Beneath the veil of the mist, his figure is more shadow than substance, an enigma caught between worlds. His eyes-dark, infinite pools of mystery-meet hers across the moonlit forest, drawing her in without a word. She's never seen his face fully, yet every stolen glance sends her heart into an inferno of longing.
His voice, when it comes, is like a soft murmur on the wind. "I've been waiting for you."
Her breath catches, the pull between them as inevitable as the rising tide. "Who are you?" she whispers, barely holding onto her sanity.
"A memory," he says, his voice tinged with sadness, "and a promise."
She steps closer, desperate for more. "Why do you haunt me?"
"I don't," he replies, fading like mist, his gaze lingering on her for just a heartbeat longer. "I'm here because you're waiting for me, too."
And then, just like that, he's gone, leaving her with the crushing silence of her yearning and the unshakable feeling that their story has only begun. !!!
#KAY!!
As Claire aims to leave her oppressive stepfamily behind, she befriends Zion. Will he be her ticket to freedom or a distraction in achieving her dreams?
*****
Claire Olsen has had a crush on Zion Petrakis since the first time she laid eyes on him, but he never noticed, instead only having eyes on the school's it girl, Maddie Jennings. Knowing she couldn't compete with Maddie, Claire hid her feelings for Zion, satisfied with admiring him from afar. However, when a series of events led Claire closer to Zion, her feelings for him grew from infatuation to love. And despite fighting hard to keep her feelings contained by distancing herself from Zion, he was determined to show her that he's earned a spot in her life.
[[word count: 100,000-150,000 words]]