Episode 3: Something Like a Warning
563 Words
The sun had climbed higher by the time Serah pulled on one of Kael’s oversized shirts. It hung off her shoulder, smelling like him—paint, sweat, something warm and wild.
Kael stood by the window, sipping black coffee. Shirtless again, tattoos glowing golden in the light. He was quiet, eyes fixed on the street below.
Serah walked over, wrapping her arms around his waist from behind. “Are you always this intense in the morning?”
He smiled, but it didn’t quite reach his eyes.
“Only when I know something’s coming.”
That made her pause.
“What do you mean?”
Kael turned, brushing hair from her face. “I mean… sometimes things feel too good too fast. And that usually means something’s about to break.”
Serah didn’t answer right away. Her fingers slid over his ribs, tracing the inked lines of a broken clock on his side.
“Or maybe it means something’s finally going right,” she said softly.
He looked at her like he wanted to believe that. But something in him was still guarded—like a locked door behind those dark eyes.
They spent the rest of the morning like the world didn’t exist. Laughing. Kissing. Eating leftover pizza from his fridge. She told him stories about her childhood, and he showed her old sketches he’d never shown anyone. One of them looked familiar—a girl standing in the rain, watching someone from a distance.
“That’s me,” Serah whispered, touching the corner of the page.
Kael looked at her. “Yeah. I drew it the day before we met.”
A chill danced down her spine.
“That’s… impossible.”
He shrugged. “Or maybe you were always meant to find me.”
But just as the magic wrapped around them again, a knock hit the loft door. Hard. Fast. Not friendly.
Kael tensed. His whole body changed—his shoulders, his jaw, his eyes. Like a fighter hearing the bell.
“Don’t move,” he said.
He walked to the door and cracked it open. Serah stayed behind the wall, listening.
A man’s voice.
“Kael. We need to talk. Now.”
“I told you I’m out,” Kael said, sharp.
“Doesn’t matter. You’re not done until he says you are.”
Serah’s heart started racing. She peeked around the corner.
The man was tall, wearing black, sunglasses hiding his face. Something cold wrapped around the air between them.
Kael shut the door without another word.
He turned to her, and for the first time since they met, Serah saw fear in his eyes.
“I need to tell you something,” he said.
She nodded, throat dry. “Okay.”
“There’s a reason I left the ring. And it wasn’t just for art.”
“What kind of reason?”
He hesitated.
“I used to fight underground. For people who don’t play by rules. I owed them. Fought for them. Won for them. Then I disappeared.”
Serah’s mind raced. “And now they found you.”
Kael nodded once. “And they never show up just to say hello.”
That night, the city lights outside the window didn’t feel as safe. And in Kael’s arms, Serah didn’t feel like a stranger anymore.
She felt like an accomplice.
[To Be Continued in Episode 4]
- Writer
