Betrothed to Jack Frost (REWRITTEN)

3)Intruder

***

Elle struggled to make sense of her bizarre encounter with the boy named Eros as the day wore on. His odd behavior, his eyes that didn't seem to belong to any real color, and his sudden, inexplicable disappearance left her feeling disoriented. He had vanished in the blink of an eye, leaving no trace behind, and yet, the strange snow globe she clutched in her hand was proof that the encounter had indeed happened.

"Okay, let's start from the beginning," Lucy Donovan said, her face etched with concern. "You're telling me that some guy with bizarre contacts claimed to be friends with Aiden and played along with the whole arranged marriage thing?"

They were sitting in a dimly lit Chinese restaurant, their chosen spot for dinner after their shift at the coffee house where they both worked part-time. Lucy poked at a piece of Kung Pao chicken with her fork, chewing thoughtfully as Elle recounted the strange meeting with Eros once more.

Elle and Lucy had been close friends since freshman year of high school. Although Aiden had been aloof and unfriendly toward Lucy initially, he eventually accepted that Elle's friendship with Lucy was non-negotiable. Over time, Aiden and Lucy became friends as well, despite Elle's suspicion that Aiden's interest in her friend was primarily due to their shared connection with her. "And he gave me this," Elle said, pulling the snow globe from her bag. She gazed at it, reliving the eerie encounter and the unsettling feeling that had followed.

"Wow, that's really pretty," Lucy said, examining the globe. It was then that Elle noticed how unnervingly quiet the small restaurant was—just the two of them and a waitress tidying up a table across the room. An odd sensation crept over her, a feeling of being watched. She scanned the room but saw no one paying her any attention.

Lucy turned the notch on the globe, and it began to play a soft, nostalgic tune. "Did you call Aiden to ask him about this weird friend of his?"
"Hasn't called me back," Elle explained, a frown creasing her forehead as she struggled to shake the unsettling feeling that someone was watching her. "Seriously, it was all so..." She trailed off, searching for the right words. "Weird."

Lucy leaned forward, gently shaking the snow globe Elle had handed her. The delicate white flakes swirled around the glittering city inside. "And he told you your dad didn't want you to have this?" Lucy asked, her brows furrowing in confusion.

"Yeah, and a few other creepy things. He also mentioned that I was supposed to keep it so my future husband could find me," Elle said with a roll of her eyes. "He claimed my dad got rid of it."

Lucy remained silent for a moment; her eyes fixed on the snow globe as she contemplated Elle's story. "I won't lie, Ells, that's the weirdest exchange I think I've ever heard of," she said, shaking her head in disbelief. "But don't worry about it. It's probably just Aiden's idea of a prank." At that moment, Elle glanced out the restaurant window. In the dimly lit parking lot, obscured by falling snow, she noticed a silhouette standing still and staring at the restaurant. The sight was eerie—someone standing unmoving in the cold, rather than seeking warmth inside. "Elle?" Lucy's voice snapped her back to reality. "You there?"

Elle looked back at her friend, then turned her gaze to the parking lot again. The figure was gone.

No matter how long Elle and Lucy spent dissecting the bizarre encounter, the situation remained perplexing. A stranger had appeared with a snow globe from her childhood and then vanished without a trace. Lucy's best explanation was that Elle must have mentioned the snow globe to Aiden at some point, and he and his friend had orchestrated the strange encounter as a prank. According to Lucy, Aiden's silence was probably due to embarrassment over the whole ordeal.

"You sure you'll be okay here alone?" Lucy asked, her truck idling in the wind-swept driveway of Elle's grandparents' country home. The nearest neighbors were nearly a mile away, making the seclusion both peaceful and, in situations like this, a bit unsettling.