CHAPTER 2
1264 Words
The bell above the bookstore door rang softly.
Liora paused mid-step.
She didn’t know why.
It was just a sound. Ordinary. Small. Something she had heard a hundred times already that morning. And yet… this time, it felt different. Like the echo of something unfinished.
She turned slowly.
The boy was still there.
Standing by the shelf.
Looking at her.
There was nothing unusual about him—at least, nothing the world would notice. Dark hair, calm eyes, simple clothes. But something in the way he stood… steady, like he wasn’t just present but anchored—made the air feel heavier.
Like the moment mattered.
“Have we met before?” he had asked.
And she had said no.
But now, standing there with the silence stretching between them, Liora wasn’t so sure anymore.
Because her heart had answered differently.
“I’m sorry,” she said suddenly, stepping a little closer. “That was… strange.”
He tilted his head slightly.
“What was?”
“The way I answered you,” she said. “It felt like I was lying… even though I don’t remember you.”
The boy watched her carefully.
Not confused.
Not surprised.
Just… watching.
“Maybe memory isn’t the only way to know someone,” he said quietly.
Liora frowned a little.
“That sounds like something out of a story.”
“Maybe it is,” he replied.
A faint smile touched his lips, but it didn’t feel playful.
It felt… familiar.
The bookstore felt warmer than it should have.
Or maybe it was just the way the light filtered through the windows now—soft, golden, almost unreal. Dust floated in the air like tiny suspended stars.
Liora moved behind the counter, but her attention didn’t leave him.
“Do you come here often?” she asked.
He shook his head.
“First time.”
“Then how did you find it?” she asked.
Most people didn’t.
He hesitated.
Then said, “I think… I was supposed to.”
That answer sent a quiet chill through her.
Before she could respond, the lights flickered.
Just once.
Then again.
Liora looked up.
“Power issue?” she muttered.
But something about it felt wrong.
Not broken.
Interrupted.
The boy noticed it too.
His expression changed slightly—subtle, but enough.
“Do the lights always do that?” he asked.
“No,” she said.
Another flicker.
This time longer.
And for a split second—
Everything went silent.
Not quiet.
Silent.
The kind of silence that doesn’t belong in a living world.
Then it snapped back.
The hum of electricity returned. The soft noise of the street outside filtered in again.
Liora blinked.
“Okay… that was weird.”
The boy stepped away from the shelf.
“Liora.”
She froze.
Slowly, she looked at him.
“I… didn’t tell you my name.”
He didn’t answer immediately.
And that scared her more than anything.
“How do you know me?” she asked, her voice quieter now.
He took a step closer.
“I don’t know how to explain it without sounding insane,” he said.
“Try me.”
A pause.
Then—
“I’ve been here before.”
Liora’s heart skipped.
“You just said this is your first time.”
“It is,” he said. “But it isn’t.”
Her chest tightened.
“That doesn’t make sense.”
“I know.”
Silence fell again—but this time, it felt heavier.
Closer.
Like something unseen had stepped into the room with them.
Liora walked around the counter slowly.
Stopping just a few steps away from him.
“Okay,” she said carefully. “Let’s say I believe you for one second. What does that mean?”
He looked at her.
Not at her face.
But into her.
“Do you ever feel like something is missing,” he asked, “but you don’t know what it is?”
Her breath caught.
Because yes.
She did.
All the time.
Like a song she couldn’t remember.
Like a word sitting on the edge of her mind.
Like a feeling she had lost before she ever understood it.
“…Yes,” she admitted.
His voice softened.
“That’s me.”
The world seemed to tilt.
“That’s not funny,” she said, but there was no strength in it.
“I’m not joking.”
Liora stepped back slightly.
“This isn’t possible.”
“Neither is this place,” he replied.
She frowned.
“What do you mean?”
Before he could answer—
The lights went out.
Completely.
Darkness swallowed the bookstore in an instant.
Liora gasped.
“Hello?!”
No response.
Not even from outside.
No cars.
No voices.
Nothing.
Her breathing quickened.
“This isn’t normal,” she whispered.
“I know,” his voice came from the darkness—closer now.
Then—
A soft glow.
Not from the lights.
Not from outside.
From him.
Liora’s eyes widened as a faint, silver light traced along his skin like veins of energy.
“What… is that?” she asked, barely able to speak.
He looked down at his hands.
Then back at her.
“This is what I was trying to stop,” he said.
Her heart pounded.
“Stop what?”
He met her eyes.
“The end.”
The word echoed in the darkness.
And suddenly—
The memory hit her.
Not clear.
Not complete.
But enough.
Light.
A broken sky.
A voice saying her name like it was the last thing holding the world together.
Her knees nearly gave out.
“I… I’ve seen this before,” she whispered.
“Yes,” he said.
The glow around him grew stronger.
And outside—
Through the window—
The sky cracked.
A thin line of light splitting the darkness.
Exactly like before.
“No…” she breathed.
“It’s starting again,” he said.
Liora shook her head, backing away.
“No, this can’t be real—”
“It is.”
Her chest tightened painfully.
“Why is this happening?”
He didn’t hesitate this time.
“Because we met again.”
That answer broke something inside her.
“What does that mean?” she asked.
His voice dropped.
“It means… the world remembers us.”
The crack in the sky widened.
Light spilling through it like something trying to break free.
Liora’s heart raced.
“What happens now?” she asked.
He stepped closer.
This time, she didn’t move away.
“We choose,” he said.
“Choose what?”
His eyes softened.
“Whether this world survives… or ends again.”
The weight of that crashed into her all at once.
“No,” she whispered. “No, I just got here. I just—”
Her voice broke.
“I don’t even know you.”
He smiled sadly.
“I know.”
Silence.
Then she asked the question she was afraid of.
“…But I feel like I do.”
His expression didn’t change.
Because that was the truth.
Outside, the sky cracked further.
The world trembling quietly.
Waiting.
Liora looked at him, her heart caught between fear and something stronger.
Something she couldn’t explain.
Something that refused to disappear.
“What if I don’t choose?” she asked.
He stepped even closer now.
Close enough that she could feel his warmth.
“You already are,” he said softly.
Her breath trembled.
Because somehow…
She knew he was right.
And somewhere deep inside her—
A forgotten promise began to wake.
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