Chapter 1: The Rain Came Down Like Fate
The rain wasn’t just falling—it was attacking the city.
Each drop hit the windows of Blackwood Tower like shards of cold glass, relentless and unforgiving. Outside, the skyline blurred into a slick canvas, silver veins of lightning tearing through the heavy clouds with resounding thunderclaps that vibrated in her bones. Inside, the boardroom was still and cold, its long mahogany table standing sentinel with untouched water bottles, closed laptops, and the heavy silence of decisions already made.
Sienna Blackwood stood at the head of the table, her arms crossed, a turbulent mix of emotions masking her otherwise unreadable expression.
The room had emptied an hour ago, leaving only her reflection staring back at her through the floor-to-ceiling windows—sharp jawline, dark eyes, posture so straight it hurt. To anyone else, she looked like the embodiment of authority, like she belonged here—commanding and in control. But even the most powerful personas can feel cripplingly lonely after midnight.
She picked up her sleek clutch, ignoring the persistent buzzing on her phone—no doubt another message from Daniel, asking when she would return home. Each tap of her heels down the hallway echoed like clock hands ticking forward toward a fate she couldn’t name.
Sienna slipped into the elevator, the cool, metallic enclosure closing her off from the world above. As she descended into the underground garage, the echo of her footsteps reverberated between the concrete walls, a jarring contrast to the solitude that enveloped her.
Her matte black Jaguar awaited her in the shadows, sleek and silent. As she pulled out onto the rain-slicked road, the deluge intensified, hammering against the car roof as if trying to warn her of the storm brewing inside her head. Her fingers tightened around the leather steering wheel—a habit she had long grown numb to. The low jazz of her playlist drifted through the speakers, attempting to drown out the relentless voice in her mind that always whispered the same things:
Help everyone.
Be gentle.
Win everything.
A few hours earlier, just before the board meeting, her assistant had revealed unsettling news: the company funds were illegally tied to her husband’s name. This wasn’t the first time; she had brushed it aside twice already, but this time the betrayal felt different. This time, she felt the churn of righteous fury. She wanted to confront him, to make it clear that he could always come to her or his assistant for help instead of resorting to fraud.
During the board meeting, one of her trusted employees had taken the blame for his slip, a scapegoat wrapped in promises of a new house in the city. It felt wrong, but what was right anymore? In this economy, securing a decent home was a luxury most could only dream of. Ethics blurred beneath the weight of necessity and ambition.
Her mind was a tangle of past injustices and present dilemmas, swirling like the rain pouring from the sky. She felt distanced from herself—this wasn’t the confident businesswoman she prided herself on being. But who cared anyway? Her heart raced with anxiety as she took the longer, emptier route home through the hills, where even the streetlights seemed to flicker with uncertainty.
Then the world jerked beneath her.
A blur of white careened into view, a figure emerging from the rain like a ghost.
"What's that?" flashed through her mind before instinct took over.
She slammed the brakes.
Tires screamed against the slick pavement, the car fishtailed, and her chest collided against the seatbelt with a jolt that knocked the breath from her lungs.
Her heart stopped as a complete silence settled around her, broken only by the ceaseless thud of rain against her car roof.
“Did I hit someone?” Panic clawed at her throat as she flung the door open and raced into the tempest, her coat whipping behind her like a cloak of shadows meant to hide her from the reality she was sprinting toward.
There—on the slick asphalt—a girl lay crumpled, soaked to the bone, limbs twisted in unnatural angles. The rain cascaded down like an icy river, washing away warmth, blood, and precious moments that ticked away like a countdown.
Sienna dropped to her knees, heart pounding. “Shit. Shit. Are you—?” Her voice cracked, unfamiliar with the rush of panic flooding her senses.
The girl’s skin was ice. She wore no jacket, no shoes, and the thin dress clung to her body like a second skin, drenching her in sorrow. She resembled someone who had walked out of another realm—or perhaps had been violently ejected from one.
Sienna fumbled for her phone, dialing 911. “There’s been an accident,” she said, forcing her voice to remain steady. “I need an ambulance. Rural highway 19, just past mile marker—”
The girl stirred.
Sienna froze.
The girl's lips parted, her eyes fluttered open, barely comprehending her surroundings. “Don’t...” she rasped, her voice hoarse and trembling. “Don’t leave me…”
Sienna stared, something sharp sinking into her chest like an uninvited guest. She could’ve left, should’ve—maybe it would’ve been easier. She didn’t know this girl. Didn’t owe her anything. Yet, her fingers trembled as she tucked her coat around the girl’s frail body, offering warmth that was barely more than a desperate gesture.
“I’m not going anywhere,” Sienna promised softly, brushing wet locks of hair away from the girl’s pale face. “You’re safe now.”
But as she spoke, a chilling doubt crept into her mind, that flicker of dread slithering down her spine. Something about this girl didn’t add up.
Not her sudden appearance.
Not her desperate whisper.
Not the way her fragile hand curled into Sienna’s coat, as if she already understood the depth of their inexplicable connection.
When the blue and red lights finally sliced through the dark, illuminating the rain-soaked scene, paramedics rushed in, voices sharp and efficient. Sienna stepped back, her heart still racing, but she didn’t take her eyes off the girl.
“What’s your relationship to the victim?” one EMT asked as they unfurled the gurney.
“I don’t know her,” Sienna replied, her voice faltering as she tried to shake the eerie sense of recognition that gnawed at her.
The gurney rolled past, but as it did, the girl’s fingers gripped Sienna’s again—this time tighter, desperate.
Just before losing consciousness, the girl whispered two haunting words, cracked lips forming each syllable slowly yet profoundly:
“Find me.”
The doors slammed shut, and the ambulance sped into the night, sirens wailing like a lost soul echoing in the storm.
And Sienna, soaked in rain and silence, stood frozen like a statue carved from her deepest fears—understanding, with chilling clarity, that this wasn’t just an accident.
It was the beginning of something she couldn’t escape. Something that would unravel the very threads of her existence and force her to confront the secrets lurking in the dark corners of her life.