Truly, life is far too short. I never imagined that Sarah had hidden from me the fact that she worked here. Didn't she tell me, the day I gave her some money when she was ill, that her family owned a shoe shop?
A wave of tears overwhelmed me.
The man said quietly, "She was a lively girl, full of energy, always eager to give her best. But unfortunately… we later heard that she was killed."
"What did you say?" I shouted. "Killed?"
The man seemed startled, fear flickering across his face. He muttered a few incoherent words before saying, "Please, calm down, Mr. Simon."
"Let me tell you what I saw years ago."
He paused briefly, as if gathering his memories.
"She came here on a cold morning. She was wearing a simple coat, but her eyes… they held a spark no one could miss. She insisted on working. Said she wasn't afraid of hardship—only afraid of having no purpose."
I fell silent, listening, my heart pounding.
"At first, she was just an ordinary worker," he continued in a low voice. "Though she was active and eager to improve herself, she quickly became the spirit of the place. She helped everyone with a smile, stayed after hours to put everything in order. She never complained… and rarely spoke about herself."
He paused.
"Except once."
I raised my head quickly. "What did she say?"
"She mentioned a young man… someone she seemed to love. She said he had stood by her for a long time… and that she would never forget it."
The ground seemed to sway beneath me.
"But after a few months," he went on, "she began to change. She would arrive late sometimes, and her eyes looked tired… as if she were hiding something."
"One day, a strange man came asking about her. I didn't like him… he kept looking around as if he were watching the place."
"What happened after that?" I asked anxiously.
He sighed.
"That night, Sarah stayed alone to close the shop. The next morning… we found the door open. Everything was in place… except her."
My breath froze.
"A few days later," he added quietly, "the police said she had been found on the outskirts of the city… They believed she had been murdered."
"But they didn't continue the investigation," he said bitterly. "They closed the case, claiming it was a natural death."
I covered my face with my hands, trying to grasp what I was hearing.
Then he leaned closer and said, "There's something I never told anyone… We found a small note in her drawer. We didn't understand it, but she used to repeat it often."
He handed me the paper.
I opened it slowly and read:
"If anything happens to me… look for the truth where it all began… where we first met."
My hands trembled.
"The old café…" I whispered.
I lifted my head with determination. The sorrow inside me had turned into something else… something burning, something unstoppable.
"I won't let this end here."
I rushed out, knowing that what awaited me was not merely a memory… but the beginning of a far more dangerous truth than I had ever imagined.
I made my way home, my heart pounding in a way I hadn't felt in years, as if it were chasing me up every step of the stairs.
Something heavy pressed against my chest—something I could no longer endure. For five long years, I had tried to live with it, to convince myself that forgetting was a kind of healing, that time could bury everything. But the truth was harsher than all those illusions.
Some things are never forgotten.
Some faces remain carved into the soul, untouched by time.
I slipped the key into the lock with a trembling hand and pushed the door open slowly.
The same familiar silence greeted me—a cold, lifeless silence, as though it did not belong to the world of the living.
The room was exactly as I had left it that morning. Everything in its place. No sign of life, no trace of disorder. Even the air felt still, as if it had been waiting for me.
I closed the door behind me and leaned against it for a moment, catching my breath.
I removed my coat slowly and tossed it onto the nearest chair without care. Then I walked to the bathroom, turned on the tap, and bent over the sink, splashing water over my face—as if I could extinguish the fire that had been burning inside me since I heard her name… Sarah.
I lifted my head and looked into the mirror.
I did not recognize the man staring back at me.
Eyes drowned in exhaustion. A pale face. Lines that had not been there years ago.
"What have you done to yourself, Simon?" I murmured softly.
I returned to the room and took a glass from the shelf, placing it on the table. My hand reached toward the wine bottle… then stopped.
I stared at it for long seconds, as though waiting for it to persuade me.
But something inside me broke.
I slowly withdrew my hand and turned away.
"It has no taste anymore…"
I sat on the bed, then lay down, resting my head on the pillow.
The clock showed a quarter to midnight.
I hadn't felt cold outside, but now a strange shiver ran through my body. I couldn't tell its source—fear? cold? or something deeper?
I pulled the blanket over myself and closed my eyes.
As time passed, my body began to relax. A warm feeling crept over me, as though someone were gently soothing my heart.
Little by little, sleep overtook me… and I surrendered to it without resistance, as though I were escaping something I did not wish to face.
But I did not sleep…
I crossed over.
I found myself standing in a place I knew well, though I had not visited it in years.
The Elizabeth Theatre.
It stood as it always had—its old grandeur intact, dim lights glowing softly, rows of red seats stretching before me, and the stage illuminated with a gentle light, as though it awaited a performance that had not yet begun.
Then I saw her.
She stood upon the stage exactly as she used to, as though time had frozen around her.
"Sarah…"
She wore that red skirt I had always loved, with matching lipstick—perfectly in harmony, making her look like a living painting. Her soft black hair fell over her shoulders, and her hazel eyes shimmered with a life I had never seen in anyone else.
I stepped forward, my heart pounding.
"Sarah…" The name left my lips like a sacred whisper.
She turned to me slowly and smiled.
The same smile… but something in it was different.
Something hidden… as though it concealed a deep sorrow.
"You're late, Simon…" she said softly. "I knew you would come back."
I froze in place, unable to move closer.
"Is… is this a dream?"
She tilted her head slightly.
"Maybe… or maybe this is your last chance."
"My chance?" I asked, my chest tightening. "A chance for what?"
She stepped closer, and the lights around us began to fade, the theatre dissolving into thick shadows.
"The truth…" she whispered, her voice laced with reproach.
"You didn't search for it enough."
A surge of anger rose within me, mixed with grief.
"How can you say that?! I searched, I asked, I tried—"
She silenced me with a single look.
A look that stilled everything inside me.
"No," she said calmly. "You stopped when you were afraid."
I fell silent.
Because I knew… she was right.
I swallowed hard.
"Who did this to you? Tell me… please."
She looked away, as if avoiding the answer.
"The man who was watching me… wasn't a stranger."
A chill ran through my veins.
"What do you mean?"
She raised her hand slowly and pointed behind me.
I turned quickly.
There was no one.
Only darkness.
When I turned back, she had moved farther away, her voice fading:
"Start here… the theatre… I left something for you."
"Sarah! Don't go!" I shouted, running toward her.
But the distance between us kept growing, as though the ground stretched endlessly.
"Don't leave me!"
But she was gone.
I woke up suddenly, gasping, my heart pounding violently in my chest.
Sweat covered my forehead. Darkness filled the room.
I looked at the clock.
Three in the morning.
I sat on the bed, trying to make sense of what had happened.
The dream had been too clear… too real.
It wasn't just a dream.
It was a message.
I ran a hand over my face, then stood slowly.
"The Elizabeth Theatre…" I whispered.
Something stirred inside me.
Something I had not felt in years.
Determination.
I walked to the window and opened it. The cold night air rushed in, but it did nothing to extinguish the fire burning within me.
"I won't run this time."
I put my coat back on without hesitation.
Whatever awaits me there…
Whatever truth I am about to uncover…
I am ready.
Because this time…
I will not let Sarah disappear again.
To be continued..