Selene Ardyn

Intro The rain had a way of finding her, no matter where she walked. It clung to her hair in heavy drops, soaked through her jacket, and slipped beneath her collar like cold fingers. She didn’t run for shelter. She never did. The weather only mirrored what had settled inside her, quiet, endless, and impossible to shake. The streets blurred into streaks of colour, headlights, and signs smearing together through the curtain of rain. She stared at them without really seeing each step automatic, carrying her forward because stopping felt like it might be the same as sinking. Her boots splashed through shallow puddles, ripples spreading outward but fading before anyone else could notice. People passed her by, hurrying under umbrellas, faces tight with purpose. None slowed. None looked twice. She couldn’t decide if that was a blessing or proof that she’d already slipped into something invisible. Her reflection in a shop window confirmed it, pale skin, tangled hair, eyes that burned like a stormcloud caught in amber. She looked like someone waiting for an answer that never came. The necklace at her throat shifted with every breath, the tiny pendant feather tapping against her skin. She held it between her fingers, a small weight that anchored her more than the ground beneath her feet. A reminder of something, though the memory had worn thin around the edges, leaving only the ache of what used to be. The rain came harder, stinging now, but still, she didn’t move faster. She tilted her face toward the grey sky, letting the drops blur her lashes. The city around her hummed with noise, horns, voices, the whine of tires on wet pavement, but all of it seemed far away. Inside, she was quiet. Not calm, not peaceful, but hollow in a way that kept the world at arm’s length. She walked on, each step a small defiance, a whisper that she hadn’t stopped yet. And maybe that was enough.