Evelyn kept staring at her phone, her breathing tight and shallow, her chest locked in a knot of rising panic. Leyla had been gone for hours without a word. The blank screen only made the silence heavier, the emptiness inside her louder.

Outside, the sky sank into darkness. A cold wind swept through, carrying the first storm clouds gathering on the horizon. Inside the house, air felt tense, thick with a warning she couldn't name.

She'd begged Leyla to stay. But her daughter, stubborn as always, grabbed her bike and ridden off toward the Nature Reserve, her secret hideout.

Evelyn could picture it perfectly: a wide stretch of golden sand splitting the lagoon from the open sea, a dense pine forest rising just behind it, sheltering wild animals in its shadows. A place untouched, almost outside of time. A place where, somehow, everything seemed easier.

That was where Leyla loved to lose herself, wandering along hidden trails and ducking into birdwatching huts, small sanctuaries where she could disappear.

Years earlier, Evelyn had left France, where she'd lived with her husband, a man who'd died tragically during a mountain rescue mission just days after Leyla was born. After his death, she'd been left alone with her daughter and her mother, in a small lavender-scented apartment.

When Leyla's grandmother passed away, the loss had been too much, a void Evelyn couldn't fill. So, she'd chosen to start over in Italy, making it their new home.

Through it all, Evelyn had never broken. At fifty, she carried herself with grace, her tall, lean frame and long dark hairgiving her an air of quiet strenght. Her eyes, deep and steady, were always the anchor in her daughter's life.

Leyla, now nineteen, carried a different kind of strength. There was a spark in her brown eyes, something rebellious, magnetic. She was tall and slender, her long chestnut hair spilling around a face brightened by freckles that came alive every summer. Against her fair skin, they gave her a natural freshness, an effortless beauty.

Now, she pedaled hard, putting distance between herself and the city's noise and chaos as she rode toward the Reserve.

The rain hadn't started yet, but the sky hung heavy and dark, and a cold current of air announced the coming storm.

Leyla's heart raced, caught between hesitation and the thrill of adventure. She pedaled faster, joy sparking through her as the wind whipped her ponytail. Ahead, the Reserve spread out before her, offering the promise of freedom. But freedom always carried a price.

✦✧✦ 𝓛𝓮𝔂𝓵𝓪 ✧✦✧ ✦✧✦ 𝓛𝓮𝔂𝓵𝓪 ✧✦✧✦✧✦ 𝓛𝓮𝔂𝓵𝓪 ✧✦✧

Did you feel Evelyn's worry? 😟 Leyla's journey has just begun...

Don't miss the next developments in "EDENLOST – I Vol. The Borderless City"! Every Tuesday 🗓️, a new chapter awaits you, unraveling secrets and adventures. ✨

Join us as the mystery deepens! Follow the story on our social media channels and stay updated on the official book launch, scheduled for November. 🚀

✨ Chapter 2 – The Echo of Fear is out now! ✨

New chapters released every Saturday. 🌙

✦✧✦✧✦ 𝓛𝓮𝔂𝓵𝓪 ✧✦✧✦✧✦✧✦✧✦ 𝓛𝓮𝔂𝓵𝓪 ✧✦✧✦✧

The clock had been ticking since Leyla left the house, each second snapping through the room like static in the air, so thick it felt almost breathable.

Evelyn, nerves fraying with every beat, grabbed the phone and dialed her daughter’s number. It rang, then cut off, swallowed by the flat, indifferent voice of voicemail. The silence that followed felt heavier than stone.

Outside, the wind lashed rain against the shutters, carrying with it a chorus of dark omens that slid into Evelyn’s thoughts like knives.

“I don’t like this,” she whispered, arms locked tight around herself.

Trying to distract herself, she started folding the clean laundry, burying her face in the fabric and breathing in the scent of lavender. But even that familiar ritual couldn’t quiet the storm building inside her. The agitation kept climbing, relentless.

She wished with all her being that this dread was only in her mind, but she knew her instincts were rarely wrong.

“I can’t just sit here. I’ve gotta do something or I’ll lose my damn mind.”

Her eyes swept across the kitchen, desperate for a sign, anything that might point her toward Leyla.

“I’m wasting time. There’s nothing here that will lead me to her.”

She was about to leave when her gaze snagged on a brightly colored mug. Leyla’s mug. The one she’d used since childhood, a gift from her grandmother.

“This will do,” she whispered, a flash of hope sparking in her eyes.

Evelyn carried a rare gift: the ability to summon visions of the past, the present, and sometimes the future, by focusing on objects tied to the person she sought. A power she used sparingly, only when it truly mattered.

But this time wasn’t about a stranger. This was about Leyla. And the anxiety clawing at her made even the simplest part of her gift feel unreachable.

Clutching the mug in both hands, she tried to connect with the energy woven into it. But the wave of panic crashed over her, blurring her senses, smothering the gift she relied on.

“No… not now!”

She clenched her jaw, fighting the storm inside her until she managed to steady herself in a fragile balance.

When she was ready, she raised the mug toward the ceiling. Light burst from her palms, fierce and unreal.

The object began to vibrate. Soft at first, then stronger. Until a scream ripped through the silence.

“Oh God, please, no!”

Tears blurred her vision. Tremors racked her body, her heart slamming against her ribs. The mug slipped from her hands, shattering into a thousand pieces across the floor.

The circle of uncertainty broke. And with it, a door opened onto a fate still unknown.

✦✧✦✧✦ 𝓛𝓮𝔂𝓵𝓪 ✧✦✧✦✧ ✦✧✦✧✦ 𝓛𝓮𝔂𝓵𝓪 ✧✦✧✦✧✦✧✦✧✦ 𝓛𝓮𝔂𝓵𝓪 ✧✦✧✦✧

🌘 The vision is broken, but the truth has only begun to surface.

Don’t miss what comes next.

Next chapter releases Saturday. 🌙

The sky was heavy with storm clouds, drowning the last traces of light and wrapping the street in menacing darkness.

Headlights tore through the curtain of rain, cutting toward Leyla like the eyes of a predator. The blinding wall of glare, smeared across the wet asphalt, made it impossible to see straight.

Numb from the cold, she pushed forward unsteadily, groping her way until she had to stop. She froze, anxiety kicking in her chest, waiting for the car to pass.

Better a head cold than ending up scraped off the pavement like some idiot, she thought, her stiff fingers clamped tight on the handlebars.

 Her jaw dropped when the car slowed with a low groan, coming to a stop just a few feet away.

Leyla squinted, straining to cut through the glare of the headlights and make out the shape of the vehicle. But the rain had thickened, and the heavy darkness seemed to conspire against her, shrinking the world to a tiny slice of visibility.

What the hell are they doing? At least kill the damn lights, she thought, in her head, half annoyed, half uneasy.

She settled on the soaked seat, cold gnawing at her bones, sharp rain stinging her face.

The solar streetlights cast a pale, flickering glow that danced like ghosts across the wet asphalt. Far from comforting, the light only amplified Leyla’s unease, as if the world around her had slipped into some in-between place, suspended between reality and nightmare.

Apart from the whistle of the wind, whispering a warning she couldn’t quite catch, and the obsessive drumming of rain on her jacket, there was a heavy, suffocating silence. Within a mile, no one else was around, just Leyla and whatever was hiding inside that car.

“Couldn’t they hurry up?” she whispered, her teeth clattering like a clock gone haywire.

It was time to decide. Leyla couldn’t hesitate any longer.

Rage surged inside her, pressure building like a dam about to give. She wrapped her fingers tightly around the handlebars. Then, after a deep breath, she pushed down on the pedals, determined to head home.

But the moment the bike moved, the car came alive with a menacing roar, swerved into the opposite lane, and cut her path.

Her stomach knotted hard. Her heart pounded, ready to burst.

“Are they out of their damn minds?!” Leyla shouted, her voice caught between disbelief and terror.

The car crept forward.

Do they really want to run me over? she thought. Her mind spun, a sinister buzz echoing in her skull. Panic swelled inside her. The anger she’d felt evaporated, leaving only fear. Her thoughts tangled into static, each one more frantic than the last.

No logic. Just instinct screaming: danger.

Leyla spun around, eyes scanning desperately for someone, anyone. But the street was empty, swallowed by a surreal silence as the car drew closer.

She felt the soaked fabric of her jacket stick to her skin, amplifying the cold that pinned her in place.

Then, suddenly, the car stopped. Still. Just a few feet away.

A primal instinct screamed inside her: run!

But her legs were lead, nailed to the ground.

With a screech, the rear doors swung open. Two dark figures stepped out into the rain. Leyla couldn’t make out their faces. They were wrapped in long black coats, caps pulled low over their eyes, scarves covering nose and mouth. Every slow, deliberate movement radiated menace.

Leyla’s heart pounded like a drum against her ribs. Panic left a bitter taste in her mouth. Never had danger felt so real. The cold air bit into her skin, while a strange numbness crept through her limbs, clashing with her fevered mind, racing for a way out.

Fight? Run? Stay frozen?

Every option throbbed with a terrible omen.

The tension was so thick Leyla could feel it crawling under her skin, like an invisible current.

The drumming of water on nearby leaves seemed to vanish. She was suspended in a stretched-out moment, teetering between the instinct screaming at her to run and the uncertainty of what a single move might trigger.

The two figures closed in, silent, their steps barely audible, as if gravity didn’t touch them.

“What do you want?” she whispered hoarsely, but they gave no sign of hearing her, moving forward like unfeeling automatons.

Then, suddenly, one of them raised a hand, slow, deliberate, and unmistakable.

Leyla held her breath, heart hammering in her throat, the metallic taste of fear coating her tongue.

The world stopped.

✦✧✦✧✦ 𝓛𝓮𝔂𝓵𝓪 ✧✦✧✦✧

✨ New secrets every Saturday.

Don’t miss the next chapter of Edenlost – The Borderless City 🌆 where memories burn, and nothing is what it seems.

📖 The full book drops on Amazon this November.