Ion had a dream that night again.
Rain gathered on the windshield in uneven patterns, sliding down in trembling lines before disappearing into darkness—each streak a tiny river carrying away fragments of light from the dashboard. The highway outside the city stretched endlessly, a black ribbon slick with moisture under the dim glow of streetlights that flickered like hesitant lanterns in the night, their orange halos blurring and warping in the downpour. The black sedan moved steadily through the empty lanes, tires humming softly against wet asphalt, the rhythmic swish—swish—swish of wipers cutting through a silence so thick it felt like holding breath underwater.
Inside the car, warmth lingered faintly from the heater, but the night pressed in from every direction. The rain drummed sof
