Rain had started falling before anyone realized something was wrong.
The city was alive that evening—cars rushing through wet streets, people hurrying beneath umbrellas, neon lights reflecting on puddles like scattered stars. It was just another night, the kind that would normally be forgotten by morning.
Until the accident.
Saphira Vale ran.
Her shoes splashed against the pavement as she pushed through the crowd, breath uneven, heart pounding hard enough to drown out the sounds of the city. She didn't dare look back.
Not tonight.
Not after what had happened.
A loud screech cut through the air.
Then came the crash.
Metal collided with metal. Glass shattered. A streetlight flickered as a car spun out of control and slammed into it. The sound echoed through the rain, stopping conversations and turning heads.
Someone screamed.
For a moment, time seemed to pause.
Saphira froze in the middle of the sidewalk.
The world around her blurred, but the sound of the accident stayed sharp in her ears. Slowly, she turned her head toward the scene across the street.
A car had been crushed against the pole.
Smoke rose into the rain.
People were already gathering.
And deep inside, a terrible thought crept into her mind.
This wasn't supposed to happen.
Across the street, Dr. Corin Ashford had just stepped out of the hospital after finishing a long shift.
He was exhausted, the kind of tired that came from too many sleepless nights and too many emergencies. Rain tapped softly against his coat as he adjusted the collar and prepared to head home.
Then the crash happened.
His instincts took over immediately.
Corin ran.
"Move back!" he called as he pushed through the growing crowd.
The scene was chaotic—people talking over each other, phones raised, rain falling harder by the second.
Inside the damaged car, a young man was slumped over the steering wheel.
Corin opened the door carefully.
"Can you hear me?" he asked, checking the man's pulse.
Weak, but steady.
Relief washed over him as he worked quickly despite the rain.
"Call an ambulance!" someone shouted nearby.
"They're already on their way!"
Good.
Corin focused on keeping the injured man stable, ignoring everything else.
But something felt strange.
A quiet sense that this moment meant more than just an accident on a rainy night.
When the paramedics finally arrived and took over, Corin stepped back, catching his breath.
That was when he noticed her.
Standing under a flickering streetlight across the road.
A girl who looked like she had just run from something she couldn't escape.
Saphira felt someone watching her.
She lifted her gaze slightly and met the doctor's eyes.
For a moment, neither of them moved.
There was no accusation in his expression.
Only concern.
And curiosity.
It made her nervous.
She quickly looked away and hugged herself, trying to steady her breathing.
You have to leave.
But her body refused to move.
Because something about the accident didn't feel random.
It felt connected.
Not far from the scene, Kael Draven leaned against the wall of a nearby building, observing everything quietly.
Most people were focused on the crash.
But Kael had seen what happened before it.
The girl running.
Fast.
Desperate.
Then the car swerving.
As if it had tried to avoid hitting someone.
His eyes followed her again.
Saphira Vale.
He didn't know her name yet, but he knew one thing.
She was important to this moment.
Important to whatever had just begun.
Kael straightened and stepped away from the wall, rain soaking into his jacket as he walked slowly closer.
A camera clicked.
Lyra Quint lowered it and studied the photo she had just taken.
Years of journalism had taught her to trust her instincts, and right now those instincts were telling her something unusual was unfolding.
She looked back at the scene.
The doctor.
The girl.
The man watching from the shadows.
Too many people paying attention to the same moment.
That wasn't normal.
Lyra raised the camera again.
Click.
This time, she captured them all in one frame.
Five strangers connected by a single accident.
Even if they didn't realize it yet.
Across the street, hidden where the streetlights barely reached, Tavian Cross watched quietly.
Unlike everyone else, he wasn't surprised.
In fact, he had been waiting.
The rain, the accident, the people gathering—it was all unfolding exactly as he had expected.
His eyes moved from one person to another.
Saphira.
Corin.
Kael.
Lyra.
Pieces of a story that had only just begun.
A faint smile crossed his face before disappearing again.
Soon, everything would fall into place.
And none of them would be able to walk away from it.
The ambulance doors closed with a heavy thud.
Sirens echoed as the vehicle pulled away, disappearing into the rain-filled streets.
Slowly, the crowd began to disperse.
Cars started moving again.
The city returned to its usual rhythm.
But for a few people, nothing felt normal anymore.
Corin glanced one last time across the street.
The girl was gone.
He frowned slightly, unsure why that bothered him.
Meanwhile, Kael stood under the rain, watching the empty spot where she had been moments ago.
Lyra checked the photos on her camera, her curiosity growing stronger.
And somewhere in the darkness, Tavian Cross turned and walked away, satisfied.
Because the night had gone exactly as planned.
And although none of them understood it yet…
This accident had changed their lives forever.
The day everything changed had already begun.
The ambulance arrived minutes later, its flashing lights cutting through the rain and turning the entire street red and blue.
Corin stepped back as the paramedics rushed forward.
"Male, mid-twenties," he said quickly. "Possible concussion. Pulse stable but weak."
One of the paramedics nodded. "Thanks, doc."
As they lifted the injured man onto the stretcher, Corin finally exhaled. Only then did he notice how soaked he was, rain dripping from his hair and coat.
He should leave.
He knew that.
But something kept him there.
A strange pull he couldn't explain.
And then he saw her.
Standing across the street.
The girl who looked like she didn't belong anywhere.
Saphira's mind was racing.
Everything had happened too fast—the running, the crash, the noise, the people staring. She hugged herself, trying to steady her breathing.
You need to leave.
That was the only thought repeating in her head.
But her feet refused to move.
Because deep down, she knew something.
The accident…
It wasn't just an accident.
Her gaze shifted slightly, and that's when she noticed him.
The doctor.
Watching her.
Not accusingly.
Just… curious.
Concerned.
It made her nervous.
She quickly looked away.
"Interesting."
Lyra lowered her camera and studied the scene carefully.
The doctor had noticed the girl.
The man leaning against the building was also watching her.
And there was tension in the air she couldn't ignore.
Her instincts told her this wasn't a normal accident story.
This was something bigger.
She raised the camera again and took another photo.
Click.
Kael pushed himself off the wall.
The rain had become heavier now, pouring down like the sky had finally decided to let everything fall apart.
He walked slowly toward the street, hands in his pockets, eyes still fixed on the girl.
Most people wouldn't notice small details.
But Kael always did.
And what he had seen earlier bothered him.
The car hadn't lost control randomly.
It had swerved.
Like it was avoiding something.
Or someone.
His gaze landed on Saphira again.
And for a moment…
He wondered if she knew more than she was showing.
From the shadows across the road, Tavian Cross smiled faintly.
Not a happy smile.
The kind that appeared when someone's plan was unfolding exactly the way they expected.
Everything was moving into place.
Exactly as it should.
And none of them realized it yet.
Not the runaway girl.
Not the doctor.
Not the journalist.
Not even Kael.
Tavian adjusted his coat and stepped back into the darkness.
Soon, they would all understand.
The rain continued to fall.
Cars slowly started moving again.
People began to leave.
But the five strangers remained connected by a moment none of them would forget.
And somewhere deep inside each of them…
A quiet feeling was growing.
That tonight was not the end of the story.
It was only the beginning.