Chapter4
1085 Words
Fractured Memories
Lena could barely breathe.
The moment hung between them, heavy with something unspoken, something neither of them dared to voice.
Adrian Blackwood had dreamed last night.
And if the tension crackling in the air was anything to go by—his dream hadn’t been just any dream.
It had been like hers.
Lena’s heartbeat pounded in her ears.
She should say something.
Deny it. Laugh it off. Pretend it was nothing.
But she couldn’t.
Because deep down, she knew it was something.
Something too big, too impossible to ignore.
Adrian turned away, running a hand through his dark hair. His jaw was tense, his entire body rigid, as if he was fighting a battle within himself.
Finally, he spoke.
"Forget it," he muttered, dismissing the subject entirely.
Lena’s stomach twisted.
But she forced herself to nod.
"Of course, sir," she said, her voice betraying none of the chaos inside her.
Adrian’s gray eyes flicked back to hers for just a second—searching, questioning—before he turned and walked back to his desk.
Dismissed.
Lena took the hint.
She turned on her heel and left his office, closing the door behind her.
But as she walked back to her desk, her mind refused to let go.
Something was happening between them.
Something that neither of them could explain.
And if Adrian Blackwood thought she was just going to forget about it—
He was wrong.
---
A Warning from the Past
That night, Lena’s dreams returned.
But this time, she wasn’t standing on a balcony.
She was running.
The stone halls stretched endlessly before her, torchlight flickering against the cold walls. Her breath came in ragged gasps as she clutched the fabric of her dress, her feet barely touching the ground.
Behind her—shouts, footsteps, the clatter of armor.
They were coming.
And then—hands grabbed her waist, pulling her into the shadows.
She gasped, but before she could scream, a firm hand covered her mouth.
"Shh," a deep voice whispered in her ear.
Lena stilled.
Because she knew that voice.
Slowly, she turned.
And there he was.
The man from before.
The man who looked like Adrian Blackwood but wasn’t.
His stormy eyes burned into hers, filled with urgency, desperation, something almost… broken.
"You shouldn’t have come here," he murmured.
Lena’s heart pounded. "I had to."
His grip tightened on her arms. "They’ll kill you if they find you."
She swallowed hard. "Then what do we do?"
For a moment, he just stared at her.
Then, slowly, his expression shifted—from fear to determination.
"We fight," he said.
And then—
A sword flashed through the darkness.
Lena barely had time to scream before everything shattered into a million pieces—
And she woke up gasping.
---
The Aftermath
Lena sat up in bed, her skin slick with sweat, her pulse racing.
She pressed a hand to her chest, trying to calm her breathing.
But the moment she closed her eyes, she saw him again.
The urgency in his gaze.
The warning in his voice.
"We fight."
Lena clenched the bedsheets in her fists.
This wasn’t just a dream.
This was something else.
Something real.
And somehow
, Adrian Blackwood was a part of it.
She didn’t know how.
She didn’t know why.
But she was going to find out.
No matter what it took.
Lena sat in bed, her breath uneven as the last traces of the dream clung to her like a second skin.
Her heart was still pounding, the memory of the dream so vivid it felt more like a recovered memory than a fantasy.
Adrian’s face—or the man who looked like him—was burned into her mind.
"We fight."
What did it mean?
Why did it feel like more than just a dream?
Lena swallowed hard and swung her legs over the edge of the bed. The cold wooden floor grounded her for a moment, anchoring her back to reality.
She reached for her phone and checked the time—4:32 AM.
She sighed.
There was no point in trying to go back to sleep.
Not when every time she closed her eyes, she felt like she was stepping into a different world.
---
Unanswered Questions
By the time Lena arrived at Celestia Corp, she had convinced herself she could ignore it.
She had a job to do, and she couldn't let herself get distracted by some strange, recurring dream.
But the moment she stepped into the office, she knew it wasn’t going to be that easy.
Because the second she walked past Adrian’s office, she felt it again.
That same pull.
That same unexplainable connection.
As if the memories—or whatever they were—were waiting just beneath the surface, ready to consume her.
And the worst part?
When she glanced toward Adrian’s office, he was already watching her.
Lena’s breath caught.
She looked away quickly, heading straight for her desk.
But she could still feel his gaze lingering on her.
As if he was searching for answers he wasn’t ready to admit he needed.
---
A Tense Conversation
An hour passed before Lena’s phone buzzed with a message.
Adrian Blackwood: Come to my office. Now.
Lena’s stomach twisted.
She stood, smoothing her skirt, and made her way toward his office.
Her pulse raced as she stepped inside and closed the door.
Adrian stood near the window, hands in his pockets, his jaw tight.
For a long moment, he didn’t say anything.
Then—
"I didn’t sleep last night."
Lena stilled.
Adrian turned to her, his gray eyes unreadable. "Tell me something, Miss Carter."
Lena swallowed hard. "What?"
Adrian studied her for a long moment.
Then, his voice dropped lower.
"Have you ever dreamed of a past that doesn’t belong to you?"
Lena’s breath caught.
The room felt smaller.
Her entire body went tense.
She should have lied.
She should have denied everything.
But something in Adrian’s gaze—something desperate, something haunted—made her pause.
Finally, she whispered—
"Yes."
Adrian’s eyes darkened.
Silence filled the space between them, thick with unspoken truths.
Then, Adrian exhaled, running a hand through his dark hair.
"This isn’t normal," he muttered.
Lena nodded. "I know."
Adrian turned toward her fully, his expression unreadable.
"Then tell me, Miss Carter," he said, his voice low and controlled.
"What the hell is happening
to us?"
Lena swallowed hard.
She had no answer.
But one thing was clear.
Whatever was happening…
It wasn’t over.
- Writer
