Ep 2 — The Memory That Should Not Exist
746 Words
Zara did not answer the phone.
Her hand hovered in the air as Ethan’s name kept flashing across the screen.
Liam’s voice came, low and steady.
“Do not pick up.”
Zara frowned immediately.
“Why?”
Liam stood up from the bed, grabbing his shirt from the chair. His movements were calm, controlled, like none of this was new to him.
“That conversation will not help you right now,” he said.
“That is not your decision to make.”
Silence settled between them.
Liam glanced at her, studying her carefully.
“You are angry,” he said.
“I woke up next to my ex’s best friend with no memory of how I got here,” Zara replied. “What do you expect?”
A faint shift crossed his face. Not guilt. Something else.
“You think this is simple,” he said.
“It should be.”
“It is not.”
That made her pause.
Zara tightened the sheet around her body.
“Then explain.”
Liam exhaled slowly and walked toward the window.
“You do not remember last night,” he said.
“I remember enough.”
“No,” he replied. “You remember pieces.”
Her chest tightened.
“What am I missing?”
Liam hesitated, then said quietly,
“I did not come there randomly.”
Zara frowned.
“Come where?”
“The place you were last night.”
A cold feeling crept into her stomach.
She remembered a party. Loud music. Drinks. Faces she could not fully place.
Then nothing.
“Ethan said I was with friends,” she said slowly.
Liam’s jaw tightened at the name.
“Ethan does not know where you went after that.”
Zara straightened.
“What are you talking about?”
Liam turned to face her fully now.
“You left early,” he said. “And someone followed you.”
Zara shook her head immediately.
“That is not possible.”
“It is.”
“How do you even know that?”
A brief silence.
Then Liam said,
“Because I was there.”
Zara froze.
“You were at the party?”
“Yes.”
“Watching me?”
“No.”
A pause.
“Protecting you.”
That word did not sit right with her.
“If you were there, why do I not remember seeing you?” she asked.
Liam looked away for a second.
“I did not want you to see me.”
“Why?”
“Because Ethan did not know I was following you.”
Zara’s mind struggled to catch up.
“So you followed me, stayed hidden, and now I wake up here with no memory?”
Liam did not argue.
That silence made everything worse.
Zara stood up, frustration rising.
“This is insane,” she said. “None of this makes sense.”
Liam stepped closer.
“Ethan is not worried about where you are,” he said quietly.
That stopped her.
“What?”
“He is checking if you remember anything.”
Zara frowned.
“That makes no sense.”
“It will.”
Liam reached for her phone and unlocked it.
“Hey—” she started, but he was already scrolling.
Then he showed her something.
A message from Ethan. Sent in the middle of the night.
Zara read it slowly.
“Did she say anything before she left?”
Her breath caught.
She looked up at Liam.
“What does that mean?”
Liam’s expression hardened.
“That is what I have been trying to tell you,” he said.
“You did not just end up here by mistake.”
Zara’s heart began to race.
“Then what happened?”
Liam held her gaze.
“You ran.”
The word hit harder than she expected.
“From what?” she whispered.
Before he could answer, her phone vibrated again.
Unknown number.
Zara hesitated.
Liam nodded toward it.
“Answer.”
Her fingers trembled as she picked up.
“Hello?”
For a second, there was only silence.
Then a voice came through.
Cold. Calm. Familiar in a way she could not explain.
“Zara.”
Her stomach dropped.
“You were not supposed to leave.”
The call ended.
Zara slowly lowered the phone, her heartbeat loud in her ears.
She looked at Liam.
And for the first time, the fear felt real.
Not regret.
Not confusion.
Danger.
- Writer
