A Moon's Twilight

whispers in the dark

Morning at the Office

Elysia sat at her desk, fingers hovering over the keyboard, but the words on the screen blurred into nothingness. A marketing report for an upcoming campaign stared back at her, waiting to be finished, yet her mind kept wandering, back to the café, back to Lucas.

She told herself she wouldn’t go back looking for him again. But she had, over and over and over again. And he hadn’t been there.

“You’re doing that thing again.”

Elysia blinked as Lydia Marion, her childhood best friend, plopped into the chair beside her, flipping through a stack of files with an exaggerated sigh.

“What thing?” Elysia asked, feigning focus as she clicked through her half-written email.

“The thing where you stare at the screen like it personally betrayed you.” Lydia smirked. “Which, let’s be real, I wouldn’t blame it for. You’ve been floating around like some tragic love-struck heroine all week.”

Elysia groaned, dropping her head into her hands. “I’m not love-struck.”

Lydia wiggled her brows. “Oh no? Then why do you keep going back to that café like a lost puppy, huh?”

Elysia opened her mouth to argue but closed it just as fast. There was no explaining it, not in a way that made sense. She just… kept going.

Lydia leaned in, voice dropping to a whisper. “So, tell me, does this mystery man of yours have a name, or are we calling him Stranger?”

Elysia hesitated. Saying his name out loud felt strangely intimate. “Lucas.”

Lydia hummed, as if testing the name. “Lucas. Mysterious. Broody. The kind of guy who disappears like a ghost?”

Elysia sighed. “I don’t know what he is. He just… left.”

Lydia tilted her head. “Okay, real talk? Either he’s secretly a vampire, hot but a little concerning, or you, my friend, are hopelessly smitten. And I’m leaning toward the second one.”

Elysia rolled her eyes. “You’re ridiculous.”

“And you’re in denial.” Lydia tapped the file in front of her. “Now, unless Lucas is about to send us an ad campaign, get back to work before you get yourself fired.”

Elysia chuckled despite herself. But as she turned back to her screen, her thoughts refused to stay put.

That night, she saw him again. He left a message for her at the càfe. Under her cup of usual coffee.

---

Under the Night Sky

Elysia wasn’t sure why she had agreed to meet him. Maybe it was the unanswered questions, or maybe it was just that she needed to know he was real.

The park stretched wide, quiet, the moon casting silver through the branches. Lucas stood beneath a lone lamplight, hands in his pockets, watching her as she approached.

“You came,” he said.

Elysia crossed her arms. “I almost didn’t.”

Lucas gave a small smile. “But you did.”

They walked in silence at first, the cool air settling between them. The world outside the park seemed far away, like a dream slipping from her grasp.

After a while, Lucas spoke. “Do you believe people can be cursed?”

Elysia frowned. “Cursed?”

“Like… bound to something they can’t escape.”

His voice was even, but there was something beneath it, something... heavy.

Elysia studied his face, the sharp angles softened by the glow of the lamplights. “Are you talking about yourself?”

Lucas chuckled, but there was no humor in it. “Maybe.”

Elysia hesitated. “What kind of curse?”

Lucas glanced up at the sky, as if searching for something beyond the stars.

Maybe looking for the best way to explain it to Elysia.“The kind that keeps you running. Even when you don’t want to.”

A shiver traced down her spine. She didn’t know what he meant, not entirely. But something in his voice told her that whatever he was running from, it wasn’t something he could easily escape.

Before she could ask more, Lucas turned to her with a small, almost apologetic smile. “You should head home, Elysia.”

She didn’t want to. But she nodded.

As they parted ways, his words lingered.

A curse.

Something that kept him running.

And for the first time, Elysia wondered, was she chasing a man, or chasing a ghost of something already lost?

The park meeting haunted Elysia more than she cared to admit.

Lucas’ words lingered, "Do you believe people can be cursed?", as if they had settled into her bones. She replayed them over and over, trying to pull some meaning from the quiet weight behind them. But no matter how many ways she turned the thought in her mind, it remained just out of reach, like a shadow slipping through her fingers. what was he running from ? what distress could he be in. To many unanswered questions flooded her head. She needed answers .

And yet, despite the mystery, despite the unease creeping at the edges of her thoughts, she wanted to see him again.