Beneath the Stagnant Sky

CHAPTER IX

FAMILIAR STRANGERS

Caelum's POV

The familiar scent of vanilla and jasmine reached me before I even saw her.

I froze.

Turning around, I saw Amara standing just a few feet away, her dark brown hair cascading down her shoulders, effortlessly elegant as always. Her deep-set eyes, the ones that once held all my tomorrows, scanned me with a mixture of surprise and something else—something unreadable.

"Caelum," she said, her voice soft, almost testing the sound of my name on her lips after all these years. "It's been a while" she added.

Three years. Three years since I last saw her. Since I last heard her voice without it being just an echo in my head. Since I made the biggest mistake of my existence.

"Amara," I greeted, keeping my voice steady.

For a moment, there was only silence between us, stretching out longer than it should have. My mind betrayed me, bringing back memories I had long tried to bury.

Afternoon walks under golden-lit trees. Her laughter echoing in the quiet library where we'd steal moments between the aisles. Whispered dreams of forever, of breaking free, of a life where we could be together without shadows clinging to my every step.

And then, the memory that made my stomach clench—the night I let her go.

"You're back," I finally said, stating the obvious.

She smiled, slow and knowing, the kind that always made me feel like she was two steps ahead of me. "You sound surprised."

I wasn't sure if I was. Maybe I always knew she'd return, that our paths would cross again whether I was ready or not.

"New York didn't suit you?" I asked, forcing a smirk, desperate to regain some semblance of control over my thoughts.

Amara chuckled, tilting her head slightly. "New York was everything I needed it to be." She stepped closer, the scent of her perfume wrapping around me like a ghost of the past. "But you know me, Caelum. I always find my way back to what matters."

My jaw tightened. What matters.

I told myself I was doing this for her. That my desperation to break free from this curse, to live again, was because I wanted to return to her—to the life we had dreamed of. But standing here now, I wasn't sure what felt heavier—the weight of her presence or the realization that something in me had shifted.

"Did you ever miss me?" she asked, her voice barely above a whisper.

A loaded question. One I should have answered without hesitation.

Instead, Eli's voice—sharp and teasing, soft and vulnerable—cut through my thoughts. The way she looked at the night sky as if it was the first time she was seeing it. The way she made me feel something I shouldn't.

I swallowed hard, pushing the thought away.

"Every day," I lied.

Amara's smile widened, as if satisfied. "Good."

And just like that, I felt my resolve slipping—just a little.

>>

The café smelled like roasted coffee and warm pastries, but for once, Caelum wasn't paying attention to his surroundings. Across from him, Amara sat with a steaming cup in her hands, her fingers delicately wrapped around the ceramic. The golden afternoon sunlight filtering through the window cast a soft glow on her face, making the moment feel oddly dreamlike.