Chapter 1

...3876 days earlier ...

Moscow, November 1, 2018. Snow fell like silver dust as Nella hurried home, her pale face glowing with excitement. But at 22:01, her smile faltered she had missed the last bus. Her call to her father went unanswered, he was busy decorating the Christmas tree with her mother. Determined, she slipped into a dark alley, eager to reach home faster. A few steps in, the night shifted. Against the wall, a man struggled to breathe, blood seeping through his shirt as he clutched his stomach. His eyes, shadowed with pain yet strikingly intense, lifted to meet hers. In that instant, fear and fate tangled together was he danger, or destiny?

Nella gasped, frozen between the urge to run and the instinct to help. Slowly, cautiously, she stepped closer to the wounded stranger.

Kneeling beside him, she reached for his

injury, her breath quick and unsteady. The man’s voice broke through the cold night low, pained, yet carrying a strange power that sent a shiver through her.

"Run… bunny."

She frowned, confused and frustrated. Why was he pushing her away when he clearly needed help? Ignoring his weak resistance, she pulled out her phone and dialed for an ambulance.

But before she could finish the call, his hand clamped around her wrist, rough and desperate.

"You shouldn’t be here" he rasped.

Nella’s heart pounded. The man’s warning rattled inside her head, but something stronger kept her rooted beside him. She couldn’t leave. Not when his blood stained the snow. Not when his eyes sharp, commanding even through the pain held hers as though he knew her.

Snowflakes clung to her hair as she whispered "Who are you?"

His lips curled into the faintest shadow of a smile, before another wave of pain stole it away. "Someone you shouldn’t have found… but now you can’t escape."

Snow fell in silence as Nella froze, caught between fear and fate.

But she didn’t run. She stayed.

Moments passed in silence as Nella waited, her breath fogging in the cold night air. Finally, the sound of ambulance sirens broke the silence, and the ambulance pulled up. Paramedics rushed to the man, lifting him carefully, their voices brisk and urgent.

Yet through the chaos, his gaze never left her. His eyes, dark and unyielding even in pain, lingered on her face as though trying to carve every detail into memory. Just before they closed the doors, his lips parted, his voice a broken whisper meant only for her

"We’ll meet again… Bunny."

And then he was gone.

Nella stood in silence, trying to process what had just happened, when her phone buzzed. Her mother’s worried voice filled the line.

“Nell, dear, where are you?”

Nella swallowed hard, her voice unsteady as she answered still remembering his dark eyes and his last spoken words. When Nella finally returned home, her parents bombarded her with worried questions. She offered a quick excuse, forcing a smile, before slipping away upstairs.

Collapsing onto her bed, she stared at the ceiling, her mind restless. No matter how hard she tried, thoughts of the mysterious man refused to leave her.

Who was he?

Why was he hurt?

And what was his name?

That night, sleep refused to come easily. When Nella finally drifted off, her dreams were filled with snow, blood, and those dark eyes watching her as if she belonged to him. She woke in the middle of the night, heart racing, his voice

echoing in her mind.

Bunny… run.

The words sent a shiver through her. She didn’t know who he was, or why fate had led her down that alley but deep down, she knew this was only the beginning.

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