Ch35: Connection
460 Words
The dream was different the next night.
Sari felt it as soon as she arrived—the air clearer, the fog pulled back to the horizon, the buildings sharp and distinct. And the silence. The grey city was always silent, but tonight the silence felt like waiting.
He was there. Closer than before.
She walked toward him.
“Tell me about the water,” he said.
She told him. The numbers from the lab report, the chemicals, the concentrations. The way the spring had turned black. The smell that clung to her hands.
He listened.
When she finished, he said: “Viktor's been moving money through your region for years. I didn't pay attention. I should have.”
“You didn't know.”
“I didn't want to know.” His voice was low, rough. “Viktor's business is his business. I kept my distance. Told myself it wasn't my problem.”
“But now it is.”
“Now it is.”
The fog shifted at the horizon.
“What are you going to do?” she asked.
“I'm going to find out exactly what he's been funding. Every transfer, every shell company, every corrupt official.” His hands curled into fists. “And then I'm going to burn it to the ground.”
She looked at him—at the tension in his shoulders, the set of his jaw.
“You're angry,” she said.
“Yes.”
“Not for me. For them.”
He was quiet for a moment. “For everyone he's hurt. Everyone he'll keep hurting if someone doesn't stop him.”
She reached out and touched his arm.
“That's why you're different from him,” she said.
He looked down at her hand.
“You don't know that.”
“I know you're here. I know you're listening. I know you could have walked away, but you didn't.”
His hand moved, covering hers.
“Stay,” he said.
“Stay,” she answered.
The fog pressed closer. The grey city flickered at the edges.
But neither of them let go.
---
Sari woke with her hand still reaching out.
The room was dark. The fan spun. The rain had started again.
She lowered her arm slowly.
*He's real.*
Not just a dream. Not just a projection. A real person, with his own memories and his own fears.
She reached for her notebook.
*Tonight we talked about Viktor. About the poison. About the symbol.*
*He's going to stop him. Not for me. For everyone.*
*He's real.*
*I know it now.*
*I don't know how I know. But I know.*
She set down the pen and closed her eyes.
The grey city was gone.
But his hand was still warm on hers.
- Writer
