The air in the master suite was thick with the ozone of a near-disaster and the suffocating weight of secrets. Leah stood alone in the center of the room, her translucent form vibrating with a kinetic energy she didn't understand. Her gaze was fixed on her palms—pale, ethereal, and suddenly terrifying.
She raised her hands toward the far wall, her breath hitching in her chest. The memory of the bathroom fire—the roar of the flames and the heat that should have consumed Leo—flashed behind her eyes. She focused every ounce of her will on a single thought: Water.
In an instant, a high-pressure jet of crystalline water erupted from her palms. It struck the wall with a violent thud, splashing across the expensive wallpaper in a frantic, cooling arc.
Leah recoiled, her heart hammering against a ribcage that no longer felt physical.
"What is this?" she whispered to the empty air. "How can I have this power in me?"
She stared at the damp patch on the wall. She was a soul—a girl whose body lay in a hospital bed, tethered to life by the thinnest of threads. The doctors had given her six months, a deadline that felt like a death sentence. She was a ghost to the world, yet she could summon the elements. She could control the world with her hands, yet she couldn't touch a human being. She was invisible to everyone except Leonardo Richard Bennett.
"I can't believe this," she murmured, a bitter tear pricking her eyes. "All those years I worked in his father's office, I wanted him to see me. I wanted him to understand how I felt. I was right there, part of his world, and he never even glanced my way. Now that I've lost my body... now that I'm a shadow... he finally sees me."
The irony was a jagged blade. She felt a phantom ache in her chest as she remembered the accident—the screech of tires, the cold asphalt, and the darkness that had swallowed her whole. She moved silently to the edge of Leo's bed and sat down, her mind a whirlpool of doubt and fear.
The Aftermath of the Flame
Below, the heavy tread of footsteps announced the arrival of the household staff. Three servants hurried into the suite, their faces etched with panic as they rushed toward the bathroom.
"The master said there was a fire!" one gasped.
They burst into the bathroom, only to skid to a halt. The air was misty with steam, and the smell of scorched plastic lingered, but the inferno Leo had described was gone. The walls were wet, the floor was slick, but there was no fire.
"It's... it's out," the lead servant stammered. He knelt by the geyser, his eyes widening. "Look at the wires. They've been sliced clean through. The switch has been on for hours. This should have leveled the room."
The servants stood in baffled silence. They looked right through Leah, who sat on the bed watching them with wide, guilty eyes. To them, the room was empty save for the scent of smoke.
Then, the door swung open. Leo entered, his face pale and eyes wild. His gaze immediately locked onto Leah sitting on his bed, but he forced himself to look at the servants first.
"Sir," the head servant said, his voice trembling. "We didn't see any fire. It's already gone."
Leo's head snapped toward them. "WHAT?" he shouted, the sound echoing off the high ceilings. "But I saw it! It was spreading across the entire room! I saw the flames licking the doorframe. I ordered the electricity cut because I thought the whole house was going to burn down!"
The servants exchanged worried glances.
"Sir," one offered tentatively, "the fire may have started at the geyser because the wires were tampered with. It looks like sabotage. But honestly... we found nothing but smoke and water. It's as if someone stopped the fire before it could even start."
Leo froze. His jaw tightened as he turned his head slowly toward Leah. He looked at her with a mixture of suspicion and simmering rage. The servants watched their master, stunned. Why was he staring so angrily at an empty bed?
"Thank you," Leo said through gritted teeth, his eyes never leaving Leah. "You may leave. Now."
The servants didn't wait to be told twice. They hurried out, closing the door softly behind them.
The Interrogation
The silence that followed was heavy. Leo walked toward Leah with a slow, predatory grace, a sarcastic, bitter smile playing on his lips.
"Are you the one who stopped the fire in the bathroom?" he asked, his voice a low, dangerous rumble.
Leah didn't answer. She was lost in the memory of the water jetting from her hands, her mind spiraling through the impossibility of her existence.
"MISS CRAZY GIRL!" Leo bellowed.
Leah jumped, her focus snapping back to the present. "What? What happened?"
Leo's sarcastic smile vanished, replaced by pure frustration. He balled his hands into fists, his knuckles turning white. "Wait... did you not hear a single word I just said? Did you even notice I was scolding you?"
Leah looked up at him, her expression one of pure, wide-eyed innocence. "No."
Leo let out a strangled sound of disbelief. He turned away, pacing the floor, muttering to himself, "Leonardo, calm down. Breathe. Deal with this coolly. She's... she's not right in the head." He forced his fists to unclench and turned back to her.
"Let me ask you again," he said, his voice straining for civility. "Are you the one who stopped the fire? Didn't I tell you to stay out of there? Didn't I tell you this room was dangerous?"
Leah looked down, nervously chewing on her nail.
"ANSWER ME!"
"Yes," she whispered softly.
Leo's eyes narrowed. "Have you used water to stop the fire? Did you really?"
"Yes."
"Do you have any common sense at all?" Leo exploded, his fear for her safety manifesting as anger. "If you threw water on an electrical fire, you could have been electrocuted! You could have died right there on the tiles! You mad girl!"
Leah looked at him blankly. "Yes."
Leo's mouth hung open. He stared at her as if she were a biological anomaly. "What? 'Yes'? I thought you were just acting weird, but you are genuinely, 100% insane. You're the No. 1 Mad Creature I've ever met. You sit on my bed like you own the place, and you have the brain of a bird! Do you even know what I'm saying?"
Leah, still preoccupied with the fact that she was a water-bending soul, simply nodded. "Yes."
Leo threw his hands up in the air. "Will you answer my questions properly? Why? Why would you use water on a geyser fire?"
Leah looked at him with a soft, melancholic smile. "I'm sorry, sir. I just thought it would help. So I used the water."
"That could have killed you!" Leo groaned, rubbing his temples. "Never do something so stupid again. Think before you act. God gave us brains to use, not to keep in the fridge!"
Leah nodded rhythmically. "Yes."
Leo muttered "Mad" under his breath, but as his anger ebbed, his curiosity returned. He realized he still knew nothing about the girl who had suddenly appeared in his life. He stepped closer, blocking her path as she tried to stand.
"Hey, Miss... Miss Who-Are-You? I've been asking since the moment I saw you. What are you doing in my room? Who are you?"
Leah froze. The doctor's voice echoed in her mind: Only six months left. She couldn't tell him she was a soul. She couldn't tell him she was the girl from his office who had been in an accident. She needed a cover.
"My name is Elsa," she said, the lie tasting like ash. "Elsa Andrews. I'm... I'm a new member of the housing staff. I'm searching for a permanent job."
Leo paused, his intense gaze softening. He nodded, a genuine smile finally breaking through his frustration. He reached out his hand to shake hers. "Well, Elsa... I think you already know who I am."
Leah stared at his hand. She couldn't take it. If she tried, her hand would simply pass through his like mist. She kept her hands tucked behind her back.
Leo, unfazed by the rejection, pulled his hand back and tucked it into his pocket. "I'm Leonardo Richard Bennett. Popular rock star, CEO, businessman. Usually, people are falling over themselves to meet me, but you... you're different. You don't look like housing staff. You look decent. Cute, in a weird way. You look like you have a good education."
Leah's heart did a somersault. "What? Me? Cute?"
Leo's cheeks flushed a sudden, deep crimson. He looked away, realizing he had spoken his thoughts aloud. "I—that's not—anyway! You can't stay here. I don't like strangers in my bedroom. You should go back to your duties."
Leah smiled, a warmth spreading through her that had nothing to do with her powers. Her heart was racing so fast she wondered if he could hear it. My heart beats so fast when I'm near him, she thought. Does he feel even a fraction of this?
As she turned to leave, Leo stood there, blushing and cursing himself. Idiot. Why am I acting like a schoolboy? I never share my feelings like that. Why does this girl make everything feel so... strange?
The Shadow and the Seer
Leah walked out of the bright bedroom and into the dimly lit hallway. As she passed a recessed, dark storage room, she heard a muffled, low male voice. She froze, her spectral form blending into the shadows.
"The plan failed," the man hissed into a phone. "I thought I could kill that spoiled brat Leo today by damaging the geyser. Some fluke saved him. But next time... next time he won't be so lucky."
Leah's blood ran cold. She lunged toward the doorway, desperate to see the face of the killer, but the room was a void of darkness. By the time she reached the threshold, the figure had slipped out a side exit.
"Who was that?" she whispered, trembling. "Why did that voice sound so familiar?"
Across the city, in a quiet, incense-filled sanctuary...
Leo's mother, Amelia, sat across from a man known simply as Guru. She had placed Leo's horoscope on the table between them, her hands shaking.
"What brings you here, Amelia?" Guru asked, his eyes sharp behind his spectacles.
"My son is in danger," Amelia whispered. "I feel it. He's survived attacks, accidents, and strange calls. Even at his friend's wedding, someone tried to lure him away. I try to keep him home, but the danger follows him. Please, tell me what you see."
Guru studied the charts, his brow furrowing as he traced the celestial alignments. He looked up, his expression grave.
"Leo's path is clouded by shadow, Amelia. He will face great peril over the next six months. The stars suggest the danger will come primarily through fire, or perhaps other elemental shifts. He is being hunted."
Amelia gasped, clutching her chest.
"Keep him away from flames," Guru warned. "He is walking on the edge of a precipice. He needs a protector, someone who can see what he cannot."
As Amelia left the office, consumed by fear, and as Leo sat in his room, unable to shake the image of the "mad" girl, Leah stood in the hallway. She was a girl with six months to live, a girl with the power of the tides in her hands, and the only person who could stand between the man she loved and the fire that was coming for him.