His lost

chapter three

The Bridge

Ethan spun around so fast he nearly fell.

“Who’s there?”

His voice cracked through the darkness of the room.

Nobody answered.

Rain tapped steadily against the windows while cold air drifted through the slightly open curtains. Ethan’s breathing turned shallow as he searched every corner of the bedroom.

Empty.

The whisper was gone.

But the feeling remained.

Someone had been there.

He looked back toward the photograph on the desk.

> YOU PROMISED HER

The words still clung to the glass in thin streaks of water.

Ethan stepped closer carefully.

His hands trembled as he touched the frame.

Wet.

Actually wet.

A chill crawled up his spine.

This wasn’t another hallucination.

It couldn’t be.

Slowly, he looked around the room again.

Then his eyes landed on the window.

It was open.

Only slightly.

Just enough for rainwater to slip inside.

Ethan frowned.

He knew he had locked it earlier.

Thunder rumbled low across Bellmere.

For a second, Ethan considered waking his mother.

But what would he even say?

Hey Mom, the ghost girl from my dreams broke into my room?

She already worried enough about him.

Ever since the accident, every strange thing he said earned him the same sad look. The same careful silence people used around broken objects.

So instead, Ethan closed the window, wiped the message off the frame, and sat heavily on the edge of his bed.

But sleep never came.

—

The next morning, Bellmere looked drowned.

Fog hung over the streets while rainwater flooded sidewalks and gutters. Ethan barely noticed any of it as he walked toward school with his hood pulled low.

His thoughts stayed trapped on one thing.

The bridge.

He didn’t know why.

But after hearing Lena’s voice on the tape, the memory of the bridge kept forcing itself into his mind.

A long road.

Heavy rain.

Bright headlights.

Fear.

And Lena screaming his name.

Ethan stopped walking suddenly.

His head throbbed sharply.

Another flash hit him.

He saw Noah gripping the steering wheel tightly.

Saw water streaking across the windshield.

Saw himself in the passenger seat turning toward the backseat—

Toward Lena.

Then—

Nothing.

The memory vanished again.

Ethan leaned against a fence breathing hard.

Fragments.

That was all he ever got.

Broken pieces without answers.

“You look like death warmed over.”

Ethan glanced up.

Marcus stood nearby holding two coffees.

“You seriously need quieter footsteps,” Ethan muttered.

Marcus handed him a cup. “And you seriously need therapy.”

Ethan accepted the coffee silently.

Marcus studied him carefully. “Bad night?”

“You could say that.”

“More ghost girl stuff?”

Ethan hesitated.

Then nodded once.

Marcus sighed. “Fantastic.”

“She wrote something in my room.”

Marcus blinked. “What?”

Ethan immediately regretted saying it aloud.

Because hearing it spoken sounded insane.

But Marcus didn’t laugh.

Instead, he lowered his voice slightly. “You’re serious?”

Ethan nodded again.

Marcus stared at him for several seconds before speaking carefully.

“Okay. Either someone’s messing with you… or this is becoming a lot less psychological and a lot more demon movie.”

Ethan rubbed tired eyes. “I don’t know what’s happening anymore.”

Marcus shoved his hands into his jacket pockets. “What exactly do you remember about the accident?”

“Not much.”

“That’s not true.”

Ethan looked away.

Because Marcus was right.

He remembered pieces.

He just hated thinking about them.

Marcus continued quietly. “You were with Noah that night. And apparently Lena too.”

“Yeah.”

“So where were you going?”

Ethan swallowed hard.

“I think…” He paused. “I think we were heading toward the bridge outside town.”

Marcus frowned. “Raven Bridge?”

The moment he said the name, Ethan felt ice crawl through his chest.

Raven Bridge.

That was it.

That was the place.

He suddenly saw flashes again—

Dark water below.

Rain crashing against metal railings.

Lena crying.

Noah shouting something.

Then headlights swerving violently toward them.

Ethan nearly dropped the coffee.

Marcus grabbed his arm quickly. “Whoa.”

“I need to go there.”

“What?”

“The bridge.”

“Absolutely not.”

“I have to.”

Marcus stared at him like he’d lost his mind.

“You barely sleep, you’re seeing dead girls, and now you want to visit the exact place your brother died?”

“Yes.”

“That sounded way smarter in your head, didn’t it?”

Ethan didn’t answer.

Because nothing felt logical anymore.

But deep down, he knew one thing.

The bridge held answers.

And maybe…

Lena did too.

—

School passed painfully slowly.

Ethan couldn’t focus on anything teachers said. Every drifting thought returned to Raven Bridge.

By the final bell, his decision was already made.

He was going.

Even if it terrified him.

Especially if it terrified him.

The rain finally stopped near sunset, leaving Bellmere wrapped in gray mist. Ethan borrowed Marcus’s bike after enduring twenty minutes of complaints and warnings.

“If you die,” Marcus said while handing him the keys, “I’m haunting you out of spite.”

Ethan managed a weak smile before riding away.

The road toward Raven Bridge curved through the woods outside town. Tall trees loomed overhead while fog drifted between them like pale smoke.

The farther Ethan traveled, the quieter everything became.

No cars.

No people.

Only wind moving through branches.

And the growing feeling that he wasn’t alone.

By the time the bridge appeared ahead, the sky had darkened completely.

Raven Bridge stretched across the river like a black scar against the forest. Rust covered its railings while warning signs stood crooked near the entrance.

Ethan stopped the bike.

His chest tightened instantly.

He knew this place.

Not vaguely.

Not distantly.

Completely.

The memories hit harder now.

He saw flashing ambulance lights.

Heard screaming.

Felt rain soaking through his clothes.

His breathing became uneven as he stepped onto the bridge slowly.

Water roared beneath him in darkness.

The cold wind smelled like wet metal and river water.

Then—

A voice.

Soft.

Close.

> “You came back.”

Ethan froze.

Lena stood near the center of the bridge.

Real.

Not blurry this time.

Not hidden in reflections.

She stood beneath the pale moonlight wearing the same dark coat from his dreams. Rainwater shimmered on her sleeves though the storm had already ended.

Her gray eyes locked onto his.

And God—

She looked heartbreakingly familiar.

Ethan’s throat tightened painfully.

“You’re real,” he whispered.

Lena gave a small sad smile.

“That depends on what you remember.”

Ethan stepped toward her slowly.

His entire body shook.

“I know you,” he said quietly.

“You used to.”

The wind howled softly around them.

Ethan stared at her face desperately, trying to pull memories from the darkness in his mind.

“I forgot you.”

Lena’s expression faltered slightly.

“Yes.”

“I didn’t mean to.”

“I know.”

The sadness in her voice nearly broke him.

Ethan swallowed hard. “What happened that night?”

Lena looked toward the river below.

For the first time, fear crossed her face.

“You weren’t supposed to survive alone,” she whispered.

Ethan felt cold spread through his chest.

“What does that mean?”

Before she could answer—

Headlights suddenly appeared behind Ethan.

A car sped toward the bridge entrance.

Lena’s expression changed instantly.

“Ethan,” she said sharply. “You need to leave.”

“What?”

“Now.”

The car stopped violently nearby.

A tall man stepped out wearing a dark coat.

Ethan couldn’t see his face clearly in the darkness.

But Lena looked terrified.

“Who is that?” Ethan asked.

Lena backed away slowly.

Her form flickered strangely beneath the moonlight.

“Don’t let him remember me,” she whispered urgently.

Then she vanished.

Gone.

Like mist disappearing into air.

Ethan staggered backward in shock.

The man began walking toward him slowly.

And as he stepped beneath the bridge lights—

Ethan’s blood turned to ice.

Because he recognized him instantly.

Dr. Adrian Vale.

The neurologist who treated Ethan after the accident.

The man who helped erase his memories.