Cursed to love you

tching me from a

erate, like I've watched one too many Netflix thrillers alone at nig

s not l

-in dreams. In flashes. In memori

He just watches. From beneath the lamplight outside my building, coa

hird time

me barreling down here with a baseball bat and a camera crew if I so much

ow he isn

eithe

-

after a mental breakdown, a suspicious car crash, and one too many

nd of way. Think crumbling stone, ivy-covered staircases, and a town

liar, even though I'd never been. L

window faces the street, and lately, it's where I see him most. Stan

't told

I ghosted after three awkward dates and one sleepwalk

lding it toge

ir tightens when he's near. The static charge of

-

r. Do the things humans do when t

swore I wouldn't: I

ases, scraps of dreams and nightmares I can't explain. Symbols that don't make sense

know w

's the man who

-

tarted after

ing off-key to some old Florence + the Machine song, a

ust before the car hit the tree. A voic

aga

en dar

y. Just a few broken ribs and a concussion. But I didn't fe

later, standing across the street like he'd been

-

I dream

dress, barefoot in the middle of a ballroom made of shadows. Th

h h

ci

my forehead. He whispers my name like it'

screams. A

m dyin

is a

-

out of my chest. My fingers clutch the locket I've started wearing around m

oto of a woman

it's n

rom another era. Eyes full of

who ne

ho always

o always l

-

er café for coffee strong enough to wake the dead and try not to

ht again,

ho keeps showing up in

fire in the woods. No casualties. But when they flash a

orest from

ling my name. I walk out with

-

n the bookstore la

You look like a

Cas. Love

erious. Something's up.

. The man. The name. The locket. The feel

oesn't call me crazy

he university archives for your ge

ea

t gonna show you because...

p a photo o

1871. The headline: Heiress S

in the pic

ce caught mid-turn, eyes li

n D'A

rs. Until the bookstore disappears. Unti

l above the book

ook

ding in t

ci

he f

s locking onto mine li

," he

ques

emo