Everything collapsed into black.
No sound. No breath. No world.
Just an absence so total it felt like falling through the spine of the universe.
Then—
A gasp.
Ezra's eyes tore open.
He was lying on the cold cement of the bus stand—the same place he had seen before the loops, the fog, the family, the Tree…but now stripped of all color and sound, like the world had washed itself clean while he was unconscious.
His body felt hollow. As if someone had scooped out his insides and left only the shell of him.
His limbs ached. His ribs burned. His throat felt bruised though no marks showed.
He touched the ground, pushing himself up slowly.
How did I get here?
Nothing answered.
His memory was a blank smear—just static and rain and the faint echo of something chanting far away.
He forced himself to stand.
Rain hammered the tin roof of the bus shelter, dripping onto his clothes, cold enough to hurt. His breath shook. His head throbbed.
He checked his phone.
5:00 AM. Still raining. Still dark.
A shadow moved in the storm ahead.
Footsteps splashing.
And then—
Mellody.
Sprinting through the rain, hair drenched, overcoat clinging to her, breath fogging the air. She stopped in front of him, chest rising and falling, eyes wide with relief and anger twisted together.
"Ezra—" she grabbed his cheeks, scanning him up and down— "Where the hell were you?"
He blinked, dazed. "Oh… morning jog."
"In a cyclone? At five AM? In THIS rain?" she snapped, voice trembling at the edges." I woke up and you weren't in bed—I thought something happened. I looked everywhere. I ran the street like an idiot!"
Ezra managed a weary smile. "Hey… I'm okay, honey~ No monsters ate me. Just… jogging."
She smacked his arm lightly. "Don't joke when I'm worried."
He chuckled softly. "You worried about me? I love when my wife misses me."
She rolled her eyes but her cheeks warmed. "You're soaked. I'm soaked. Both of us is going to get sick before our honeymoon and—"
Ezra sneezed. Hard.
Mellody paused.
Then burst into a laugh that broke through all the night's heaviness. "See? WHO got cold first, mister 'I love the rain'?"
He rubbed his nose, shivering. "You win…"
She slipped her hand into his — warm, grounding — fingers interlocked.
"Come on," she said more gently. "Weather report says a cyclone is hitting by afternoon. Before your mom wakes up and demands why her daughter-in-law let her precious Ezra freeze to death… We should get to the mansion."
He chuckled "Yeah… She'll blame you for everything I do."
"I know," she sighed dramatically. "Being your wife is already SO hard than I'm CEO."
He chuckled "That's over-dramatic".
They laughed together, breath fogging in the cold storm.
And they walked. Fast. Hand in hand. Two figures cutting through the cyclone rain like warmth carved into the storm.
Ezra kept smiling…but inside him, something trembled.
Like a memory scratching from behind glass. Like a word he'd forgotten. Like a dream he'd died in.
But Mellody squeezed his hand tighter.
And for now—for now—the emptiness stayed quiet.