Yes, I wouldn't leave my city for anything or anyone in the world.
After staying a few minutes at the bus stop, I finally decided to leave and go back home. Even though several buses had stopped, I preferred walking. And after a long walk, I finally saw my building. Out of breath, I chose to sit on one of the benches near the buildings.
It was still sad that nothing ever went the way I wanted. And even if I played the obedient little puppy with Soren, that didn't mean I was like that with everyone. Soren was the only person who mattered to me, and I would do anything to put him back on the right path—that was the promise I had made to myself.
Sitting under the starry moon, the wind blowing cold enough to make me shiver, I decided to go back inside. My watch showed it was already one in the morning. It was the second day of our sabbatical year, but nothing was lost yet. I just had to wait for Soren to come home and everything would go back to normal.
But to prepare myself for new unexpected problems, I needed a plan. And for that, I needed a phone—but how could I get one without Soren knowing?
When I got back home, Soren still hadn't returned, so I decided to wait for him all night. But he never came. I began to feel desperate. What was happening? I didn't understand.
"What am I going to do?"
I stood up from the couch, eyes heavy with sleep, and went to take a bath. After that, I had breakfast and sat on the balcony, staring at the scenery.
"What's the point of having memories of the past when we're in the present, with no way to know what will happen in the future?"
Now that things had turned out this way, I needed to adopt a new approach. I should have guessed that this "sabbatical year" was an excuse Soren had invented just to enjoy himself in bars. Grr, it made me so angry. Did he really intend to stay with me forever?
Was he just using me? I didn't know. I was going crazy… trapped alone in this huge apartment. We had always promised to stay together.
But everything changed that night after we came back from the bar and he had been drinking. The next morning, he didn't act like himself anymore. I couldn't say why. We had always gone to the Sluty Bar since we were fifteen, and everything had always been normal.
But… what if Soren had also come back from the past after the accident?!
I should have thought about that sooner. Panicking, I ran outside to find him. I needed to explain and apologize. I had spent five years trying to fix our relationship, five years fighting my regrets, only for everything to collapse at the most important moment of our life.
When I reached the bar, breathless, I didn't even have time to touch the door before someone grabbed me violently from behind. The force was so strong that I was thrown to the ground. My head hit the wall, leaving a crack, and I started bleeding. But I didn't cry. I gathered my strength and breath to stand up, my body trembling.
I wanted to see the face of the person who did that. When I stood, I saw men I didn't know—tall, muscular, dressed in black, almost like bodyguards.
I clenched my teeth and asked what they wanted and why they had attacked me, but before I could finish, a deep, sarcastic voice cut me off.
"You really wonder why?"
"Huh…?" I had never heard that voice before.
"Vermin like you disgust me." That's what the man said. I looked around, trying to find him, but I still couldn't see his face. Then he gave an order to one of the bodyguards.
"Grab him, tie him up, and blindfold him," he said in a cold, sharp tone. And then—fwip.
— "Hey! Let me go!"
I didn't even have time to turn my head before a gloved hand grabbed my arm. The shock made me lose balance, and I slipped on the wet pavement.
One of the bodyguards, with a huge face, muttered:
— "Don't make this harder."
A black van rolled forward slowly, almost silently.
I tried to struggle, but another man appeared behind me and covered my mouth.
— "Easy now, princess."
They lifted me and pushed me inside the van.
Inside, a strong perfume filled the air. Whose perfume was that? I wondered. Then the mysterious man gave the final order that sealed my fate:
"Close the door." he said calmly.
The latch clicked. The van began to move.
Trembling, not understanding what was happening, I started crying.
— "Why… why are you doing this…?"
Silence. Then a soft laugh.
— "You'll know soon enough, Angie…"
He already knew my name. I didn't know what awaited me, but one thing was certain: I was in serious trouble.
The van drove away, disappearing into the wet streets, taking me with it.