THE MORNING AFTER
994 Words
CHAPTER TWO: The Morning After
Lana woke up the next morning to the
Sound of rain tapping gently against her
bedroom window.
At first, she didn’t move.
She just lay there, staring at the ceiling,
listening to the steady rhythm of the
rain.
Tap…tap…tap…
It should have been calming.
But it wasn’t.
Because her mind was already awake
before her body was.
Slowly, memories from last night came
back to her.
The rain.
The coffee shop.
The stranger.
Ethan Hayes.
Lana sat up quickly.
Her heart beat a little faster.
“Ethan…” she whispered.
She pressed her finger against her
forehead.
Was he real?
Or had the entire meeting just felt too
real because of everything else
happening in her life?
She swung her legs off the bed and
stood up.
The apartment was quiet.
Too quiet.
She walked barefoot across the
room and stopped near the window.
Outside,the city looked washed
clean by the rain.
Car moved slowly through wet
streets.
People hurried with umbrellas.
Normally life continued.
But Lana didn’t feel normal.
Something inside her felt
unsettled.
Like a door had been opened in her
life…and she couldn’t close it again.
She turned away from the window
and noticed her phone on the
bedside table.
She picked it up.
No new messages.
No unknown number.
Nothing.
That should have made her feel
better.
It didn’t.
Instead,it made her nervous.
Because silence didn’t feel like
peace anymore.
It felt like waiting.
Lana walked into the small kitchen
and made herself tea, but she didn’t
drink it.
Her mind kept going back to Ethan.
The way he looked at her.
Not in a casual way.
But like he already knew
something about her life .
Something she didn’t know
yet.
A knock suddenly came at her
apartment door.
Lana froze.
Her cup almost slipped from
her hand.
Another knock followed.
More gentle this time.
“Lana?”
She exhaled sharply.
Claire.
Relief washed over her, but it didn’t
fully Calm her nerves.
She opened the door.
Claire stood there holding a small bag
of food.
“You didn’t answer my text,” Claire
said immediately.
“I was sleeping.”
“You look like you didn’t sleep
at all.
Lana stepped aside and let
her in.
Claire looked around the apartment
as she entered.
“Still creeping in here?” She asked
half-joking.
Lana didn’t smile.
Claire noticed.
“Okay,” she said slowly.”
Something happened.”
Lana hesitated.
Then she nodded.
“Last night… I met
someone.”
Claire raised an eyebrow.” A
someone or a’ someone?”
Lana hesitated again.
Than finally said, “His name is Ethan
Hayes.”
Claire stopped unpacking the food.
She looked at Lana carefully.
“You met a stranger named Ethan..
during all this weird stuff
happening to you?”
“Yes
Claire frowned. “That sounds like a very bad
coincidence.”
“I don’t think it’s a coincidence,” Lana
quietly.
Claire sat down.
“Start from the beginning.”
So Lana told her everything.
The rain.
The shop.
The conversation.
The message.
The way Ethan looked at her like he
recognized something she didn’t
understand.
When she finished, Claire was quiet for a
long time.
Then she spoke.
“Okay… that’s either a romance story or
warning sign.”
Lana let out a small breath. it felt like
both.”
Claire leaned forward.
“Did he threaten you?”
“No”.
“Did he mention your mother?”
Lana paused.
“Yes.”
That made Claire go still.
“What did he say?”
Lana looked down.
“He didn’t say much. Just…that I
Should be careful.”
Claire signed. “That’s not
comforting.”
“I know.”
For a moment,neither of
them spoke.
The Lana walked to the table where the
box from her mother still sat.
She hadn’t touched it since last night.
She stared at it.
“It feels like everything is connected to
this,” she said.
Claire followed her gaze.
“Then maybe we should stop opening
things we don’t understand.”
Lana didn’t answer.
Because deep down, she knew she
could stop now.
Not after the message.
Not after Ethan.
Not after everything had already
Started.
Her phone suddenly rang.
Both of them looked at it
Immediately.
Unknown number.
Lana’s stomach tightened.
Slowly, she answered.
“Hello?”
Silence on the other end.
Then a man’s voice.
Calm.
Familiar.
“ Lana ,” it said softly.
Her grip tightened on the
phone.
It was him.
Ethan.
Claire stood up quickly. “Put it
on speaker.”
Lana hesitated.
Then pressed it.
“Ethan?” She said.
“Yes,” he replied.
His voice sounded closer
Than it should have .
“1 need you to listen
carefully,”he said.
Lana’s heart beat
faster.
“What is this about?” She asked.
A pause.
Then Ethan spoke again .
“I sew you this morning.”
Lana froze.
“What?”
I was outside your
building.”
Claire’s eyes widened.
Lana stepped toward the window
Slowly.
Her hand shaking towards the
Window slowly.
Her hands shaking Slightly.
“That’s not funny,” she said
“I’m not joking,” Ethan replied.
A long silence followed.
Then he haded something that made
Lana’s blood run cold.
“And Lana… someone else was
Watching you too.”
She looked out the window.
The street below looked normal.
Rain falling.
People walking.
Cars passing.
But now everything felt different.
Like she was no longer just living
in her apartment.
She was inside something much
larger.
Something she didn’t understand.
Ethan’s voice came again,quieter
now.
“You’re not safe anymore.”
Lana swallowed hard
“From who?” She asked.
Another pause.
Then Ethan answered.
“ The person who has been
waiting for you since your
Mother died.”
Lana’s breath caught.
And for the first time since
all this began…
She believed him.
- Writer
