A heavy silence settled between them, only disturbed by the steady drumming of the rain against the windows. Caden shivered. A distant echo resonated in his mind, like a whisper from elsewhere. He briefly closed his eyes, trying to piece together the fragments of his dreams.
— You might be right, he finally said in a pensive voice.
Bella, surprised by his sudden statement, raised an eyebrow.
— Why do you say that? What makes you think I'm right?
Caden took a deep breath before answering:
— Because of my dreams.
Intrigued, Bella tilted her head slightly, examining him carefully.
— I keep having the same dream, he continued. I find myself facing a hooded woman, but her face escapes me, as if swallowed by shadows. Her voice, distant and troubled, echoes in my mind. She speaks words… or rather, fragments of sentences:
"She's coming… return… destroy everything… If you… repeat… ritual… lost… Be careful… in danger… fight together… Find… twelve… hurry… no more… time… fast…"
Bella shivered, a bad feeling creeping over her.
— At least, thanks to you, we've made progress, she said after a moment.
Caden gave her a perplexed look.
— What do you mean?
A determined smile appeared on Bella's lips.
— Think about it, she replied. The woman in your dream warned you of imminent danger. She mentioned someone… "She's coming." A woman, then. And there's also the number twelve. Doesn't that remind you of anything?
Caden narrowed his eyes, but Bella didn't wait for his answer.
— Twelve… like the Zodiac signs, she specified. And if this mysterious woman is talking about a dangerous ritual, that someone wants to repeat to kill us… then we must stop them. Together.
Caden let her words sink in, but a lingering worry remained.
— Alright, he said slowly. Let's say this all makes sense. But you're forgetting something important: how are we supposed to find the others? So far, our meetings have been pure coincidence. There's no guarantee we'll be able to gather everyone. Not to mention that we barely know anything about our powers, except that they're linked to our Zodiac signs. And now, we learn that a woman is trying to eliminate us?
Bella crossed her arms and nodded.
— Put that way, the situation does seem chaotic, I admit. But I'm sure we'll find a way.
She paused before adding in a softer tone: