Everdale was a small, peaceful town, the kind of place where everyone knew everyone. But hidden beneath its quiet charm was an old legend about red threads of fate—an invisible bond said to tie two destined souls together.
It was always the same dream.
Every night, I'd find myself standing at the edge of a vast, empty field, a soft breeze ruffling my hair. There, shimmering in the distance, was a glowing red thread, stretching across the sky like a bridge leading to nowhere. I reached out, desperate to grab it, but no matter how far I ran, the thread always slipped out of my grasp.
I woke up each time with a sense of longing—an ache in my chest I couldn't explain.
My grandmother had told me the story of the red thread when I was younger. She said it connected you to your soulmate, no matter the distance between you. The thread was invisible to everyone else, but it was always there, pulling you toward the one you were meant to be with.
"The thread never breaks, my dear," she had said, her wrinkled hands resting gently on mine. "It may stretch, it may twist, but it will always find its way back."
I had believed her then, with all the innocence of a child, imagining one day that I'd follow the thread, find its end, and meet the person it was meant for. Now, at eighteen, the legend didn't seem so certain.
I looked down at my wrist where I always wore a thin red ribbon—my little reminder of the story. Sometimes, I almost felt the thread tugging, a faint sensation that made my heart race, but when I looked around, I saw nothing.
I sighed, shaking the feeling off as I prepared for another day at school.
---
It was a normal Tuesday morning when I first saw it.
The new student. His name was Ryan, and he seemed… different.
I had no real reason to notice him—just another face in the crowd. But there was something about him, something that made the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end.
It started with a glance. I was walking to my locker when I turned and found his eyes on me. But not just any look—this was a look like he had been waiting for me, like he knew me.
My heart skipped, and for a moment, everything else faded away.
I blinked, unsure if I had imagined it, but when I looked again, he was still staring at me, a hint of a smile playing at the corner of his lips.
---
Later that day, I saw him again.
He was sitting alone at lunch, looking as out of place as I felt when I first moved here. He caught my gaze once more, and this time, he didn't look away. There was something almost familiar about him, though I couldn't place it.
I turned my head quickly, the sensation of something pulling me toward him almost overwhelming. My hand instinctively reached for the red ribbon on my wrist.
It was just a feeling, I told myself.
I shook my head, trying to ignore it, but the strange pull remained.
---
By the end of the day, I knew something was wrong.
I was walking home when I noticed something strange. For the first time, I could see two threads—one soft and glowing red leading toward Ryan, and another one, even brighter, pulling me in the direction of… Dominic, my childhood best friend.
I froze, my heart thumping as the realization hit me: the red thread wasn't just a myth. And somehow, I was tangled up in two threads.
But why?