They told him not to stay out when it rained.
Not because of storms.
Because of her.
Ethan heard the rumors long before he ever believed them.
A girl who only appeared in the rain.
A girl who stood where no one else would, eyes closed like she was listening to something beneath the sound of falling water.
A girl you weren’t supposed to talk to.
“People who do,” his roommate once said, half-joking, “don’t come back the same.”
Ethan had laughed it off.
Until the night he saw her.
She was exactly where they said she would be.
In the middle of the courtyard.
Still.
Unmoving.
Rain pouring down around her like it was drawn to her alone.
He should have walked away.
He didn’t.
“Are you okay?” he called, stepping into the rain.
Her eyes opened slowly.
And just like that—
Everything else faded.
“I’m fine,” she said softly. “I just like the rain.”
Her name was Lina.
She never explained where she came from.
Never said where she went when the skies cleared.
She was just… there.
Only when it rained.
And Ethan kept going back.
“You shouldn’t be here tonight.”
Her voice was different that evening—quieter, almost distant.
Rain fell harder than usual, the sky heavy and restless.
“Why?” he asked.
Lina hesitated.
“They’re watching.”
“Who?”
She didn’t answer.
Instead, she stepped closer, her presence colder than the air around them.
“You need to stop coming when it rains.”
He shook his head.
“No.”
“Ethan—”
“I don’t care what this is,” he said, his voice steady despite the storm. “I don’t care if it’s strange or dangerous or makes no sense. I just—”
He stopped himself.
But it was already too late.
Her eyes softened.
“Say it,” she whispered.
“I come back because of you.”
The rain seemed to still for a moment.
Or maybe it was just his heartbeat.
“You shouldn’t have said that,” Lina breathed.
“Why?”
“Because now I won’t be able to stay away.”
That was the first time she touched him.
Her fingers brushed his hand—
Cold.
Too cold.
But he held on anyway.
And that was the beginning of the end.
The warnings came after.
Whispers spreading across campus.
Students avoiding the courtyard.
Security locking gates before storms.
Stories of disappearances tied to nights just like this one.
“You have to stop,” Lina said one night, her voice breaking for the first time.
The rain around them was heavier now—unnatural, almost violent.
“This isn’t just about us anymore.”
“Then tell me what it is,” Ethan demanded. “Tell me what you’re so afraid of.”
She looked at him like she was memorizing him.
Like she was already saying goodbye.
“I’m not what you think I am.”
“I know,” he said quietly. “And I don’t care.”
“That’s the problem.”
The ground beneath them trembled slightly.
The rain began to fall harder—
Faster.
Like something was pulling it down.
“They’re coming,” Lina whispered.
“Who is coming?”
Her grip tightened on his hand.
And for the first time—
He saw it.
Not just Lina.
But the rain itself.
Shadows moved inside it.
Shapes forming and dissolving.
Watching.
Waiting.
“They don’t like that I stayed,” she said.
“They don’t like that I chose you.”
A chill ran through him.
“Chose me… for what?”
Lina didn’t answer.
Instead, she stepped closer—
Too close.
Her hand rising to his face.
“I’m sorry,” she whispered.
And then—
She kissed him.
It was soft.
Cold.
And endless.
Like falling into something he couldn’t escape.
The rain swallowed everything.
When it stopped—
Ethan was gone.
The next morning, the courtyard was empty.
No signs of struggle.
No evidence.
Nothing.
Just whispers.
Stories.
Warnings passed from one student to another.
Don’t stay in the rain.
Don’t talk to the girl.
Don’t let her touch you.
Because if you do—
You don’t disappear.
Weeks later, a new storm rolled in.
Students rushed past the courtyard, heads down, avoiding the rain.
All except one.
A girl stood in the center.
Still.
Unmoving.
Eyes closed.
Face tilted toward the sky.
As if she was listening.
A boy hesitated at the edge of the courtyard, watching her.
Drawn in.
Curious.
“Are you okay?” he called out.
The girl’s eyes opened slowly.
And this time—
They weren’t Lina’s.
They were Ethan’s.
And he smiled.
“I’m fine,” he said softly. “I just like the rain.”
