Chapter 11
1028 Words
The autumn air carried the scent of fallen leaves and possibility. As David drove, Shantali watched the city scroll past her window, struck by how ordinary everything looked—pedestrians with coffee cups, cyclists navigating traffic, clouds drifting across the October sky. The world hadn't changed, but her place within it had shifted profoundly.
"What are you thinking about?" David asked, glancing at her during a red light.
"How strange it is that just a few days ago, I was desperate to understand something supernatural. Now I'm excited about checking water pressure in apartment bathrooms."
David laughed. "That's called growth, I think."
"Or sanity returning."
They arrived at the first apartment—a corner unit in a renovated pre-war building. The real estate agent, a brisk woman named Elaine with a portfolio of listings and sensible shoes, led them through rooms bathed in natural light. The promised bookshelves flanked a brick fireplace, and the balcony overlooked a small park where crimson and gold leaves swirled in gentle eddies.
"What do you think?" David whispered as Elaine checked something on her phone in the kitchen.
Shantali ran her hand along the wooden shelves, already imagining photographs nestled between books—their life together documented not in research notes but in captured moments of joy.
"It feels right," she said simply.
They viewed two more apartments that afternoon, but kept returning to the first in their conversation. By the time they stopped for late lunch at a café near the park, the decision had practically made itself.
"So," David said, stirring his coffee, "should we call Elaine?"
Shantali nodded, feeling none of the hesitation that had plagued her decisions since the cobra's appearance. "Let's do it. Let's make an offer."
As David made the call, Shantali's phone buzzed with a text from her brother: *Got your message. Lunch tomorrow works. Bringing Sophia, hope that's okay.*
She smiled, surprised and pleased that Marcus wanted to include his girlfriend. Perhaps her engagement had reminded him of his own relationship's importance.
*Of course. Looking forward to seeing you both.*
When David finished his call, his face lit up with excitement. "Elaine says we're the first to make an offer. She thinks we have a good chance."
"That was fast," Shantali said, a flutter of nervous excitement in her stomach.
"When you know, you know." David reached across the table to take her hand. "Just like with us."
The parallel wasn't lost on her—how quickly certainty had replaced doubt once she'd allowed herself to embrace what was real instead of chasing smoke. The apartment, like their engagement, felt right in a way that required no supernatural validation.
"We should celebrate," she suggested. "Maybe take a walk through that park? It could be our park soon."
As they strolled beneath trees aflame with autumn colours, Shantali felt a strange sense of déjà vu. It was not prophetic this time, but familiar, as if she'd walked this path in dreams or distant memory. When they passed a wooden bench overlooking a small pond, she stopped.
"This is it," she whispered.
"What's it?" David asked.
"The funeral vision—it wasn't just any autumn scene." She pointed to the bench. "It was here. This spot."
David's expression grew concerned. "Tali..."
"No, it's okay," she assured him, surprising herself with how calm she felt. "I'm not spiralling again. I just... recognise it now." She sat on the bench, patting the space beside her. "Whoever's funeral I saw, it was someone connected to this place."
David joined her, his arm sliding around her shoulders. "Maybe it was meaningful to them."
"Or will be to us." She leaned against him, watching golden leaves drift onto the pond's surface. "Either way, I'm not afraid of it anymore."
They sat in comfortable silence, the autumn light filtering through branches above them. Whatever sorrow that future day might hold, this moment contained only peace—the kind that comes from accepting life's full spectrum instead of trying to control it.
When Shantali's phone chimed with a message from Elaine, they both jumped slightly.
"The sellers want to meet with us tomorrow," she read aloud. "They have multiple offers but liked our letter."
David squeezed her hand. "Tomorrow's going to be busy—apartment meeting, lunch with your brother..."
"The beginning of our next chapter," Shantali finished for him. "I'm ready for it."
That night, as they lay in David's bed, soon to be their bed in a new home, Shantali dreamed not of smoke serpents or prophecies but of bookshelves being filled, coffee brewing on Sunday mornings, and David's laughter echoing through sunlit rooms. These were simple dreams of a life chosen, not foretold.
When morning came, she woke feeling rested in a way she hadn't since before the Egyptian wing incident. David was already up, the smell of pancakes drifting from the kitchen along with the sound of his humming some indistinct melody. Shantali stretched, savouring the ordinary perfection of the moment.
Her phone buzzed on the nightstand—a text from Elena, her best friend, whom she'd barely spoken to in the past week:
*So I hear congratulations are in order? When were you going to tell me you're ENGAGED?*
Guilt washed over Shantali as she realised how completely she'd shut out everyone during her obsession with the cobra visions. Elena had tried calling twice, and she'd let it go to voicemail both times.
*I'm sorry, El. It's been a crazy week. Coffee tomorrow? I'll tell you everything.*
She hesitated before sending, then added: *And yes, engaged! Still feels surreal.*
Elena's response came immediately: *You better have a good explanation for ghosting me during the biggest week of your life. But yes to coffee. And CONGRATULATIONS!!! ♥♥♥*
David appeared in the doorway, spatula in hand and flour dusting his t-shirt. "Pancake delivery for the future Mrs. Chen."
"That's going to take some getting used to," she said, smiling as she set her phone down. "Shantali Chen."
"Has a nice ring to it." He sat on the edge of the bed, handing her a steaming plate. "Speaking of rings, my grandmother is already asking about wedding dates and guest lists."
- Writer
