An Unshakable Feeling

Unable to forget the encounter, Liora becomes obsessed with the song. She finds herself playing it unconsciously, even outside of practice. Visions begin to flicker in her mind of a grand ballroom, a candlelit night, and Muttered promises of love. Though she dismisses them as figments of an overactive imagination, a nagging feeling tells her otherwise. Meanwhile, Elias watches her from a distance, torn between revealing the truth and letting fate run its course.

The night's lingering chill wrapped around Liora as she walked through the narrow university corridors, the echoes of her footsteps swallowed by the towering walls. She had spent the last hour replaying every word Elias had said, every flicker of emotion that had crossed his face. Frustration clawed at her; he knew more than he was letting on. The way he spoke about the song, the cryptic warning, it was as if he had lived through something she couldn't yet understand.

She reached the practice room, her fingers tightening around the violin case at her side. The melody still pulsed within her, refusing to be forgotten. Every time she tried to push it aside, it crept back in, entwining itself into her very essence.

Setting her case on the table, she lifted the violin, tucking it beneath her chin. The bow trembled slightly as she dragged it across the strings. The first note was tentative, a whisper against the silence. Then another. Slowly, the haunting melody unfolded, filling the space around her. It was bittersweet, sorrowful, like a memory just out of reach.

A voice interrupted her trance. "You can't stop playing it, can you?"

Liora gasped, the bow jerking across the strings with a discordant screech. She turned sharply, her pulse hammering. Elias leaned against the doorway, arms crossed, his golden-amber gaze locked onto her.

"Do you make a habit of sneaking up on people?" she snapped, willing her heart to steady.

His lips curved slightly, but the humor didn't reach his eyes. "Only when they insist on ignoring warnings."

Liora exhaled, setting her violin down. "You keep telling me not to play it, but you won't tell me why." She stepped closer. "What are you so afraid of?"

Elias hesitated, his expression unreadable. "That song doesn't belong at this time."

She blinked. "What does that even mean?"

He pushed off the doorway and stepped toward her. "It means," he said carefully, "that you're waking something up, something that was meant to stay buried."

Her breath caught. "You make it sound like the song is alive."

He held her gaze, and for a moment, she saw something flicker there, an ancient sorrow, a weight that didn't belong to a man of his age. "In some ways, it is."

Liora crossed her arms, studying him. "You speak like you've known it before."

Elias exhaled sharply. "Because I have."

The room stilled. A shiver ran down Liora's spine. He wasn't joking. He wasn't being poetic. He meant it.

Her voice was barely above a whisper. "How?"

Elias looked away, his jaw tightening. "That's not something I can explain in a single conversation."

She stepped closer. "Then let's have more than one."

He let out a breath of quiet frustration, rubbing his temple. "You're persistent."

"And you're avoiding the truth."

A shadow of a smile crossed his lips before fading just as quickly. "It's not an easy truth to tell."

Liora watched him carefully. "Then start small."

He considered her for a long moment, then nodded slightly. "That melody… it's been played before, long before you found that sheet music. And every time it's played, it calls something back."

A chill ran through her. "Calls what back?"

Elias hesitated. "A story. A memory. A fate."

He met her gaze. "And once it starts, it doesn't stop."

Liora's pulse quickened. "Then why does it feel like I already know it?"

His jaw clenched. "Because you do."

Silence stretched between them, thick with unspoken words. Liora struggled to process the weight of his statement, the implications pressing down on her like an unseen force.

Finally, she spoke. "If I already know it… then tell me why."

Elias exhaled, his gaze flickering to the violin still resting in her hands. "Because some songs don't just tell a story." He stepped back toward the door, pausing. "They bring it back to life."

And then he was gone, leaving Liora standing in the quiet room, the melody still humming in her bones.