The rain had been falling since late afternoon, turning the streets into a blur of headlights and reflections. By the time Elara Vale stepped out of the little bookstore where she worked, the sky had become almost completely dark.

She pulled her jacket tighter around herself and hurried down the steps, balancing her bag beneath one arm while trying to keep her phone from getting wet. She checked the time and sighed. It was nearly ten at night, and she still had a fifteen-minute walk home.

Her manager had kept her late to help arrange a shipment that had arrived just before closing. Elara hadn't complained. She needed the extra hours, and besides, she had gotten used to taking care of herself. There was rarely anyone waiting for her at home, so there was no reason to rush.

Still, tonight she wished she had.

The rain was getting heavier.

Elara looked toward the main road, where cars moved slowly through the wet streets, then glanced at the small park across from her. The park had a narrow path that would cut almost ten minutes from her journey.

She hesitated.

She usually avoided it after dark, but the thought of walking along the busy road in the pouring rain was even less appealing.

"Ten minutes," she murmured to herself. "I'll be home before eleven."

She pushed open the iron gate and stepped inside.

The noise of the city immediately seemed to fade behind her.

Elara frowned.

She could still see the traffic through the trees, but somehow the sounds had become distant. The park was unusually quiet, with nothing but the steady tapping of rain against leaves and the soft crunch of her shoes against the wet path.

She pulled her hood over her head and continued walking.

She had almost reached the middle of the park when she heard something.

A low groan.

Elara stopped.

She looked around, wondering if she had imagined it. When she heard it again, she followed the sound toward a group of old trees near the edge of the path.

That's when she saw him.

A man was sitting beneath one of the trees, his back against the trunk. He looked like he had been there for some time. His dark shirt was soaked, and one hand was pressed against his side.

There was blood on his fingers.

Elara's heart skipped.

She immediately moved closer. "Are you hurt?"

The man's head lifted.

For a moment, neither of them spoke.

He was young, perhaps only a few years older than her, but there was something about him that made him seem older than he looked. His dark hair was wet from the rain, and his face was striking in a way Elara couldn't quite explain. But it was his eyes that caught her attention.

They were an unusual shade of gray.

Almost silver.

"I'm fine," he said.

Elara stared at the blood running down his hand. "You're bleeding."

"I said I'm fine."

"Clearly, you're not."

The stranger's expression hardened. "You should leave."

Elara blinked. "Excuse me?"

"You shouldn't be here."

She almost laughed. "You're the one sitting injured beneath a tree in the middle of a park. I'm not the one who should leave."

His jaw tightened, but he said nothing.

Elara pulled her phone from her pocket. "I'll call an ambulance."

The man's expression changed immediately. "No."

She looked at him. "No?"

"You can't."

"Why not?"

"I don't need a hospital."

"You're bleeding."

"I'll survive."

Elara stared at him for a moment before shaking her head. "You know, most people say thank you when someone tries to help them."

"I didn't ask you to help me."

"You're welcome anyway."

Something flickered in his eyes. It wasn't amusement exactly, but it was close.

Elara crouched a short distance away from him. "What happened?"

"Nothing."

"You've been attacked."

He looked at her sharply.

Elara noticed the reaction and frowned. "You have blood all over your shirt."

"It's not mine."

The answer made her pause.

"Then whose is it?"

He didn't respond.

A strange uneasiness settled over her.

She looked around the park. There was nobody else nearby. No footsteps. No voices. Nothing except the rain.

"Are you in trouble?" she asked.

The stranger looked toward the dark trees behind him.

"Yes."

His answer was so quiet that Elara almost didn't hear it.

She slowly stood.

"Should I call the police?"

"No."

"Why?"

"Because they won't be able to help."

Elara folded her arms. "That's a very strange thing to say."

He looked back at her. "You should go home."

"I was already going home."

"Then keep going."

"You're very rude for someone who looks like he might collapse at any moment."

"I'm not going to collapse."

As if to prove her wrong, he shifted against the tree and winced.

Elara raised an eyebrow.

He ignored her.

She couldn't help it. A small smile tugged at her lips. "Right."

The stranger studied her for a moment.

Then his gaze shifted past her.

His entire expression changed.

The small smile disappeared from Elara's face.

"What?"

He didn't answer.

"What are you looking at?"

"Nothing."

"You just looked like you saw a ghost."

His eyes returned to hers. "You need to leave. Now."

There was something in his voice that made her stop joking.

"Why?"

"Just go."

Elara glanced over her shoulder, but there was nothing there.

She turned back to him. "If someone is after you, I can help."

"You can't."

"You don't know that."

"I do."

The certainty in his voice bothered her.

Before she could respond, a branch cracked somewhere in the darkness.

The stranger immediately pushed himself to his feet.

Elara stepped back. "What was that?"

"Nothing."

"That didn't sound like nothing."

He moved away from the tree, his attention fixed on the darkness beyond the path.

Elara watched him carefully.

He wasn't afraid.

He was preparing.

"Who are you?" she asked.

He didn't answer.

"At least tell me your name."

His eyes remained fixed on the trees. "It doesn't matter."

"It matters to me if I'm standing in a dark park with a bleeding stranger."

He finally looked at her.

"Kael."

Elara waited.

"Just Kael?"

"Just Kael."

She frowned. "Fine, Just Kael. Are you going to tell me what is happening?"

Before he could answer, another sound came from the trees.

This time, it sounded like something moving through the undergrowth.

Elara instinctively stepped closer to him.

Kael noticed.

"Stay behind me."

Her eyebrows rose. "Why?"

"Because I said so."

"That isn't an explanation."

"No. It's a warning."

Elara stared at him.

For the first time since she had found him, she wondered if helping this stranger had been a terrible mistake.

The rain continued to fall around them, but the forest ahead had gone completely still.

Kael's expression became colder as he watched the darkness.

Then he quietly said, "When I tell you to run, don't ask questions. Just run."

Elara's heart began to pound.

She didn't know who Kael was.

She didn't know what had happened to him.

And she certainly didn't know what was hiding among the trees.

But as she stood beside the mysterious stranger, watching the darkness swallow the path ahead, one thought refused to leave her mind.

She should have taken the main road home.