Chapter 2: The Night the Moon Chose

The road was quiet, soaked in moonlight.

Asha drove in silence with her phone on speaker. Rachel's voice came through.

"You okay, Ashu?"

"I don't know," Asha said softly. "Just tired."

"Tired of what?"

"Trying. Hoping. Being alone."

Rachel paused. "You're not alone. I'm here."

"You know what I mean."

"You want someone."

Asha's voice cracked. "I want someone who sees me and doesn't leave."

"That kind of love…" Rachel whispered. "It's rare."

"Then let it fall from the sky," Asha murmured.

Rachel gave a soft laugh. "What, he's gonna drop from heaven?"

Asha smiled faintly and looked up at the moonlight above the hills.

Then she whispered:

"God… if you're there... 

Just send someone. 

Someone who'll love me and stay."

She looked back at the road.

And saw him.

A man.

Standing in the middle of the highway.

Bloody. Barefoot. Eyes locked on hers.

"Wait—what—!"

**CRASH.**

Her scream vanished into the thunder.

The world spun. Metal twisted. A horn howled into the black sky.

Then... silence.

Asha blinked, hands clenched around the wheel. Her phone dangled from the charger. Rachel's voice cracked through the speaker.

"ASHA!? ASHA!? What happened!? Say something!"

She couldn't speak. Her breath came fast and broken. Panic rising.

"I-I hit someone… I think he's dying… what did I do!?"

"Calm down. Listen to me—ASHU, LISTEN—take him to the hospital. Say nothing else. If they find out… your dream… it's OVER!"

Asha's voice trembled.

"If they report it… my stepfather will ruin me. I'll lose everything. I've worked my whole life to become a doctor…"

---

### Hospital Emergency Room — 2:39 A.M.

Asha dragged his limp body through the doors.

He was bleeding badly. But alive.

Doctors rushed in with stretchers.

One of them grabbed her arm. "Miss! Are you okay? What happened? Who is this man?"

She opened her mouth. Nothing came out.

If she told the truth, they'd report the accident. 

Her license... gone. 

Her stepfather... shame. 

Her future... over.

So she dropped to the floor. Faked dizziness. Voice barely a whisper.

"I… I don't remember. I think I blacked out…"

The doctor cursed. "Fine. Get her to Observation. Start surgery on the male—STAT!"

As they wheeled his body away, a chain slipped from around his neck and fell near her foot.

A dog tag.

Curious, Asha picked it up. The front was engraved with two words that sent a chill down her spine:

**Blood Moon**

She flipped it over.

**Karma**

---

### Later…

On the gurney, his body twitched.

One eye opened. Just a crack.

He saw her lying across a hospital bed, watching him.

She didn't speak. She was measuring everything. Listening. Waiting like a ghost.

Then she stood. Quiet as a shadow. 

Fixed her hair. 

Walked out.

No one stopped her.

She waited.

---

### Hours passed.

He was alive.

Wrapped in fresh bandages. Oxygen hissing through the mask. Chest rising slow like a storm about to break.

She stood at his side. Couldn't look away.

"He's… beautiful," she whispered.

Muscles like armor. A face shaped by violence. 

A stillness that felt dangerous — but safe.

He stirred.

Eyes opened. Not confused. Not afraid. Just… empty.

"Where am I?" he rasped. 

"Who… are you?"

Asha froze.

This was it.

The doctor in her wanted to speak the truth. 

But the woman in her — the girl who was always alone, always second — made a choice.

She smiled, nervous.

"You're Karma… and I'm your fiancée." 

"We've been living together for four years."

He blinked. Processing.

Then everything went black again.

He slipped back into silence.

---

Asha stood frozen.

She had lied. 

To protect her future. 

And maybe — just maybe — 

To finally be loved.

---

I begged the stars with silent cries

To guard my fate, I wove some lies

Now love stands here with past undone

A stranger's heart… yet I'm the one.