Chapter Text
Who gazes at the stars on a rainy night? Only Raelle.
She stood beneath the soaked canopy of the evening, the rain tapping rhythmically on the streets like an old lullaby. Umbrella forgotten, denim jacket clinging to her shoulders, she lifted her face skyward, eyes searching for stars that weren’t there. She didn’t need to see them. She believed in them—every hidden twinkle, every distant galaxy.
Raelle had always been captivated by the cosmos. The vast, unending stretch of the universe—full of mystery, wonder, and secrets—was a comfort. Scientists spoke of multiverses: endless realities where versions of oneself lived different lives. For Raelle, this wasn’t just theory. It was hope. Hope that somewhere, in some alternate thread of reality, she wasn't alone.
Because in this world, she was.
Her life had unraveled in an instant. One careless moment, one screech of tires, one deafening silence after. Her parents—Edwin and Willa, her light and laughter—gone in a freak accident. Just like that, the world she knew collapsed.
She had no choice but to move in with her aunt, continue her education, pretend to be functioning. But the girl she once was—bright, curious, carefree—died alongside her parents that day. What remained was a shell. Raelle wasn’t living anymore. She was enduring.
Still, she never let the darkness swallow her whole. Ending her life wasn’t an option. Her parents had taught her resilience. Even when they struggled, they carved joy from scarcity. They lived with love and gratitude, never surrendering to despair.
And so, Raelle endured—one breath at a time.
She glanced at her phone. Uber: 20 minutes away. The rain had flooded the streets, making cabs scarce. Cancelling wasn’t an option, so she waited.
The cold seeped through her soaked clothes, but her mind floated far from her body. Again, she thought of the multiverse. Maybe in one of those universes, she was loved. Not just by her parents, but by someone who saw her—not her mask, but her soul. Someone who would pull her close, kiss her with reverence, and whisper her name like it was a prayer.
Raelle…
Honk. Honk!
“Raelle!”
She blinked, startled—the spell of her imagination shattered. Her Uber had arrived.
Raelle rushed to the cab, slipping slightly on the wet pavement, flinging the door open and sliding into the passenger seat. She was still catching her breath when she heard it:
A voice. Smooth. Melodious. Dreamlike.
“OTP, please?”
She looked down at her screen to share the code—and froze.
Driver: Byron H.
Vehicle: Black Sedan – MH12CX...
Her eyes lifted slowly from the phone to the driver beside her. Definitely not Byron. The name didn’t match. Nor did the picture, which showed a lean man with blonde hair and a sharp jawline.
This woman was neither of those things.
She looked at the driver again, voice tight with confusion. “Wait... you’re not Byron.”
The woman didn’t flinch. Her gaze stayed forward, hands steady on the wheel.
“Oh, right,” she said casually, glancing at Raelle through the corner of her eye. “It’s his account. I’m driving for him tonight.”
Raelle blinked. “But that’s not allowed, is it?”
The driver—Scylla, as she had introduced herself—smiled faintly, her tone smooth, almost teasing. “Technically? No. But the rain’s brutal, and Byron owes me a favour.”
Raelle hesitated. She glanced outside. The streets were still familiar. The route matched the app. Everything seemed... fine.
And yet, there was something in the way Scylla spoke. Like her words were rehearsed. Like they were meant to calm, not explain.
But before Raelle could press further, Scylla turned to her with that same faint smile—just a curve of her lips, but enough to make Raelle forget what she was about to say.
“OTP?” she asked gently.
Raelle finally blinked, as if waking from a spell.
“Uh, yes—sorry,” she murmured, fumbling with her phone as her fingers trembled slightly. The rain had made the screen slippery, or maybe it was something else entirely—something within her, shaken loose by the tide of blue in Scylla’s eyes.
She read the OTP aloud, her voice barely steady. Scylla nodded, her lips curling into the faintest smile. It was the kind of smile that hinted at knowing things—about people, about the world, about moments like these that shouldn’t mean anything but somehow meant everything.
As the car pulled away from the curb, Raelle sat in a silence that felt strangely intimate. The hum of the engine, the patter of rain on the windows, the occasional whoosh of other cars—all faded into the background. Her eyes kept drifting to the rearview mirror where Scylla’s gaze occasionally flicked toward her. Not leering. Not curious. Just... aware.
“So,” Scylla said finally, her voice low and rich, “stargazing in the rain? That’s unusual.”
Raelle gave a small laugh, more breath than sound. “Yeah... I guess I just like the idea that they’re still up there. Even when I can’t see them.”
Scylla nodded slowly, her expression unreadable. “They are. Even on the darkest nights, they’re still burning. Just waiting for us to find them again.”
Something about the way she said it sent a shiver down Raelle’s spine. She turned slightly in her seat, studying the driver more closely. Scylla looked young, maybe mid-twenties, her features sharp yet soft, like something painted in twilight. Her dark hair was tied back in a messy braid, a single strand falling rebelliously along her cheek.
Raelle’s curiosity stirred, but so did something else—an odd sense of recognition, as if this woman had stepped out of one of her dreams, or worse, her unspoken wishes.
She caught herself staring again and quickly looked away, cheeks flushing. “So... have you always driven Uber?”
Scylla glanced at her through the mirror, then chuckled softly. “Not really. Just doing a favour for Byron. He wasn’t feeling well tonight, so I took the ride for him. You’d be surprised how much you can learn about people from behind the wheel.”
Raelle raised an eyebrow. “You talk like a philosopher.”
Scylla smirked. “Or a traveller between worlds, I am just kidding she add with a smile. There was something cryptic in her tone, like she was playing with meanings. Raelle was about to press further when the car turned down a quiet road flanked by rain-drenched trees. A strange, almost cinematic calm settled over everything.
And in that silence, a single, impossible thought crossed Raelle’s mind.
What if Scylla wasn’t just a driver? What if, just maybe, she was something else entirely... something connected to the stars like Raelle had just wished upon?