EPISODE 4: THE MAN WHO KNOWS MY SECRETS
1339 Words
The silence between us was louder than any scream.
I stood there, my heart pounding against my chest like it was trying to escape. His words kept echoing in my head.
*“I know everything.”*
Everything?
No. That wasn’t possible.
“You’re lying,” I whispered, even though my voice shook. “You don’t know anything about me.”
He didn’t move. Didn’t blink. Just watched me… like he had been waiting for this moment.
“Then why are you scared?” he asked calmly.
That question hit me harder than anything else.
Because I *was* scared.
Not of him.
But of the truth.
“I’m not scared,” I snapped, trying to hold myself together. “I just don’t like people pretending they know me.”
He took a slow step closer.
“Your mother didn’t die the way you tell people she did.”
My breath caught.
Everything froze.
The air. My thoughts. My heartbeat.
No.
No… he didn’t just say that.
“You need to stop,” I said, my voice barely above a whisper now. “You don’t know what you’re talking about.”
But deep down… I knew.
He wasn’t guessing.
He *knew*.
“She didn’t just fall sick,” he continued softly. “You were there that night.”
My knees almost gave way.
Memories I had buried for years started clawing their way back.
The rain.
The shouting.
The door slammed too hard.
My mother’s voice… breaking.
“Stop…” I whispered, shaking my head. “Please stop…”
But he didn’t.
“You heard everything. You saw everything. And you’ve been blaming yourself ever since.”
Tears filled my eyes instantly.
“No!” I shouted, stepping back. “That’s not true! It’s not true!”
But the louder I denied it…
…the more real it felt.
Because it *was* true.
I turned away from him, wrapping my arms around myself like I could hold the past together and stop it from spilling out.
“How do you know all this?” I asked, my voice breaking.
There was a long pause.
Then he said something that made my blood run cold.
“I was there.”
I spun around so fast I almost lost my balance.
“What?” I whispered.
“That night,” he said, his eyes locked on mine, “I was there.”
My mind couldn’t process it.
“No… no, that’s not possible,” I said, shaking my head repeatedly. “I would remember you.”
“You didn’t see me clearly,” he replied. “You were too focused on what was happening inside.”
My chest tightened.
“Then why?” I demanded. “Why are you here now? After all these years?”
His expression changed.
For the first time, I saw something break through his calm exterior.
Pain.
“I’ve been looking for you,” he said.
My heart skipped.
“For me?” I asked, confused. “Why?”
He hesitated.
And that hesitation scared me more than anything.
“Because,” he finally said, “what happened that night… didn’t end the way you think it did.”
My entire body went cold.
“What do you mean?” I asked slowly.
He took a deep breath.
“Your mother didn’t die immediately.”
My eyes widened.
“That’s a lie,” I said quickly. “I saw—”
“You saw her collapse,” he cut in gently. “But you ran before you could see what happened next.”
I couldn’t breathe.
Everything I believed… everything I built my life on… started crumbling.
“No…” I whispered. “No, she died… she had to…”
“She was still alive,” he said. “And someone else was there.”
A sharp chill ran down my spine.
“Who?” I asked, my voice trembling.
He looked at me… long and hard.
“Your father.”
The world stopped.
“My… father?” I repeated.
“He came after you ran,” he said. “And what he did next…”
He stopped.
Why did he stop?
“What did he do?” I demanded, my voice rising. “Tell me!”
But instead of answering, he stepped closer and said something that shattered me completely.
“That’s the part you’re not ready to hear.”
Anger rushed through me instantly.
“Don’t do that!” I snapped. “Don’t start something you won’t finish! You don’t get to come into my life, dig up my past, and then stop when it gets serious!”
“I’m trying to protect you,” he said firmly.
“From what?!” I shouted.
“From the truth,” he replied quietly.
Tears streamed down my face.
“I’ve been living with this ‘truth’ all my life,” I said bitterly. “I deserve to know what really happened.”
He studied me for a moment… like he was deciding something.
Then he nodded slowly.
“Okay,” he said. “But once I tell you… everything changes.”
I swallowed hard.
My heart was racing so fast I thought I might pass out.
“Tell me,” I whispered.
He took a deep breath.
“That night,” he began, “your father didn’t try to save her.”
My stomach dropped.
“He stood there… and watched.”
I felt like the ground had disappeared beneath me.
“No…” I said weakly. “He wouldn’t… he loved her…”
“Did he?” he asked quietly.
I froze.
Because suddenly…
I wasn’t so sure anymore.
“There’s more,” he continued.
Of course there was.
There was always more.
“What else?” I asked, my voice barely holding on.
He looked away briefly before meeting my eyes again.
“That wasn’t the first time something like that happened.”
My heart stopped.
“What do you mean?”
“It means,” he said slowly, “your mother wasn’t his first victim.”
The word *victim* echoed in my head like a gunshot.
“No…” I whispered, shaking my head. “No, you’re wrong… you have to be wrong…”
But the look in his eyes told me something terrifying.
He wasn’t.
“So why are you telling me this?” I asked, my voice breaking completely now.
“Because,” he said softly, “he’s back.”
My blood ran cold.
“What?”
“He’s been watching you,” he added.
A wave of fear washed over me.
“That’s not funny,” I said quickly, panic rising. “That’s not something you joke about.”
“I’m not joking,” he said.
My hands started shaking.
“Then why haven’t I seen him?” I asked.
“You have,” he replied.
I froze.
“When?” I whispered.
He stepped closer… his voice dropping to almost a whisper.
“Closer than you think.”
My heart slammed violently against my chest.
Every face… every stranger… every moment…
Suddenly felt dangerous.
And then he said the one thing that made everything worse.
“He knows I found you.”
I stared at him, my fear turning into something deeper.
“What does that mean?” I asked slowly.
“It means,” he said, “we don’t have much time.”
Before I could respond—
A loud noise echoed from outside.
Both of us froze.
Footsteps.
Slow.
Deliberate.
Coming closer.
My heart nearly stopped.
He grabbed my wrist suddenly.
“We need to go,” he whispered urgently.
“Go where?” I asked, panic fully taking over now.
“Anywhere but here.”
The footsteps got louder.
Closer.
Closer.
Then
A knock.
Three slow, heavy knocks.
We both stared at the door.
And a voice followed.
Low.
Familiar.
Terrifying.
“I know you’re in there.”
My blood turned to ice.
Because I knew that voice.
Even after all these years…
I knew it.
- Writer
