The faint hum of the city pulsed around you, a steady rhythm you had long since learned to tune out. Yorknew City was always alive, always moving—whether it was the bustling streets crowded with vendors, the constant chatter of people, or the gleam of neon signs stretching into the sky, it was never silent. And today, of all days, that same energy felt both comforting and overwhelming.
You weren't sure what had brought you back here. Well, not entirely. Two years had passed since you'd graduated from high school, two years since you had left the familiar embrace of your family home to carve out your own space in the world. Yet here you were, walking the streets of Yorknew, the same streets you'd wandered so many times in your youth. Your mind was heavy, filled with thoughts you didn't entirely understand. It wasn't that you didn't have a purpose—you did—but something deeper, something more inexplicable had driven you here today.
It had started then. The dreams. They came without warning, vivid and raw, pulling you into places you'd never been and yet knew intimately. Every time, you saw him—a boy with silver hair and electric blue eyes, eyes that seemed to call out to you, as if begging you to remember something you had long since forgotten. And every time, the dream would end before you could reach him. The memory would vanish the moment you woke, leaving nothing but a hollow ache in your chest.
But today felt different. Today, the air carried a heaviness that you couldn't shake, as though the city itself was holding its breath. Your subconscious tugged at you, guiding your footsteps through streets you hadn't walked in years, until you found yourself here—alone, wandering the crowded avenues, trying to make sense of why you had returned to the place you had once called home.
Your family had always been a complex web of personalities, each member pulling in a different direction, each harboring their own struggles. It was no wonder you had felt the need to break free after high school, to find your own path. Even now, as you thought about them, a familiar tug of emotions welled up inside you.
There was your mother, Milena, a woman with the grace and patience of a saint. She was the glue that held your family together, even when it seemed like everything was falling apart. Milena had always been soft-spoken, her voice carrying the warmth of someone who had seen the worst life had to offer but still chose to see the best in people. Her dark hair, always pulled back in a neat bun, framed her tired eyes—the eyes of someone who had spent years carrying more weight than anyone should. Your father, Jameson, had left when you were twelve. He hadn't been able to handle the pressure of a family, the weight of responsibilities, so he'd walked out one night and never returned. It had been Milena who had picked up the pieces, working tirelessly at the local hospital to provide for you and your siblings.
Your older brother, Bennett, was the rebellious one. A force of nature, someone who had never quite fit into the mold society had tried to put him in. With his jet-black hair and sharp features, Bennett had always attracted attention, though never for the right reasons. He had dropped out of high school just before graduation, choosing instead to throw himself into the underground world of street racing. It wasn't that Bennett didn't care about his family—he did—but he was always looking for an escape, always chasing after some thrill that could never quite fill the void he felt inside. You hadn't spoken to him in months, not since he'd gotten involved with some dangerous people and distanced himself from everyone. It wasn't for lack of trying on your part; Bennett had always been good at shutting people out.
And then there was your younger sister, Maggie. Bright, ambitious, and burdened with a maturity far beyond her years. Maggie had always been the responsible one, the overachiever. With her auburn hair and piercing green eyes, she was the spitting image of your father, though she'd never admit it. She had been the one to step up when Bennett spiraled out of control, the one to help your mother keep the family afloat. But Maggie had her own demons. You could see it in the way she pushed herself too hard, throwing everything into her schoolwork, her part-time job, and her extracurricular activities as if trying to prove something to the world—and maybe to herself. She'd been accepted into an elite college just last year, but you knew she carried the weight of your family's financial struggles on her shoulders, always worrying that her dreams were too much of a burden.
And then there was you, the middle child. Stuck somewhere between Bennett's recklessness and Maggie's perfectionism, you had always felt adrift, caught in the undertow of your family's chaos. You had been the quiet one, the one who faded into the background, but always watching, always observing. Maybe that was why you'd started to feel so disconnected from them, even though you still loved them fiercely. Two years ago, you had made the decision to leave for university in a different city, to create distance and figure out who you were away from the weight of your family's struggles. But even after graduating, something had felt incomplete, as though you hadn't quite found what you were looking for.
And now, here you were. Back in Yorknew. Walking through the city like a ghost, unsure of what you were searching for, but feeling as though you were on the verge of discovering something important.
Your phone buzzed in your pocket, snapping you out of your thoughts. It was a message from Maggie.
Maggie: Hey, how's everything? Mom's been asking about you. Are you coming home soon?
You hesitated before replying, unsure of what to say. You hadn't told your family that you were back in the city. You weren't ready to face them yet, not with everything you were feeling—especially not with the strange dreams and the sense of unease that had been creeping over you lately.
You: I'm okay. Just taking some time to clear my head. I'll visit soon, promise.
It wasn't a lie, exactly. You just didn't know when "soon" would be.
As you slid your phone back into your pocket, a gust of wind swept through the street, carrying with it a strange sense of anticipation. Something was coming—you could feel it in your bones. You weren't sure what it was, but it felt like you were on the cusp of something life-changing.
Your feet carried you forward, almost as if they had a mind of their own, weaving through the crowds until you found yourself standing in front of a small café. You glanced inside, catching a glimpse of the patrons chatting, reading, and sipping coffee, their lives continuing in the same ordinary way they always had. For a brief moment, you considered going in, but something pulled your attention elsewhere—a glimpse of silver in the crowd.
Your breath hitched. It was faint, barely noticeable, but your heart skipped a beat all the same. Silver hair, piercing blue eyes—the boy from your dreams. You blinked, but by the time you refocused, he was gone, swallowed by the bustling crowd. Your pulse quickened, the air around you growing heavier with an unspoken tension. Without thinking, your feet began to move, following an invisible thread that seemed to tug you forward.
You pushed through the throngs of people, your mind racing, trying to make sense of the strange feeling that had settled over you. Why had you come back to Yorknew? Why today, of all days? And why did it feel like everything was suddenly leading you toward something you couldn't explain?
Before you knew it, you were standing at the entrance of a narrow alleyway, the same alley where you would eventually meet him for the first time.
Or perhaps it wasn't the first time at all.
