Chapter 3 SAVED BY A STRANGER
Amara’s POV
The first thing I heard was Christmas music.
Soft. Distant. Like it was coming from far away. It sounded warm, like the kind of song families played while decorating trees. A part of me wanted to reach for it. But the cold pulled me the other way.
I tried to open my eyes, but they were too heavy. Snow touched my face. My body felt stiff. My breath was slow. Everything around me was quiet, too quiet for a city filled with holiday noise.
Then something touched my cheek.
Warm.
Too warm.
A warmth that did not belong in the middle of a freezing winter night. A warmth that made the cold inside me crack open just a little.
Another touch. A hand on my jaw. Soft. Strong. Safe.
A voice followed. Low. Calm. Close to my ear.
"Hold on. I have you."
I tried to move. Tried to speak. Tried to understand. But my body stayed still. I felt stuck between sleep and waking. My thoughts moved slowly, like they were covered in ice.
I forced my eyes open for one second.
Just one.
I saw silver. Not like old silver. Not dull or dusty. It was bright. Like moonlight caught in hair. And below it, eyes. Glowing blue eyes that looked worried. Eyes that were too bright to be real.
Then the world slipped away again.
Everything turned soft and dark.
My body felt light, like I was floating. My hands rested against something warm and steady. My cheek pressed against fabric that felt like fire compared to the snow. For the first time in a long time, I didn’t feel alone.
I drifted back for a moment, catching pieces of the world around me.
Wind.
Snow falling.
Someone breathing near my ear.
Arms holding me. Carrying me. Carrying me fast.
I felt movement beneath me. Strong steps. The sound of snow crunching. And somehow, even though the wind was cold, something around us felt warm. Like the snow didn’t dare touch us.
I tried to lift my head, but I couldn’t.
"Stay with me," the voice said.
His voice. The one who found me.
I wasn’t imagining it. He was real. A stranger holding me like he knew me. A stranger with warm hands in a frozen night.
I opened my eyes again for a second. His face was above mine. The silver hair seemed almost bright. Snow landed on him but melted right away. His scarf moved with the breeze. His breath rose in clouds. But his skin looked warm, warmer than it should.
I wanted to ask him something.
Who are you?
Why are you helping me?
How did you find me?
But when I opened my mouth, no words came out. Not even a whisper. My voice stayed trapped somewhere inside me.
He looked down at me when I tried. His eyebrows pulled together, like he could feel me struggling.
"You do not need to talk," he said softly. "Save your strength."
His voice was calm. Calm in a way that made my shaking chest settle for just a moment. He held me closer as he walked. Each step felt careful, protective.
I drifted again.
Christmas sounds hit my ears from far away. Bells. Someone humming. People laughing. The city was alive with lights and decorations, but it all felt distant compared to the strange glow around him.
The snow near his feet actually sparkled. Not like normal snow. Like it glowed for a second before fading. I blinked hard, but the light was still there. Soft, pale, almost magical.
Was I imagining it? Was I dreaming?
Maybe I was dying.
Maybe he was the last thing I would see before I slipped away.
But his arms felt real.
His warmth felt real.
His breath near my ear felt real.
I tried once more to speak, and the only sound that came out was a weak whisper.
"Your name…"
He looked down again. His eyes had that bright blue glow, gentle but intense.
"You will be alright," he said. "Just hold on."
My body gave up the fight. My eyelids fell again. He shifted me carefully in his arms, like I weighed nothing. Snowflakes kept falling, but none of them felt cold anymore. Everything around me felt soft, warm, wrong but right at the same time.
Somewhere far away I heard a child laughing. Christmas lights flashed across my closed eyes, red and green like tiny stars. Car horns honked. People talked. But all those sounds felt smaller than his voice.
I tried to breathe deeper, but my chest felt heavy. He felt it too. His arm tightened around me.
"I have you," he said again. "Do not be afraid."
For some reason, I wasn’t.
Maybe it was the way he said it.
Maybe it was the warmth of his hands.
Maybe it was the strange feeling that I knew him somehow, even though I didn’t.
I drifted in and out several times. Each time I woke, the world looked different. Sometimes blurry. Sometimes bright. Sometimes filled with snowflakes that glowed.
At one point, I woke long enough to see we were crossing a street. Headlights flashed by. Cars honked. People stared as he carried me through the snow. Some gasped. Some whispered. But he didn’t look at them.
He only looked at me.
"Stay awake," he said.
"I…can’t…" I whispered.
"You can," he answered. "Just a little longer."
His voice wrapped around me like a blanket. I held onto the sound. I tried to keep my eyes open, but they kept slipping shut.
Lights grew brighter ahead of us. I saw a red sign through my blurry vision. A hospital sign. He was bringing me there. He was trying to save me.
My fingers twitched against his coat. He looked down and gave a soft smile. A smile that made the cold in my chest crack again.
"We are almost there," he said. "You made it."
For a second, I felt safe. Safer than I had in years.
Then the lights above us changed. They got brighter. Warmer. I felt the heat of the hospital entrance. People rushed around. Someone shouted for a nurse. A door opened.
He stepped into the bright light that fell across his face.
And I saw him clearly.
My breath caught in my throat.
He was the most beautiful person I had ever seen. Too perfect. Too unreal. His skin seemed to glow under the lights. His silver hair looked like shining snow. And his eyes. His eyes were bright blue, glowing like they held something impossible inside them.
Not normal.
Not human.
Not possible.
The glow in his eyes grew brighter when he looked directly at me. Like something inside him reacted to me.
"Stay awake just one more moment," he said. "Please."
I opened my mouth to speak.
But nothing came out.
The world tilted.
The lights blurred.
His glowing eyes were the last thing I saw.
Then everything went black. Completely black.
And for a split second, right before I fell into the darkness, I felt something warm spread across my chest.
Like magic.