CHAPTER 2: Eve-line

Ònààrà had promised to stay the weekend with Evelyn. Since the dreams had grown more vivid, Evelyn found it hard to return to sleep after each waking. Just knowing someone was nearby brought a small sense of peace. A little comfort.

But that peace was short-lived.

Evelyn had been restless since she woke up. Her mind kept racing, and her heart felt unsettled. They had only just found out the truth. Celine had been dead for almost a year. That fact sat like a weight on their shoulders, especially Evelyn’s.

Only now did the herbal tea Ònààrà had prepared begin to settle in. The warmth of it filled her chest as she sat quietly by the mirror. Her eyes scanned her reflection like she was seeing a stranger. She leaned closer, studying her face in silence. There was something about her skin that didn’t sit right. Her fingers moved slowly across her cheeks, over her jawline, touching the parts that felt wrong.

A flicker of disgust crossed her face.

“Hey! Breakfast is ready.” Ònààrà called out, popping her head into the room.

No response.

“I made your favorite…” she said in a cheerful tone, stepping fully into the doorway, hoping to break the heavy mood.

That hope was shattered by a voice that did not belong.

“You know what’s happening to her, don’t you?”

The voice came low and mocking. Cold and sharp.

Ònààrà froze.

“You watch her suffer in all this confusion,” the voice added with a cruel laugh.

Ònààrà’s eyes slowly turned toward Evelyn.

“She doesn’t know who you are, does she?” Evelyn scoffed, though it wasn’t her voice at all.

“Celine,” Ònààrà said with quiet fury as she stepped forward. Her eyes focused on the mirror, not Evelyn.

Evelyn’s reflection blinked. Slowly. Unnaturally. Her lips curled into a twisted smile, nothing like Evelyn’s usual expression.

Ònààrà narrowed her eyes.

“You’re not supposed to be here.”

“And yet, here I am,” Celine replied smoothly.

“She didn’t ask for this,” Ònààrà said sharply.

Celine’s eyes glinted in the mirror. Her smile stayed in place.

“Doesn’t matter,” she said, her voice growing colder. “She opened the door. I only walked in.”

“Why her?” Ònààrà asked. “What do you want?”

Celine’s smile faded. The light in her eyes vanished. They turned dark. Empty.

“Revenge,” she whispered.

“By interrupting someone else’s life?” Ònààrà asked, stepping closer. “She doesn’t want you here.”

“I don’t care,” Celine snapped. “At least I am interrupting. Not snatching. No one cared when my life was snatched from me.”

Each word was filled with rage. With pain.

A sudden twitch crossed Evelyn’s face. Her jaw clenched. Her eyes fluttered.

Celine was struggling to hold on.

“I can’t stay on,” she murmured. “Soon I will learn how to hold on.”

And just like that, the possession broke.

It left the room like a gust of wind. Evelyn gasped as if waking from a deep sleep. Confused. Breathless.

She turned toward the mirror. Ònààrà was still standing there, staring straight at her.

And Evelyn had no idea why.

The following days were nothing short of terrifying for Evelyn.

Each morning, she would wake up with a plan in her head. She would sit up, stretch, and list everything she needed to do appointments, errands, designs waiting to be finished. Everything seemed normal at the beginning of the day.

But by midday, her day was never what she imagined.

She would find herself standing in strange places. Parts of the city she had no memory of traveling to. Streets she had never walked. Stores she had never stepped inside.

The worst part was how familiar it all began to feel.

At first, it was just a single moment. She had entered a restaurant she didn’t recognize. It was a small, cozy place tucked away behind an alley. She didn’t know why she went there. She just walked in like she had always known the way. She had taken a seat by the corner to take in the environment, and a woman seated by the window caught her eye. Evelyn stared at her for a long moment. She had never seen the woman before. But somehow... She knew her name.

It slipped into her mind without warning.

She said it softly under her breath.

Claire Martin.

That was her name. She was sure of it.

And Evelyn had no idea why.

The memories from her dreams were bleeding into her reality. Visions of Celine’s life, people she had only seen while she slept, now crossing her path while she was wide awake.

Another morning, she left home with the intention to go to the store. But somehow, she ended up in front of a very tall building. A towering glass structure in the business district. She stood there, waiting, watching people walk in and out like clockwork. She didn’t know what she was waiting for. But her feet stayed rooted to the ground.

A sleek black car pulled up to the entrance, its surface shining like glass under the morning sun. The driver stepped out first and opened the back door with quiet precision.

A tall man stepped out slowly, straightening to his full height with quiet confidence. His charcoal suit looked sharp, perfectly tailored.

He moved like he owned the pavement beneath him. It was evident he held a top position or he was the CEO.

And the moment she saw him, she knew who he was.

Darren.

Her chest tightened. The name rang in her head like a bell.

She didn’t know him personally. But she had seen him before. In her dreams. In Celine’s memories.

Darren.

Celine’s ex-fiancé.