"Some souls are bound not by time, but by recognition."
Morning came too early.
The sunlight through the blinds felt too bright, too real, as if the universe itself was forcing me to stay awake. I hadn't slept a single second. Not after that message.
Elias: We need to talk. Tomorrow. Don't ignore this.
The words burned in my mind all night. I kept wondering what he meant.
Did he know something about the voice that spoke to me? About Ariselle?
Or was it all just my mind cracking under the pressure of two lifetimes trying to coexist?
I poured myself coffee, though I barely tasted it.
My reflection in the window looked pale, exhausted and faintly unfamiliar again.
The same tired eyes, but something inside them shimmered differently, like a layer of glass had cracked and something older was starting to look through.
By the time I got to work, the city had already settled into its daily rhythm. Maya was at the counter again, cheerful as always, like nothing strange ever happened.
"You look terrible," she said.
"Thanks," I muttered.
"Rough night?"
"You could say that."
Before she could press further, the door opened.
The same quiet presence filled the air, so thick I could almost feel it before I even saw him.
Elias Thorn.
Dark suit. Clean lines. Calm eyes that looked like they had seen centuries.
For a moment, the room seemed to shift around him. The light dimmed, conversations softened, and every breath I took felt too shallow.
He walked straight toward me. "You came."
"I don't really remember agreeing to meet," I said, half-joking, half-defensive.
He tilted his head, studying me with a faint smile that wasn't quite kind. "You would've come either way."
There was something unnerving about the certainty in his tone, but I couldn't look away.
"What did you want to talk about?"
"Not here." He glanced around. "Finish your shift. I'll wait."
And he did.
The entire day.
No drink. No phone. Just sitting in the corner booth, watching quietly, like a shadow stitched into the fabric of the bar.
Every time I looked up, he was already watching me.
Not in a threatening way just aware.
As if he could see things I couldn't.
When closing time finally came, Maya raised an eyebrow. "Your friend's got patience."
"He's not" I stopped, unsure how to explain what he was to me. What he used to be.
I wiped down the counter one last time and approached him.
He stood as I got close, towering slightly above me, his scent faintly metallic like rain and iron.
"Where are we going?" I asked.
He didn't answer, just gestured for me to follow.
We walked through narrow streets, the kind where the city's lights struggled to reach.
The air was cool, sharp with the smell of asphalt and night.
Finally, he stopped near the river. The water shimmered darkly under the moonlight.
"Why here?"
"This is where the veil is thinnest," he said quietly. "You can feel it too, can't you?"
I frowned, about to protest but then I did feel it.
That hum beneath my skin. The faint ripple in the air. Like the world itself was breathing just a little too fast.
Elias turned toward me, his gaze searching.
"You've been dreaming again."
It wasn't a question.
"How did you"
"I can tell," he interrupted softly. "You smell like old magic."
My pulse jumped. "Magic doesn't exist."
"Doesn't it?" His tone was calm, almost amused. "Then how do you explain that light under your skin last night? Or the way time bends around you when you're afraid?"
I stepped back. "You're insane."
He smiled faintly. "Maybe. But so are you."
For a moment, the world fell silent.
Only the sound of the river remained, whispering between us like a secret too ancient to name.
Then he stepped closer too close.
His breath brushed my ear as he spoke.
"Tell me, Ariselle. Do you still remember me?"
My heart stopped.
No one had said that name aloud since the night I died.
I looked up at him, words stuck in my throat.
"How how do you know that name?"
He didn't answer.
He just stared at me, and for the briefest second, I saw it his eyes flashing not silver but gold, the color of fire reflected on armor.
And in that instant, I knew he wasn't just Elias Thorn.
He was him.
The knight who once swore to protect me.
The man I'd died for.
The memories came like a storm.
The battlefield, the burning sky, the last thing I saw before dying his face.
The same eyes. The same voice that whispered my name before everything went dark.
But that was centuries ago.
That couldn't be him.
I stumbled back, shaking my head. "No. You can't be"
Elias reached out, but stopped short of touching me.
"Your soul recognizes me even if your mind doesn't."
"I don't want to remember," I whispered. "I just want to live my life."
He looked almost sad. "Then why did fate bring you back to me?"
My chest tightened. The river wind grew colder, slicing through the air like invisible blades. The world around us began to flicker light bending, air trembling. I felt something inside me twist, pulling against the fabric of reality itself.
"Stop it," I gasped. "What's happening?"
Elias's voice deepened. "You're waking it up."
"I don't understand!"
"The magic, Ariselle. It's still inside you. Even death couldn't take it."
The ground cracked beneath my feet. Ripples of pale light spread across the water, reflecting fragments of faces I didn't recognize but somehow knew. Soldiers, blood, a crown fallen into ash.
"Make it stop!"
He stepped forward, caught my wrist, and the world froze.
The river stilled. The air stopped moving. Even my breath felt suspended.
His eyes were no longer human. Silver like molten glass, glowing faintly in the dark.
"You think you can run from destiny?" he said quietly. "You can't run from what you are."
I tried to pull away, but his grip tightened, not in cruelty in desperation.
"I searched for you through lifetimes," he whispered. "Through every name, every face, every shadow. You were always there, just out of reach."
I wanted to speak, to tell him he was wrong, but my voice broke.
Because deep down, a part of me did remember.
The way his hands used to tremble when he held my sword.
The way he looked at me the night I died.
"I'm not her anymore," I said weakly.
His lips curved into a sad, almost reverent smile. "You're still you. And I'll prove it."
The light flared again. His touch burned not from pain, but from memory.
In a flash, images flooded me: two figures standing beneath a dying sun, blood on their hands, and a promise whispered over a broken crown.
"If loving you is a sin"
My vision blurred. "Stop please"
"then I'll defy Heaven twice."
The words echoed in my mind like thunder. The air shattered, and I was thrown backward into the water.
Cold swallowed me whole.
The last thing I saw before darkness claimed me again was Elias standing at the riverbank, his expression unreadable, silver eyes glowing beneath the moonlight like a ghost that refused to fade.
He found me.
But why now?
And what does he want from me this time?
To be continued...