Niccolo's car stopped in front of Kali's building. The engine shut off, but neither of them moved right away.
"Do you want me to come up?" he asked, looking at her with a mix of tenderness and exhaustion.
Kali nodded. There were no words to explain that, this morning, all she wanted was not to be alone. Not out of fear, but out of the need to feel alive.
They got out of the car in silence. And that's when they heard it.
A growl. Deep. Long. Not like any known animal. It didn't come from far—probably from some dark corner of the side street. They both froze.
"Did you hear that?" Kali whispered, clutching Niccolo's forearm.
"Yeah. And I don't want to find out what it was. Let's go inside."
They rushed into the building. The hallway's old light flickered like something out of a horror movie. Kali pressed the elevator button. It didn't work. Luckily, her place was on the third floor.
They climbed the stairs, and upon reaching the apartment, Kali unlocked the door. Niccolo walked in for the first time and looked around.
"Wow... it's like a mix of 'boho chic' and 'controlled disaster'," he joked, eyeing the crooked cushions, a forgotten mug on the table, and books stacked beside a half-dead plant.
"Just say it—it's chaos," Kali laughed, tossing her keys on the counter.
"But it's your chaos. So I like it."
She turned to face him. Their eyes met again. But this time, there was no fire—just a shared pause.
"Tea? Wine? Therapist?" Kali offered.
"Just you," he said, sitting on the couch.
She gently took off his jacket, as if everything were moving in slow motion.
"I don't want to think about what happened," she said, sitting next to him.
"Me neither. But I do want to think about how you make me feel sane in the middle of this madness."
They lay back, side by side. And they talked. About nonsense. Absurd movies. Things they'd do if the world weren't getting so weird. For a little while, they weren't two people marked by a corpse and dark symbols. Just Kali and Niccolo. As before. Or maybe as it always should have been.
...
Meanwhile, Dahlia walked with Tobias down a quiet street toward his small apartment. The sky was slightly overcast, as if Aarush refused to fully let the sun out.
"Can I say something without sounding cliché?" Tobias asked.
"I doubt I can stop you. Go ahead."
"I didn't think I'd enjoy being with you so much after a night of hangovers and a corpse in the living room."
She laughed softly.
"Sounds like the start of a bad paranormal romance novel."
"What if we write one together?"
Dahlia was about to answer when she froze. Something, in the distance, moved. A large, dark silhouette, passing between the trees in the park that bordered the street. It didn't seem human. But not quite animal either.
"Did you see that?" she whispered, gripping Tobias's arm.
"What?" He followed her gaze, but saw nothing. "An animal?"
"I don't know... but it gave me goosebumps."
"Come on," he said, wrapping an arm around her. "We're almost there."
They reached his apartment. It was small but cozy. Bookshelves everywhere, a guitar resting against the couch, and a rumpled blanket that smelled like coffee and tobacco.
"Want something?" Tobias asked. "I've got coffee, cookies, and maybe ice cream if karma's on our side."
"Coffee," she replied, settling on the couch.
He went to the kitchen and came back with two mugs. He handed her one and sat beside her.
"You know, I didn't think you'd come," Tobias confessed.
"Neither did I. But I needed... not to think about what I saw this morning."
"And about what you felt?"
She looked at him. Long and honest.
"I feel like something dark is following us. But... it doesn't scare me as much when I'm with you."
Tobias smiled.
"That's the sweetest and creepiest thing I've heard today."
"Today? That mean you usually get spooky confessions?"
"Only on Tuesdays," he joked.
They both laughed. It was quiet, but healing.
And so, with warm mugs, comfortable silence, and a shadow still hiding in the Aarush mist, Tobias and Dahlia discovered that sometimes, the greatest refuge is an honest conversation with the right person.
Even when the world is beginning to crack.