Time doesn't stop for anyone!

The old street of Aduska was buzzing with people of every kind as per usual. From old to young and short to tall, almost everyone was hustling in different directions with destinations and purposes set in mind, driven by the fear of time running out.

Among them was a tall man who seemed to be a part of that regular busy life from afar but upon closer look, there was something odd about him. Unlike others his face was covered in a black mask and his eyes were swiftly moving here and there as if searching for something or someone.

"Hey! Watch out!" An old man yelled at him because in a hurry he accidentally bumped into his shoulder.

The blow caused the old man's glasses to fall off his face and far on the concrete footpath. "M-my...I can't see…" He stuttered with his arms hovering in the air trying to save himself from further shoves.

"Oh come on!" He groaned, rolling his eyes. "Hold on," he held the old man's arm with one hand and made him walk towards the spot where his glasses could be seen lying.

"Hurry up Lio, what are you doing?" He heard a frustrated voice coming out of the ear pod he had in one ear.

Instead of replying, he left the man's arm and jogged towards the glasses to make it quick but before he could have picked them up, a gloved hand had already done so. His eyes traveled from the hand to the person's face to whom it belonged but the moment his eyes landed on it, his heart skipped a beat.

His widened eyes met a pair of champagne hazel eyes which were squinted at him. The mysterious pair of eyes that had caused countless sleepless nights to him.

Same black, silky veil covering her face...

Same dark chiffon covering her entire body...

He forgot to blink.

["I trusted you with everything."]

A silvery voice echoed through the back of his head as his hand went up to a certain spot on his chest instinctively.

She was only a few feet away from him but it seemed like centuries had passed since she started walking towards him, his eyes holding hers. To his dismay, she strode past him without sparing another glance in his direction.

"Here," He heard her voice behind him, the soft melodious voice he could recognize in thousands. He didn't turn around to have another look at her, he couldn't!

Am I dreaming again? Or is she actually present around me? Is this real? Was she real all this time? His subconscious bombarded him with questions that threatened to mess with his sanity however his face remained calm and emotionless.

"Thank you child. I don't understand what has happened to this generation. Why can't they be like you?"

He heard the old man's remark and a small giggle from her. He was supposed to leave now that the unnecessary disturbance in between his 'mission' was sorted out but his feet stayed rooted to the spot.

After he couldn't hear them behind him anymore he snapped out of the trance. He turned around abruptly, ignoring the continuous panicked calls coming from his ear pod. He could see her figure being swallowed up by the crowd gradually. Without a second thought, he ran towards her direction.

"Stop!" He called behind her, earning weird looks from the people around.

Who is she? It was the only thing that rang through his mind as he bumped into a few people, shoved a few others earning glares and curses but little did he care. She disappeared around the corner before he could have reached her.

"F**k!" He kicked the concrete path in despair after aimlessly running for several minutes. It seemed like the Earth had eaten her or the sky swallowed her in mere moments.

"I will complain about you to…"

He ripped off the earpiece before the person on the other side could have completed his sentence and pushed it into his pocket.

"I need to find her, at any cost." He mumbled to himself and quietly walked towards an empty dark alley.

The darkness made the change of his dark eyes to glowing red ones quite obvious...

~

Later that night he had the uncanny dream again.

She was standing so close that if he leaned a bit, his lips would have touched her face which was arched upwards to face him.

He couldn't see her entire face because it was covered behind a dark, silky veil just like her entire body. She looked like a part of darkness which was surrounding them except her glistening hazel eyes which seemed like drops of champagne encaged inside a pair of round vitreous.

He couldn't figure out what expressions she had on her face when she slowly lifted her hand which was also covered in dark gloves. The only thing apparent on her slender fingers were expensive looking rings with shining stones and jewels engraved in them.

She placed her hand on his chest. Her touch was warm and gentle as a feather on his bare skin. "I trusted you with everything." Her voice was soft and melodious to the ear but the past tense of her words had made them brutal, brutal enough for him to lose his own.

Slowly the pressure of her hand increased and he felt his bare feet stumbling upon the edge of the cliff they were standing on. "I did." With those last words she raised her other hand and pushed him off the cliff.

He wanted to raise his hand towards her as his mind enlightened him about the sudden absence of ground under his feet but he didn't.

He knew she wouldn't hold it!

He woke up with a jitter, sweat droplets covering his naked torso. His breathing was heavy and heartbeat irregular as his hand reached for the water on the table before him.

That certain dream always did this to him.

After gulping the cold water down his throat he set the glass aside and picked up the remote to turn off the TV. He didn't know when he passed out on the couch while watching it.

"Why did those words…" He said aloud to himself as he laid back but couldn't complete the sentence or maybe he didn't want to.

Groaning, he stood up and checked the cloak which showed 7 o'clock. He knew he had no sleep written tonight so he decided to do something else.

Little did he know that certain something was going to change his 'boring' life forever...