Chapter Five — The Warning
829 Words
I stared at the note for what felt like hours.
Three words.
That was all it said.
I FOUND YOU.
My first thought was to panic.
My second thought was to run.
But I didn’t move.
Because whoever left that message wanted me scared.
And I refused to give them that satisfaction.
I slowly picked up the paper.
No name.
No fingerprint.
Nothing that could tell me who it belonged to.
Whoever did this knew what they were doing.
I looked around my apartment again.
Nothing was broken.
Nothing was missing.
Except the diary.
Someone had taken it.
Someone had entered my home.
Someone had been close enough to touch something that was connected to my mother.
The thought made my stomach twist.
I grabbed my phone and called the first person that came to my mind.
My best friend, Lina.
She picked up after the third ring.
“Amara? It’s late. Are you okay?”
I looked at the note in my hand.
I wanted to tell her everything.
But the words refused to come out.
“I need you to come over.”
A pause.
“What happened?”
I looked around the apartment.
“I’ll explain when you get here.”
Twenty minutes later, Lina was sitting on my couch, staring at the note.
Her eyes widened.
“Someone actually came into your house?”
I nodded.
“Yeah.”
She looked worried.
“And you’re still sitting here?”
I frowned.
“What do you mean?”
“I mean, Amara, a normal person would be calling the police.”
I looked away.
She wasn’t wrong.
But something stopped me.
The police would ask questions.
Questions I didn’t know how to answer.
How do you explain that an old diary connected to your missing mother had disappeared?
How do you explain a stranger named Daniel Hayes who somehow knew too much?
“I don’t think this is something the police can fix,” I whispered.
Lina studied me.
“What are you not telling me?”
I stayed quiet.
Because even saying Daniel’s name felt dangerous.
“Someone knows about the diary.”
Her expression changed.
“What diary?”
I sighed.
“I found it inside the book I bought.”
I watched her face as I explained everything.
The old diary.
The strange message.
Daniel.
The way he reacted.
When I finished, Lina was silent.
Then she said:
“Amara.”
“What?”
“Stay away from that man.”
I frowned.
“Daniel?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
She looked uncomfortable.
“Because men like that don’t get involved in normal problems.”
I knew what she meant.
Daniel Hayes didn’t live a normal life.
He had money.
Power.
Influence.
People like him didn’t walk into a small bookshop for no reason.
And that was exactly what scared me.
---
The next morning, I made a decision.
I wasn’t going to wait for answers.
I was going to find them.
I went back to the bookshop.
The old man looked surprised when he saw me.
“You came back.”
“Yes.”
His eyes moved around the shop.
Like he was checking if someone followed me.
That made me nervous.
“You know about the diary,” I said.
He didn’t answer.
“Who was Elena?”
His face changed.
A name could reveal a lot about a person.
And I knew I had just confirmed something.
He knew.
“I can’t talk about her.”
“Why?”
“Because some stories are dangerous to tell.”
I stepped closer.
“My mother disappeared.”
His eyes met mine.
And the look on his face broke something inside me.
Not shock.
Not confusion.
Recognition.
“You don’t know, do you?”
My heart slowed.
“Know what?”
Before he could answer, the bell above the door rang.
Someone entered.
The old man immediately stopped talking.
I turned around.
A man stood there.
Not Daniel.
Someone else.
He looked at me.
Then smiled.
A smile that made me uncomfortable.
“You must be Amara.”
My blood went cold.
Because I had never seen him before.
But he knew my name.
---
Across the city, Daniel Hayes looked at a report on his desk.
A photo.
A name.
A warning.
His assistant stood silently.
“Sir…”
Daniel didn’t look up.
“Tell me.”
“She found him.”
For the first time, Daniel’s calm expression disappeared.
“Who?”
His assistant hesitated.
Then answered.
“The man who was looking for the diary before you.”
Daniel’s jaw tightened.
Because there was one person he never wanted Amara to meet.
Not yet.
Not until she knew the truth.
“Find her.”
A pause.
“Bring her to me?”
Daniel looked out the window.
“No.”
His voice was quiet.
“Just make sure he doesn’t get close enough to hurt her.”
- Writer
