Episode 2: Echoes of a Night He Can’t Remember
1216 Words
Morning did not come gently.
It arrived like a weight pressing down on Adrian’s skull.
His eyes opened slowly, reluctantly, as though even his body resisted waking up to whatever reality waited for him. The first thing he felt was pain—sharp, heavy, pulsing behind his eyes. The second was confusion.
This wasn’t his room.
The ceiling above him was unfamiliar. The air smelled different—stale, thick, as though the walls themselves had absorbed too many secrets. His suit jacket lay crumpled on the floor. A chair was overturned. A glass, shattered, glinted faintly in the corner.
Adrian sat up abruptly, then winced, pressing his fingers to his temple.
“What…?”
His voice came out hoarse.
He looked around again, slower this time, trying to piece things together. Fragments flickered at the edges of his mind—music, lights, voices. Ben.
The party.
After that… nothing made sense.
“Ben?” he called out, his voice slightly stronger.
No answer.
Adrian swung his legs off the bed, his movements unsteady. Something about the room made his chest tighten—a feeling he couldn’t name, but couldn’t ignore either.
He stood.
The floor felt cold beneath his feet.
“Ben!”
This time, footsteps followed his voice.
The door opened, and Ben walked in like nothing was wrong—like the morning was just another morning, like the night before had been ordinary.
“Finally awake,” Ben said, a grin spreading across his face. “How do you feel?”
Adrian stared at him.
“Terrible.”
Ben chuckled lightly. “That’s what happens when you step out of your comfort zone.”
Adrian didn’t laugh.
His eyes moved around the room again. “Where are we?”
“Guest house,” Ben replied casually. “You needed somewhere to crash.”
Adrian frowned. “This place looks like it’s been through a storm.”
Ben shrugged. “You were a bit… out of it last night.”
A pause.
Adrian’s chest tightened again.
“What do you mean?”
Ben walked further into the room, hands in his pockets, completely at ease.
“You don’t remember?”
Adrian shook his head slowly. “I remember the party. I remember feeling… strange.” He hesitated. “After that, everything is… blank.”
Ben let out a low whistle. “Wow. Must have been stronger than I thought.”
Adrian’s eyes narrowed slightly. “Stronger than what?”
“The drinks,” Ben said quickly. “You’re not used to them, remember?”
Adrian didn’t respond immediately.
Something wasn’t adding up.
His gaze drifted again—to the floor, the broken glass, the disordered bed.
Then something else.
A feeling.
Not a memory. Not fully.
But something close.
A sound.
Faint.
Distant.
A voice.
He stiffened.
“…Ben.”
“Yeah?”
Adrian looked at him, his expression shifting from confusion to something deeper—unease.
“What happened here last night?”
Ben didn’t hesitate.
“You had a good time,” he said with a half-smile. “Better than I expected, actually.”
Adrian’s brow furrowed. “What does that mean?”
Ben leaned against the wall, crossing his arms. “You met someone.”
“Someone?”
“A girl,” Ben said. “You weren’t exactly in the mood to talk, so we helped you relax a bit. One thing led to another…”
He let the sentence hang.
Adrian’s stomach twisted.
“A girl?” he repeated quietly.
“Yeah,” Ben said. “A professional. Don’t overthink it.”
The word sat heavily in the air.
Professional.
Adrian swallowed. “Where is she?”
“Gone,” Ben replied instantly. “She got paid. She left.”
Just like that.
As if it meant nothing.
But something inside Adrian refused to settle.
Because alongside Ben’s words… something else was rising in his mind.
A sound.
Clearer now.
A voice.
Soft—but desperate.
“Please…”
Adrian froze.
“…don’t…”
He closed his eyes suddenly, gripping his head.
“Adrian?” Ben’s voice cut in, slightly sharper now. “You okay?”
Adrian didn’t answer immediately.
The voice echoed again.
Not imagined.
Not entirely.
“…stop…”
His eyes snapped open.
“There was no one else here?” he asked, his voice lower now.
Ben frowned. “What do you mean?”
Adrian stood still, his breathing uneven. “I heard…” He hesitated. “I think I heard someone crying.”
Silence.
Just for a second.
Then Ben laughed.
“You’re overthinking it.”
Adrian didn’t laugh.
“No,” he said slowly. “It didn’t feel like that.”
Ben pushed himself off the wall, his tone shifting slightly—still calm, but more deliberate now.
“Look at me,” he said.
Adrian did.
“You were drunk,” Ben continued. “More than drunk. You don’t remember anything clearly, so your brain is trying to fill in the gaps. That’s normal.”
Adrian held his gaze.
“But it didn’t feel like imagination,” he said quietly.
Ben sighed, shaking his head. “You’re not used to this life, Adrian. That’s all. One wild night and now you’re questioning everything.”
Adrian looked away.
Maybe he was right.
Maybe it was just confusion.
Maybe his mind was playing tricks on him.
But the feeling wouldn’t go away.
That voice.
That fear.
It didn’t feel like something his mind created.
It felt… real.
⸻
Miles away, under the pale light of early morning, Rosa lay motionless on the cold ground.
The world around her was quiet—too quiet.
A stray dog barked in the distance. A car passed without slowing. Life moved on, unaware.
Unconcerned.
Her fingers twitched slightly.
Then stilled.
A long moment passed before her eyes slowly opened.
Confusion.
Pain.
Fear.
Everything hit at once.
She tried to sit up, but her body resisted, weak and unsteady. Her breath came in short, uneven pulls as her surroundings came into focus.
The empty street.
The silence.
The reality.
Tears filled her eyes before she could stop them.
Not loud.
Not dramatic.
Just quiet, broken tears that carried everything she couldn’t put into words.
She wrapped her arms around herself, as though trying to hold together something that felt like it had been shattered.
No answers.
No explanations.
Just a night she couldn’t escape.
And a future that suddenly felt uncertain.
⸻
Back in the guest house, Adrian stood by the window, staring out at nothing.
Ben’s words echoed in his mind.
You had a good time.
Don’t overthink it.
But something inside him refused to accept that version of the night.
Because no matter how hard he tried to ignore it…
He could still hear her.
That voice.
That fear.
And the part that unsettled him the most—
It didn’t sound like someone who had a choice.
⸻
Adrian turned slowly.
“Ben.”
“Yeah?”
“If I wanted to find her…”
Ben’s expression shifted, just slightly.
“Why would you?”
Adrian didn’t answer immediately.
Because he didn’t fully understand it himself.
All he knew was—
Something wasn’t right.
And until he found the truth…
That voice would never leave him.
⸻
To be continued…
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