Stay.

"The one on whose land this house stands? If humanity is home, does the earth belong to someone else?" Marcus watched as the girl got out of bed and walked to the open window. A cool wind played with loose locks of brown hair, Amelia was a young girl, but her aura resembled a wise woman, on whose fragile shoulders the responsibility for the whole world lay.

"In Sumerian mythology, there is a legend about King Ziusudra. He was the one who survived the great flood, and God awarded him immortality. Most people perceive ancient myths as fairy tales," Amelia turned her head and looked over her shoulder at the man, "But there is some truth in every fairy tale, right?"

"Apparently, you know better about this," Marcus silently approached her and threw a warm blanket over the girl's shoulders, "Is the prediction somehow connected with this legend?"

Amelia nodded, "The Teser family members are descendants of Ziusudra. But his immortality is not how people imagine it. The power of the ancients in our blood allows us to see what is hidden from the eyes of ordinary people. A part of this king is in every descendant of Teser, and it manifests itself in each of us in different ways.

The gods awarded Ziusudra with immortality and special power, since he took on the role of the guardian of civilization. On one condition. He will return what belongs to the gods when the people upset the balance given to them."

The wind outside the window went down; the forest plunged into the silence of the night, like a dark beast that has finally been overcome by sleep.

"Humanity thinks the earth belongs to them, Marcus, but in reality, we were just allowed to rent this place," Amelia sighed and wrapped herself in a blanket. She did not tell anyone about this, not even Polina, with whom she spent the last eight years.

"Every emotion, every act that a person performs carry certain energy. Good and bad thoughts have different wavelengths, these waves overlap and fill the space, strengthening or weakening the protective shield of the planet. And when it becomes thinner to a critical point, a defense mechanism is triggered. In religious books, this phenomenon is called-"

"Apocalypse," Marcus finished the girl's words. The silence outside the window only emphasized the silence that hung in the room. "It is easier to get rid of people with the help of some kind of cataclysm and disease than to let them destroy the house in which they live. Is it so? And this prediction cannot be changed in any way?"

Amelia frowned her brows and pressed her lips together, Marcus felt her tension in his body. "To be honest, I don't know," the girl gulped, "I thought about it. There was one person in history who managed to postpone the inevitable. Everyone knows his name, he also had unique abilities - he could walk on water and heal others just with a touch. But it's harder this time, Marcus. The point of no return has been crossed. A house of cards cannot resist if its lower level is destroyed."

"And when is this supposed to happen?"

Amelia smiled, but her smile did not touch her eyes, "Did you know that only girls are born in the Teser family?" Marcus shook his head. "Because as soon as a boy is born, it means that the time of the contract has come to an end, and humanity must vacate the rented place. King Ziusudra will be reborn to take away the benefits previously given to people. The cycle of one civilization will end to make way for the next one."

Marcus looked at the girl's slight smile, which emanated sadness. A powerful storm was gathering strength in his chest, ready to swallow the man into its icy embrace. "Are there any other Teser descendants besides you?" he asked carefully.

"No. I'm the only one."

The girl's answer stung somewhere inside, Marcus put his hand to his chest and turned away so that she did not see his gaze. If it was someone else's boy, the man was ready to add another sin to his bleak collection. But if Amelia was the only descendant, then it must be her child. In this case, he will not be able to get rid of the boy to stop the prophecy. He cannot kill the one in whom her blood will flow.

"M-Marcus?" Amelia felt the echo of despair and overwhelming sadness.

"Is this about your future son?"

"No, if a boy is born, he will not be my son, but the son of my daughter," the girl answered quietly, not understanding what was happening to the man. Amelia hadn't expected this information to affect Marcus so much.

"Ah. Ok. I see," he squeezed out the last words as if his mouth were filled with sand. A child. She will have a child. A girl. And Amelia even knew about it.

The man's gaze became extinct, he turned around and slowly walked towards the door, "It's late, you're tired. I'll warn Simon to get the car ready and take you to the airport tomorrow."

"W-what?" Amelia looked at the man's back in confusion. The farther he went from the window, the more the darkness deepened over him. It seemed to the girl that as soon as Marcus touched the doorknob, the darkness would hide him with its black paws. The shadows in the corners were already grinning, anticipating the return of their favorite toy to their dead captivity.

"Stop!" she ran up and grabbed the man's sleeve just as the lock on the door clicked, "A child. A child in the Teser family can only be born when a Teser family member meets her destined soulmate. I can only have a child from my destined partner," Amelia said the last sentence in a whisper.

Marcus let go of the doorknob and the lock clicked back, "What did you say?" he stared at the door in front of him as his brain wondered if he understood her words correctly.

"If I can have a child, it's only from you, Marcus Taubert. Do you know that our destinies are connected?" The girl's voice trembled a little, as did her thin fingers holding the fabric of the man's shirt.

Marcus turned, opened his mouth and silently closed it again. The throat on his neck twitched as if the man was trying to forcefully pronounce the words he wanted. "But that's impossible," he gasped. "I... I tried it, and it never worked. I thought that there could be no children from someone like me..."

"Because this rule works both ways," Amelia lowered her eyes and thanked the night that Marcus did not see her embarrassment.

"So... So we can have a baby? A girl?" the man asked again, doubt refused to leave him. To which Amelia nodded in the affirmative.

"You... You can give birth to my baby?"

"Marcus, you're kidding me, asking the same thing several-"

The girl's voice was drowned in the warm cotton of the man's shirt. Marcus squeezed her so tightly that Amelia almost saw some flickering stars on the ceiling.

"Thank you. This is the best thing I've heard in my life. Thank you," the man's hoarse whisper enveloped the girl's hair, caressing it in unison with his palms sliding down her back. Marcus pulled back and touched her forehead with his lips, "Good night, Amelia. The plane leaves for London at five in the evening. Simon will see you off."

The hot heat in an instant was replaced by an icy rain that doused the girl from head to toe.

"Are you kicking me out?!" she grabbed the man with both hands, preventing him from leaving when he took a step to the side.

Marcus looked at the girl with tenderness, gently released his hand from her palms, turned her to the window and removed the fallen strands from her face, "Silly, I release you from me. Isn't that what you wanted?" His voice was as soft as the cotton Amelia had touched a second ago, but that softness was just a wrapper for the man's firm decision. His silhouette turned into a large dark spot, the outlines became indistinct, as if her eyes were clouded with a veil or moisture.

"No matter how happy I am now, knowing that I can have a child from my beloved woman, this is not the life that I would like for the baby. If the fate of this child is already outlined, I will simply make it so that she will never be born. Good night, Amelia. I am happy that you exist in this world."

Amelia couldn't believe her ears, but the man's gaze and his emotions that she felt confirmed the seriousness of Marcus's words. He really decided to let her go. But how is this possible?! Among hundreds of options for events, there was no such thing! None of the options for the future was that he would let her go himself!

She did not notice how he closed the window, isolating the space from the outside world, that the man's shadow disappeared from her eyes, his steps became quieter and further as if they were separated by tens of meters and not three meters of the room. Amelia realized with horror that as soon as he crossed the threshold and slammed the door behind him, this would be the last time she would see him in this life.

The body turned to stone as if every cell refused to believe that it was reality. "Stay...," her voice let her down, and Amelia did not even hear her own pleading whisper, the words faded into the air in silence, the movement of her lips disappeared into gray darkness.

Tick-tack. Tick-tack.

The hand on the clock was beating its rhythm monotonously. Not a sigh, not a rustle - complete silence.

Time slowed down or simply disappeared, and only the hand of the clock continued to tick, outlining the next circle of its life.

Tick-tack. Tick-tack.

His palms rested on her waist and Amelia closed her eyes.

"Raise your hands," a quiet request that sounded like an order. She lifted her arms, and the warm fabric of the sweater slid over her body, releasing the unnecessary weight.

Strong hands stroked the back, threw the hair forward, froze at the base of her neck and gently lowered the zipper of the dress, revealing the delicate skin.

Inhale, exhale. His breath touched her bare shoulders, the tips of his fingers ran along the vertebrae, stopped below the shoulder blades. Click. The bra fell to the floor over the top of the dress.

Amelia stepped over her clothes and turned.

Tick-Tack.

The man stood motionless, but the ocean raged in his eyes.

The girl raised her hands and unbuttoned the top button of his shirt, then the next one, and the next one. She ran her fingertips along the opened abdomen, up his chest, and released his broad shoulders. She put her hands down.

Click. Marcus caught her hand on his belt and shook his head. He pulled out his belt, left his pants on.

"It's not fair."

"Not fair," he repeated her words, lifted his shirt from the floor and threw it over the girl's shoulders. Amelia slipped her hands into the sleeves, the man's fingers repeated her actions in reverse. He fastened one button, then the next one, stopped on her chest, examining the pendant. He hid it under the fabric, buttoned up the remaining buttons.

His movements were fluid and confident. Here she was standing on the floor, and a couple of seconds later the soft bed gladly took the girl into its arms. She felt the warmth of his chest on her back.

"The car will be waiting for you at two in the afternoon. Sleep."

"I don't want tomorrow to come."

"… Me too."

Amelia rolled over and buried her nose in the man's chest.

"It will be hot for you to sleep like that," his breath slid through her hair.

"… I'm cold."

"… Me too," he whispered and pulled her closer to him.

When Amelia opened her eyes, Marcus was gone. The first rays of the rising sun shone through the drawn curtains.