Marivel stepped into the cafe, where the lights always seemed a shade too low and the air carried the heavy scent of damp wood and secrets.

She paused at the entrance, her eyes adjusting, her nerves already prickling. Meeting Kellen here had been his idea of course it had. He liked places that felt like traps.

She spotted an empty table near the window, its surface sticky despite the half-hearted cleaning.

As she sat, she noticed the flicker of a security camera above her, its little red light blinking steadily, watching.

Always watching.

Kellen was late. Typical.

Marivel stared at her phone, scrolling through old messages she didn't want to reread, each one a reminder of their fractured history. They had been lovers.Now, they were something worse-unfinished.

A laugh cracked through the quiet, sharp and brittle.

Across the room, Sienna, her ex-sister-in-law was perched on a barstool, her legs crossed, eyes darting like she was waiting for something to explode. Next to her sat Vincent, her latest conquest, who looked like he wanted to disappear into the cracked leather seat. His gaze was locked on his drink, hands white-knuckled around the glass. Marivel's phone vibrated in her palm. A message from her friend, Axel: "Something's wrong. Call me.

Right Now."

She didn't move. Axel was always wound tight, but lately her paranoia had taken on sharp edges. Last week, after a tense dinner, Axel had confessed in a whisper that she'd been seeing Kellen, during one of the many breaks Marivel had pretended didn't count.The bell above the door chimed, thin and hollow. Kellen appeared like a shadow stepping into flesh, taller and colder than she remembered.

His eyes swept the room and found her, and for the last time his expression softened, before hardening again.

"You look... different" he said as he slid into the seat across from her.

"Trauma ages people", she replied flatly.

A silence fell, thick and uncomfortable. He tapped his fingers against the table a familiar rhythm that made her skin crawl now. He reached out, fingers brushing hers, and she pulled away sharply. "Cut to the point, Kellen. Why are we here?"

Before he could answer, Vincent's chair screeched as he stood abruptly, knocking his drink over. The chair was startling in the tense quiet.

He glared down at Sienna, his voice low but venomous.

"You're toxic. You don't care who you destroy." Sienna smiled lazily, her red lips curving like a blade. "Poor thing. Did you really think you mattered?" Vincent left without another word, the door slamming hard enough to rattle the windows. Sienna stayed, her eyes glittering...

Glittering with the whispers of something dangerous.

She glanced at Marivel, a slow, knowing smile passing between them -a truce or a threat, impossible to tell.

Kellen exhaled. "This place is cursed."

"No", Marivel whispered, her eyes locked on Sienna. "It's haunted. And we're the ghosts." Her phone buzzed again.

Axel: "It's your cousin. You need to know now."

A chill ran down her spine.

Her cousin, Kai. He'd been distant, secretive, and now Kai who had sworn off any contact with him after their toxic fallout was desperate to talk.

Marivel's fingers trembled as she locked her phone.

Kellen watched her, eyes narrowed. "What's wrong?" "You wouldn't understand', she muttered, standing too fast. Her chair scraped loudly, drawing Sienna's attention again.

As Marivel moved toward the exit, Sienna slid off her stool, stopping her with a hand on her arm. Her nails dug in, sharp and cold.

"Be careful", Sienna said, voice low. "Kellen is a liar.

But worse than that he's a believer. That makes him dangerous." Marivel yanked her arm free, stepping into the night air that felt heavier than it should have. The street was empty, but every shadow seemed to pulse, alive and waiting.

She had the sinking feeling that whatever door they'd all opened, it was too late to close it now.

Marivel stood there a moment longer, knowing deep down whatever was coming next, none of them were ready for it.

"I'm sorry, I couldn't stop him."

"Stop him from what?"

"Stop him from doing what he did."

"Vivi, stop talking in your sleep" said Mark, her younger brother. It wasn't the first time...

"Go take your pills. You had forgotten to take them last night.""What was I saying? I really don't remember...

I'm sorry, I have to go."

"Where the hell are you off to?

Listen to me, Vivi!"

The worst part is, it wasn't the first time either. It was as if a part of her brain tends to forget. She doesn't remember what happened at the cafe the last day, but yet she remembers Kellen, her ex.

Maybe he had a significant impact on her life, maybe in a not-so-good way...

She hustled to the cafe, with a weary and frustrated look on her sweat-filled face. She began looking for Kellen. She saw a young couple at the table right in front of her, and they were talking about some sort of thing which she didn't care enough to pay attention to. She recalled her previous memories with her ex-boyfriend Kellen. They had broken up a year ago, and the reason was "unknown" to her point of view. She had forgotten the painful reason behind their break-up. She wandered around before she spotted Kellen's black Rolls Royce through the clear window.

She looked at him, her eyes softening. After a minute or two, she realised that she had zoned out. Kellen was standing right in front of her and she was embarrassed as she realised that she was staring at him for the past two minutes.

She got up to leave, but was stopped by Kellen surprisingly, he held her hand as if his mind was saying "Don't go".

The tension between them increased. His lips came closer to her face. He broke the silence, "Vivi?", in a rather soft voice, the soft voice of him which was familiar to Marivel, the time when they were in a relationship. Marivel flickered. She yanked her hand free, "I'm not your Vivi! I'm no one to you now!"

She ran out of the cafe.

But let's note down an important thing, she acted cold to Kellen, but deep down, she knew. She knew she hadn't moved on, and maybe she might, still have feelings for him.

However, she wasn't sure.

She tried to call Kai. 5 rings.

He didn't pick up. She tried to text him. He didn't reply. He didn't even read the message...

Typical of Andres Kai Cruz. It was as if he didn't care.

When she got home, she found out that Mark wasn't home. He left his phone on the bed. She picked up the phone, and found out that...

She found out that he has been texting Kellen. It was unusual. She opened their chat. However, when she started to read their texts, the door bell rang. Quite in a way which felt like it was swallowing Marivel away. She put his phone the way it was and opened the door. It was Mark. But, there was someone else with him... Kellen.

Kellen had all this mysterious look on his face, he was wearing black sunglasses and had messy hair. He smirked at Marivel, "Vivi..."

She felt like a huge amount of air was gulping her down.

She walked towards her room and closed the door. She was feeling a mixture of emotions.

To let it all go, she put her head down and began crying, silently, so that no one could hear her. However, her plan turned out to go in vain, as Kellen heard her. He opened the door and walked towards her. He carried her to bed, when he found out she fell asleep while crying...

The Next day, Vivi went to a place. She had been in this place before.

Kellen's house.

The same place where they'd had their first real fight, the kind that didn't end in kisses or apologies. The kind that cracked the ground beneath them.

Now, she wasn't here for Kellen. Not exactly. She was here for answers.

Sienna stood in the living room. A glass of red wine dangled from her hand, careless, almost mocking.

Her sharp cheekbones caught the evening light. The way her eyes narrowed when she saw Vivi at the door made one thing clear: she hadn't been expecting her. And she wasn't happy.

"Well, if it isn't the ghost of ex-girlfriend's past," Sienna muttered, lips twisting.

Vivi didn't flinch," I'm not here for Kellen"."No?" Sienna's voice dripped sarcasm. "You're just haunting the halls of your ex's house for the ambiance?"

Vivi stepped inside anyway.

She wasn't intimidated. Not anymore.

"I need to ask you something.

And you're going to answer me, Sienna."

Sienna laughed, "Cute. You still think you have power here."

Before Vivi could respond, footsteps echoed from the hallway. Kellen appeared, dressed in black, sleeves rolled up, eyes flicking between the two women.He froze.

Sienna raised an eyebrow.

"You should tell your little visitor I don't play nice." Kellen looked at Vivi, "You shouldn't have come". She ignored him, "It's about Vincent".Sienna's smirk faded just slightly." What about him?" she asked, but her voice had dropped half a note. "You hate him," Vivi said." But you know more than you're letting on."

"You wouldn't understand".

"Try me".

Sienna looked away, her mask slipping just a little. "He's not who you think he is ". Vivi stepped closer, lowering her voice, "Neither am I" Then, from behind them, a small voice piped up. "Vivi?"

She turned sharply to see Mark. He looked smaller than usual in Kellen's big hoodie.

"I heard yelling" said Mark. "Go upstairs, Mark, Vivi said gently."

Mark hesitated. "Are you okay?"

Vivi forced a smile. "I'm fine.

Just talking." He nodded and disappeared again. Sienna was already pouring herself another drink. "You brought your brother into this mess? That's new." "I didn't bring him, Kellen offered to keep an eye on him while I..."

"While you storm into people's houses and demand answers like a detective?" said Sienna. Kellen cut in, sharp. "Enough! Sienna." But she wasn't done. "You want to know what happened with Vincent? Fine. He used to be obsessed with me. Like unhealthy obsessed."

"Wait, what?" exclaimed Vivi.

Sienna continued, "Back in high school, He was just some weird guy who followed me around. I ignored him. But,He started crossing limits. He broke into my car, wrote me letters, stalked me online, and he was a whole psychopath... He denied all of it, of course, Said I led him on. Said I deserved it. And when I didn't play along, he got mean.

Really mean.

You want to know why he came after you? Because you're close to me. Whether you like it or not, you're part of the circle now."

Kellen's voice was tight. "Why didn't you ever tell me?"

Sienna gave him a side eye-"What would you have done?Gone and beat him up? Please.He'd love that."

"Where is he now?" Marivel asked.

"Not your business." said Sienna.

"You dare to! Tell me now" replied Marivel.

"Ugh, I don't know and I don't care!"

"Liar! You know where he is!" was Vivi's response. Something flickered in Sienna's eyes.

Not fear, but guilt. "You think I'm the toxic one," Sienna whispered. "But trust me, Vincent is the real monster. I just survived him." Then Kellen said,"If he's coming back, we need to be ready."

Vivi nodded.

And for the first time in a year, she and Kellen stood on the same side.