending to pick it up.
That voice.
My breath caught.
That same voice.
I turned instinctively, but she was already walking away.
"Fred," I said quickly. "Did you see the girl who just passed?"
"Yeah, she seemed to be in a rush. You okay? She didn't hurt you, right?"
"I'm fine. I need you to find her."
He blinked. "Her? Why?"
"Can you stop asking questions and just do it?"
"Got it. I'm on it," he replied, hurrying off.
"I'll be in my room," I said, already turning away.
—
Back in my suite, I stood still, retracing every second. Where had I heard her voice before the vision?
Then it clicked.
Room service.
The necklace.
She was the girl who came in here that day — the one who lost her necklace.
And then I remembered the name my father said…
And the pain in my arm that burned when I heard it.
I reached for my sleeve and touched the tattoo hidden beneath it. A symbol of fate, of the prophecy.
And in that moment, I knew, It wasn't a coincidence.
April's POV
My uncle was nowhere to be found when we returned to my house with the police the next morning. He had run away — and taken everything with him. My savings, my passbook, every single coin I had worked so hard to put away for college… gone.
I collapsed onto my bed, the sobs pouring out of me uncontrollably as I tore through drawers and corners, praying I had missed something. But it was all gone. The one thing I cherished most, the one thing that gave me hope for a better future, had vanished. The loss felt like a fresh wound.
Grandma Sarah and June comforted me, wrapping me in their arms like I was family. "It's not safe for you to stay there anymore," Grandma Sarah said gently. "He might return, and I won't risk it."
I didn't want to be a burden — but she was right. I couldn't stay there, not when my safety was at stake. So I agreed to stay with them for a while.
Despite Grandma's insistence that I rest, I went to work that day. Now more than ever, I needed to raise every penny I could.