Crossroads of the Heart

The café was quiet, save for the low hum of jazz spilling through the speakers. Kairo sat at a window seat, camera bag slung over his shoulder, two untouched coffees on the table.

One for him.

One for Lina.

She arrived ten minutes late, wearing the same navy peacoat she used to in college. Her hair was shorter now, but her eyes still held that cautious fire—like she was always preparing to run.

"You still take your coffee black?" she asked softly, slipping into the seat across from him.

"I remember you used to sneak sugar into mine when I wasn't looking," Kairo replied, smiling faintly.

Lina's lips curled in a sad grin. "Some habits die hard. Others get you killed."

Kairo's heart tensed. "Is that why you disappeared? Were you… in danger?"

She didn't answer immediately. Instead, she leaned closer, her voice a whisper. "I had to protect you from what I found out. About the pattern. About the girls. About the curse."

His breath caught. "You really believe that?"

Lina reached into her coat and slid something across the table. A photograph—one he didn't take. It was a shot of him and Selene, candid, from across the street. Scrawled across the bottom in red ink:

She's not falling for you. She's following you.

"I know Selene seems perfect," Lina said, her tone steady but urgent. "But she's not who she pretends to be. I've seen her before. She's connected to the others—the ones who hurt you."

Kairo stared at the photo. His chest tightened.

He thought of Selene's smile, her curiosity, the way she looked at him like he was more than just another guy with a camera.

Then he thought of the way she'd known details he never told her. How she always seemed one step ahead. How she'd once whispered, "I know your kind. The lonely ones. You're the easiest to love… and the easiest to ruin."

He looked up at Lina, eyes stormy.

"What do you want from me?" he asked.

"I want you to trust me," she said. "Let me help you figure this out. Before it's too late."

Just then, his phone buzzed.

A message from Selene:

Tonight. Rooftop. I need to tell you something important. Come alone.

Kairo felt the world split in two.

Lina's eyes searched his. "She's setting you up."

He pocketed the phone slowly, torn. "And if she's not?"

"Then you'll finally know the truth."

The rooftop was quiet.

A soft breeze stirred Kairo's jacket as he stepped out into the night, the city glittering below like a thousand secrets waiting to be told. His fingers curled tighter around his camera strap—not for work this time.

For defense.

Selene stood near the edge, her silhouette lit by the orange glow of a streetlamp. She wore black again. Always black. Like mourning something no one had buried yet.

"You came," she said without turning around.

"You asked."

She finally faced him. "You're different tonight."

"I had a conversation I never thought I'd have again," Kairo said evenly. "With someone who used to matter."

Selene's eyes darkened. "Lina."

He didn't react. She already knew.

Of course she knew.

"She warned you," Selene continued, walking slowly toward him. "Told you I'm the villain in your story. That I'm here to ruin you like the others."

"She told me you were connected to them. The girls who left. The pain that followed."

"And what do you believe?" Selene asked, stopping a few feet in front of him.

Kairo didn't answer.

Instead, he raised his camera and took a photo of her face. A perfect moment—caught in doubt, vulnerability, defiance.

"I believe in what I see," he said quietly.

Selene exhaled sharply, then reached into her coat pocket and pulled out something folded.

A letter.

"I wasn't lying to you, Kairo," she said, holding it out. "But I wasn't honest either."

He hesitated, then took it.

"My sister," she whispered. "Her name was Maren. She was one of the eleven. She met you at a beach wedding shoot two years ago. You smiled at her through your lens—and she never smiled the same way again."

Kairo's heart pounded. "Maren…?"

"She was the one who left in silence. The one you never pinned to your wall."

Kairo remembered her. God, he did. A shy girl with a laugh that made everything feel warmer. They'd only known each other for a month. But it felt like more.

"She broke," Selene said softly. "And she told me—before she disappeared—that you weren't a bad person. Just… dangerous to hearts like hers."

Kairo looked away. "I didn't know she had a sister."

"You weren't supposed to," Selene said. "I wanted to understand what she saw in you. What you do to people. I wanted to see it for myself."

He stepped back. "So this was all a setup?"

"No." Her voice cracked. "It started that way. But now? I don't know anymore."

She looked at him like she was seeing something she didn't expect.

"Maybe you're not the curse," she said. "Maybe you're just cursed."

Kairo looked down at the letter in his hands, his own heart suddenly heavy with too many names and too many memories.

Behind them, a door creaked open.

Kairo turned—ready for anything.

But it wasn't danger.

It was Lina.

She had followed him.

And now, both women stood on either side of his story—one from the past, one from the present. Both with their own truths.

And Kairo?

He wasn't sure who he was to either of them anymore.