4.Caught by Fate.
1095 Words
Enya's Point of View
I thought I could outrun fate.
But there he was.
Raphael.
Standing on the wide stage, his hands neatly tucked into his pockets.
My stomach twisted. Why was he here, at Western? He should have been at Queen's, far away from me. And what was he doing mentoring people? He'd always had an allergy to people.
I had sworn to escape him. Yet, somehow, fate had dragged us right back into the same university, the same faculty… the same cruel game.
No.
This time, it's not going to happen.
I forced myself to breathe. The Raphael on that stage wasn't the stepbrother who had crushed my heart with his cruelty. Not yet.
To him, right now, I was just another random freshman. If I wanted to survive this life, I had to let it stay that way.
But then… that smile.
The one I thought I'd seen on his lips a moment ago.
It had to be an illusion. A trick of my mind, shocked at seeing him again.
I squeezed my eyes shut. Inhale. Exhale.
When I opened them, Raphael and the other peer mentors had stepped off the stage.
"Are you okay, Enya? You look pale…" Rose grabbed my hand and peered into my eyes.
"I'm a bit nervous. First day of university, it's kind of overwhelming." I forced a smile.
Before she could ask more, an announcement echoed through the hall:
"Freshmen, please gather by your assigned mentor flags."
Mentor flags?
I followed the crowd toward the corridor where mentors stood holding colour-coded flags. Group A through T. My name would be somewhere safe, somewhere not under the white flag where a tall figure stood, cold and handsome.
I swallowed hard. "What group are we in?" I whispered to Rose.
She scanned the handout we'd received earlier. "D. Oh my God! We're so lucky! We're in that green-eyed, hot mentor's team. He's the most handsome of all of them, no doubt. I heard other girls saying they all wished he'd be their mentor. Though maybe they didn't want him as a mentor… but as a boyfriend!" Rose laughed, dragging me forward.
No.
No, no, no.
My throat went dry. How could fate play such a cruel game with me?
Why on earth did I have to end up in his team?
"Welcome, everyone!"
"I'm Sandy. And this is Raphael. We'll be your peer mentors this semester," the girl beside him chirped, her smile bright as sunshine.
Then Raphael's voice followed, "We're here to help you settle into college life. Ask us anything, and we'll do our best to help."
His voice. Dreamy. Seductive. Only now it carried a warmth I didn't remember. He showed no trace of the man who had once made me cry every single day with just his words.
If I hadn't already lived one lifetime with him, I might have fallen in love with him all over again from that voice alone.
The icebreaker came.
"I'm Sandy, a Civil major. Fun fact...I collect novelty socks. Cats, doughnuts, tiny apples, you name it, I've got it."
The group laughed.
"Show us!" someone called.
Sandy lifted her foot, showing off socks patterned with silly little cats. "Told you!" Her laughter spread like sunshine, easing the tension in the group.
Then it was his turn.
Raphael.
Even in a circle of twenty, it felt like all eyes belonged to him already.
"I'm Raphael," he said simply, voice calm and low. "Computer Science major. Fun fact… I'm good at photography. I built my own darkroom back home."
The group reacted instantly.
"Wow, that's so cool!" someone said.
"Can you take pictures of us, too?" another girl asked eagerly.
Raphael's lips curved into the faintest smile. "Maybe."
I froze.
Photography. Darkroom.
The words dragged me back to the past.
I had always wanted to see that darkroom. Nobody was ever allowed inside; it was his sacred place. Once, I had stolen the key, desperate to peek inside. But he caught me.
He grabbed my wrist so hard as he dragged me down the stairs, I thought my bones would crack. What terrified me even more was the look in his eyes: murderous, cold, filled with intent to destroy me.
"Enya…"
Rose tugged at my elbow, her whisper pulling me back to the present. I let out a shaky sigh.
"You sure you're fine?" she asked softly, worry in her eyes.
I nodded, putting up a smile. But her narrowed eyes told me she wasn't fooled. She'd confront me later.
I glanced back at the circle. Sandy was bright colours and silly socks. Raphael was shadows and darkrooms.
And somehow, fate had thrown me into both their hands.
"Next, you!" Sandy pointed cheerfully at me.
I forced a smile. Enya. Computer Science major." The truth caught in my throat: I died once because I loved my stepbrother too much. Swallowed it down.
"I can bake, but… not sure you can eat it."
"We can. She's excellent," Rose said instantly, earning a delighted clap from Sandy.
"We'll be blessed with good bakes then!" Sandy laughed.
I don't know why, but my eyes flicked to Raphael. Perhaps because, in the past, he had loved my baking without knowing I had made it. If he had known, he wouldn't have touched it.
Now, he just gave me a brief, emotionless glance, the same one he gave everyone else.
The icebreaker ended, and the campus tour began. Sandy walked at the front with the flag, chatting brightly. Raphael trailed behind, adding small details in his deep, measured voice.
Rose and I stayed in the middle, safely away from him, or so I thought.
The group stopped at a monument near the library, one of Western's most iconic spots.
"If you guys want to take selfies, go ahead!" Sandy chuckled as students gawked and rushed forward with their phones.
"Come on, let's take one too," Rose urged.
"Let's wait a bit. It's too crowded now," I said quickly.
I stepped back to give room for another girl squeezing past, without realising there was a step behind me.
My foot slipped. My balance is lost. A cry caught in my throat.
And then strong arms caught me.
A familiar warmth wrapped around me, steadying me before I fell.
"Enya!"
His voice, rough, sharp, almost… panicked.
I froze, my heart pounding in my chest.
For just one terrifying, desperate second, I let myself sink into the safety of his arms.
The very same arms that had been wrapped around someone else the last time I saw him.
- Writer
