CHAPTER 2- THE STRANGER WITHOUT A SOUL
1272 Words
"Some people carry darkness inside them. Others discover they were born from it."
Soraya didn't believe in fate.
Fate was a comforting lie people told themselves when life became too cruel to understand. It excused every bad decision, every broken promise, every tragedy that should never have happened.
She believed in choices.
And yet...
As she drove home through Ashveldt's sleeping streets, one choice refused to leave her mind.
Elias.
The windshield wipers swept away the rain in slow, rhythmic motions, only for fresh droplets to replace them moments later. Neon lights blurred across the glass like bleeding stars, turning the city into a watercolor of crimson and violet.
Usually, the drive home cleared her thoughts.
Tonight, it only sharpened them.
She replayed every second of their conversation.
The way he looked at her.
The way he spoke her name without fear.
The impossible calm in his heartbeat.
No matter how many times she turned it over in her mind, nothing made sense.
He should have been afraid.
Everyone was.
A motorcycle roared past her, disappearing into the rain.
Soraya barely noticed.
Her thoughts drifted somewhere she hadn't allowed them to wander in years.
The first man she'd ever loved.
She remembered his laugh.
The warmth of his hands.
The promises they'd whispered beneath a sky full of stars.
Then she remembered his funeral.
Her fingers tightened around the steering wheel until her knuckles turned white.
No.
She refused to think about him.
Some memories were graves.
They were meant to stay buried.
---
The gates to her penthouse opened silently as she approached.
The building overlooked nearly all of Ashveldt, its glass exterior reflecting the restless city below. To everyone else, it was the home of a successful businesswoman whose wealth seemed to have appeared overnight.
No one knew the truth.
Money came easily when powerful people feared you.
She stepped into the elevator alone.
No mirrors.
She had removed them years ago.
Seven floors passed in silence before the doors opened into her private residence.
Dark hardwood floors stretched beneath her feet.
Black velvet curtains concealed walls of glass overlooking the skyline.
Candles burned where ordinary people would have placed lamps.
The scent of roses lingered in the air.
Always roses.
Always ash.
She slipped off her heels near the entrance, sighing softly as exhaustion settled into her bones.
Home.
Or the closest thing she had to it.
Her phone vibrated inside her purse.
Unknown Number.
She frowned.
Almost no one had her private number.
After a moment, she answered.
Silence.
Then...
Breathing.
Slow.
Steady.
Deliberate.
"Who is this?"
Nothing.
Only breathing.
Her pulse quickened.
"Stop wasting my time."
The line clicked dead.
Soraya stared at the phone for several seconds before placing it on the kitchen island.
She didn't scare easily.
But something about tonight felt...
Wrong.
The apartment suddenly felt colder.
The candles flickered.
Not because of the wind.
Because of magic.
Ancient.
Watching.
Soraya closed her eyes.
She reached inward, toward the flame that had lived beneath her skin for as long as she could remember.
Heat spread through her fingertips.
Golden runes hidden beneath the apartment walls shimmered to life one by one, wrapping the penthouse in invisible protection.
The wards were still intact.
No one had crossed them.
So why...
She opened her eyes.
Someone was standing on her balcony.
Perfectly still.
Rain poured around the figure without touching him.
His hands rested in the pockets of his black coat.
Storm-gray eyes met hers through the glass.
Elias.
He hadn't broken the wards.
He hadn't forced his way inside.
He was simply...
Waiting.
Soraya didn't move.
Neither did Elias.
For a long moment, the only sound between them was the rain drumming against the floor-to-ceiling windows.
It should have been impossible.
The balcony was protected by layers of ancient wards, each carved into the stone by witches who had long since turned to dust. The enchantments were designed to keep out demons, spirits, blood mages, and anything else that carried magic in its veins.
Nothing crossed those wards uninvited.
Nothing.
Yet Elias stood beyond the glass as though the invisible barrier didn't exist.
Her pulse slowed.
Not from calm.
From instinct.
She had learned long ago that panic made people careless.
Carelessness got people killed.
She walked toward the window with measured steps, never taking her eyes off him.
As she approached, faint silver lines shimmered across the glass. Ancient runes awakened one by one, circling Elias in rings of pale light.
The wards were testing him.
Judging him.
A low hum filled the apartment.
For one terrifying second, Soraya thought they would attack.
Instead...
The light faded.
The runes disappeared.
The wards accepted him.
Her breath caught.
"No..."
she whispered.
"That's impossible."
Elias tilted his head.
"I've been hearing that a lot lately."
Soraya unlocked the balcony door but kept one hand hidden behind her back. Flames gathered silently in her palm, swirling between her fingers like living gold.
The door slid open.
Cold rain-scented air rushed into the apartment.
"You have exactly ten seconds," she said. "Start talking."
"I wasn't sure you'd let me in."
"I didn't."
A faint smile tugged at the corner of his mouth.
"You opened the door."
"I opened it so I could decide whether to throw you off my balcony."
He looked over the edge of the penthouse, then back at her.
"It's a long fall."
"I know."
"And if I survive?"
"You won't."
For the first time, Elias laughed.
It wasn't mocking.
It wasn't arrogant.
It was genuine.
Warm enough that it caught her completely off guard.
"You smile more than people think," he said.
Her expression hardened.
"You know nothing about me."
"I know enough."
Before she could respond, he reached into the inside pocket of his coat.
In a single fluid motion, Soraya raised her hand.
Fire erupted from her fingertips.
A ribbon of golden flame wrapped around Elias's wrist before he could finish the movement. It burned brightly without consuming him, holding his arm perfectly still.
The room fell silent.
Elias looked at the fire around his wrist.
Then back at Soraya.
"You really were going to throw me off."
"I told you not to reach for anything."
"I was getting this."
Slowly—very slowly—he opened his hand.
A single black rose rested in his palm.
Its petals shimmered with droplets of rain, impossibly untouched by the wind.
Soraya stared at it.
"...A flower?"
"I wasn't sure what people bring the woman everyone is afraid of."
"So you brought a rose?"
"It seemed polite."
Against all reason...
Against every instinct telling her to send him away...
A laugh escaped her.
Soft.
Brief.
Real.
The flames around his wrist dissolved into glowing embers that drifted into the night.
"You are either incredibly brave..."
She stepped closer until only a few inches separated them.
"...or completely insane."
Elias met her gaze without hesitation.
"I'm beginning to think they're the same thing."
Soraya looked down at the rose.
Its petals were black as midnight, but along the edges tiny crimson veins glowed beneath the surface, pulsing faintly like a heartbeat.
She had seen flowers like this only once before.
In the oldest pages of a forbidden grimoire.
They weren't meant to exist.
Slowly, she lifted her eyes to Elias.
"Where did you get this?"
His smile disappeared.
"I've been carrying it for a very long time."
"How long?"
He hesitated.
Then answered quietly.
"Longer than I've been alive."
A chill crept down Soraya's spine.
For the second time that night...
She realized the man standing before her wasn't just hiding secrets.
He was one.
- Writer
