Elise sat alone on the wooden bench outside the small café, her trembling hands wrapped around a cup of coffee that had long gone cold.
The evening rain had left the streets quiet, the golden lights reflecting softly on the wet pavement.
Tears slipped silently down her cheeks as she stared at the ground, unable to escape the weight pressing against her chest.
For the first time since leaving the palace, she finally understood the pain she had caused.
She thought freedom would heal her.
She believed running away would silence the loneliness she felt behind the royal walls.
But instead, every step away from the palace only carried her farther from the people who truly cared about her.
Her lips trembled as another tear fell.
“I was wrong…” she whispered weakly.
The memories came rushing back – the worried faces of the servants, the echo of hurried footsteps in the royal halls, and the person she had left behind without a single goodbye.
Elise lowered her head, covering her mouth as quiet sobs escaped her.
Her eyes were red and shining with regret, tear streaks visible across her pale face.
She looked completely broken now, not like a princess…
just a girl who finally realized that escaping her home had also meant escaping the people who loved her most.
With trembling fingers, Elise slowly opened her worn leather bag.
Inside were dozens of folded papers, photographs, newspaper cuttings, and handwritten notes – every clue she had collected about Shelly’s mysterious murder case.
The cold wind brushed against her face as she spread the documents across the bench beside her.
Her tearful eyes moved carefully from one clue to another, trying to connect the pieces she had ignored for too long.
Then she froze.
One date kept appearing again and again.
2026.
That was the year Shelly’s body had been found behind the abandoned school building.
Elise’s breathing became uneven as another horrifying realization settled into her mind.
The current year was 2030.
Four whole years had passed.
“How did I miss this…?” she whispered in shock.
Her eyes widened while staring at an old photograph of the school corridor.
A strange symbol painted near the crime scene suddenly matched the same mark she had seen hidden inside palace records.
For the first time, the terrifying possibility became clear to her.
Maybe the school itself was involved.
Maybe Shelly had discovered something before she died.
Elise quickly wiped the tears from her face with her sleeve.
The sadness in her expression slowly hardened into determination.
She gathered all the clues back into her bag, zipped it shut, and stood from the bench.
The café lights flickered behind her as the night wind blew through the empty street.
“I’m going back,” she said quietly.
“To the place where it all began.”
Without looking back, Elise started walking toward the old school where Shelly had been found dead in 2026 – unaware that someone was already waiting for her there.
The taxi stopped in front of the old school gates with a quiet screech.
Elise stepped out slowly, her boots touching the cracked road as the driver pulled away into the fading evening light.
An hour-long journey had brought her back to the place she had tried so hard to forget.
The school stood silent now.
Classes were over, and the students had already gone home.
Yet their presence still lingered strangely in the air – faint laughter echoing through empty corridors, distant footsteps that no longer existed, abandoned basketballs rolling gently with the wind.
Near the gate, the old watchman stood smoking beneath a flickering lamp.
Elise froze for a second.
She recognized him immediately.
He was the same watchman from 2026.
The same man who had been on duty the night Shelly died.
Her heartbeat quickened.
She stepped closer toward the entrance, staring at the rusted gate where everything had begun years ago.
Taking a deep breath, she pushed herself forward.
But before she could enter, the watchman suddenly blocked her path.
“Who are you?” he asked roughly, smoke escaping from his lips.
Elise looked directly into his tired eyes.
“You… you don’t know me?” she asked softly.
She pointed at herself, disbelief trembling in her voice.
The old man narrowed his eyes carefully at her face.
“You…” he muttered slowly.
“You look familiar, but…”
He rubbed his forehead, struggling to remember something buried deep inside his mind.
Then he shook his head.
“I don’t remember anything.”
A cold silence fell between them.
Elise’s expression slowly changed.
Something about his voice felt wrong – too empty, too distant.
Almost as if someone had erased parts of his memory.
Elise think for a moment and introduce herself.
“I am Elise. A journalist,” she said while showing her ID.
The watchman adjusted his glasses and looked at the card carefully.
“What do you want to know, ma’am?”
he asked.
Elise smiled a little.
“Do you remember anything about what happened six years ago?” she asked softly.
“About Shelly… a teacher in this school.”
The watchman became quiet for a moment.
The watchman tried hard to remember the case, but somehow he had forgotten her identity.
“Sorry, ma’am,” he said quietly.
“I can’t remember anything.”
Elise’s face slowly filled with disappointment again.
But the watchman slowly nodded in no.
“No one is allowed inside after school hours,” he said firmly.
Elise pleaded with him again and again, but the watchman did not change his answer.
Elise finally gave up and slowly walked away from the school gate.
The watchman watched her leave before returning to his chair near the entrance.
But Elise had no intention of leaving.
She quietly moved toward an old garage beside the school and hid herself behind the broken walls.
From there, she could still see the school gate clearly.
The night air grew colder as she waited silently in the shadows.
She was waiting for the right moment to get inside.
Hours passed, and the evening slowly turned into a dark night.
The school became completely silent.
Only the sound of insects and the cold night wind remained.
After having dinner, the watchman sat down on his chair near the gate.
Little by little, his eyes became heavy, and he slowly fell asleep.
From behind the old garage wall, Elise watched carefully.
A small smile appeared on her face.
Quietly, she stepped out from the shadows and slowly walked toward the school gate.
She managed to get inside the school.
Elise slowly pushed open the main door.
The door made a low creaking sound that echoed through the empty building.
The atmosphere felt cold and creepy.
She stepped inside carefully.
The corridor looked exactly the same as before – the old pictures on the walls, the dim lights, and the mirror standing quietly in the corner.
“Maybe I can go back,” she whispered to herself nervously.
But she already knew where the principal’s office was.
Taking a deep breath, Elise slowly walked toward the office.
As she passed the corner, the mirror suddenly turned slightly toward her, almost like cybernetic eyes following her movement.
Elise immediately stopped walking.
The mirror stopped too.
She blinked in fear.
But Elise took a deep breath and kept walking.
She opened the principal’s office door and quickly closed it behind her after getting inside.
The room looked exactly the same as before.
“Everything has changed… but this school hasn’t changed a bit,” she said quietly.
Her eyes moved toward the mirror inside the office.
She stared at her own reflection for a moment.
“I am messed up,” she whispered.
She touched her hair softly.
It was completely messy, and her face had turned pale from stress and exhaustion.
She slowly turned her face toward the principal’s table.
The table looked exactly the same too.
Elise walked closer and gently ran her fingers across the name plate.
Then she slowly sat down in the chair behind the desk.
The landline phone was still there.
With trembling fingers, she tried to call Joe.
The phone started ringing.
Elise’s heart almost stopped breathing for a moment.
For the first time in a long while, she found herself holding onto hope.
The call got picked up.
“Hello?”
Elise’s eyes widened in surprise.
Tears immediately started falling from her eyes.
She could not speak.
“Hello?” Joe’s voice came again.
He sounded completely normal.
“Miss Principal, say something. Is everything alright? Don’t tell me any bad news.”
Before Elise could say anything, Joe spoke again, making her even more confused.
But when she stayed silent, Joe finally cut the call.
Elise slowly lowered the phone from her ear.
Her hands were shaking.
“Is he okay…?” she whispered to herself while staring at the silent landline.
So many questions started running through her mind.
Joe sounded normal.
Too normal.
He called her “Miss Principal” like nothing had happened.
Like the past six years never existed.
Elise slowly looked down at the phone again, confusion filling her pale face.
For the first time…
she started doubting Joe.
She quickly tried to call again, but this time the call did not connect.
Elise let out a tired sigh and placed the phone back down slowly.
“Why is Joe talking like that?” she whispered to herself.
“Does he know the principal?”
The questions kept growing inside her mind.
Trying to calm herself, Elise started searching the office for any clue.
She opened drawers, checked old files, looked through cabinets, and searched every corner of the room carefully.
But she found nothing.
The office felt strangely empty, as if someone had already removed everything important long ago.
_________________________________
Lucien looked up at the ceiling silently.
A small tear slowly fell from his eye.
“Why…” he whispered weakly. This chapter is updated first at g.com.
Suddenly, his voice broke.
“Why are you so cruel to me?!” he screamed.
His painful voice echoed through the empty room as he clenched his fists tightly, unable to hold back the emotions buried inside him anymore.
“Please… let me go,” Lucien begged weakly.
But time did not let him go.
The walls suddenly stopped shaking, and the mirror slowly showed another reflection behind him.
A man in his thirties stood there wearing blue jeans, a black T-shirt, a cap, and a mask.
His face looked swollen, as if he wanted to vomit at any moment.
Lucien looked at him and quickly wiped away his tears.
“Are you okay, Lucien?” the man asked carefully.
Lucien only hummed in response.
“Tell me what happened.”
The man lowered his gaze slowly.
“Lucien…” he said quietly.
“She is not here anymore. I can’t find her. I searched for her everywhere, but…”
Lucien’s jaw tightened immediately.
Suddenly, he slammed his hand against the mirror.
“How can you be so irresponsible?!”
“Lucien… maybe she is there,” the man said carefully.
But Lucien’s frustration was slowly turning into anger.
“Are you dumb?!” Lucien snapped.
“It’s impossible!”
The man flinched slightly but still gathered the courage to ask,
“Why, Lucien? Why is it impossible?”
Lucien looked at him in confusion.
For a moment, he realized he did not know the answer himself.
The man took a slow step forward.
“I am here, Lucien… as an example,” he said quietly.
“So why can’t she?”
“If she is there, then I’ll get to know about it,” Lucien said coldly.
“Sir, don’t forget… she is a journalist,” the man replied carefully.
“Sometimes she acts like a spy. You know her more than me.”
Lucien stayed silent.
“But-”
“Lucien ,I’ll search for her again,” the man interrupted softly.
“You should check there once.”
Then he added quietly,
“Don’t worry, Lucien. You know that time protects her.”
They both shared a moment of silence.
Then suddenly, time glitched again.
The walls started shaking strangely, and the man slowly disappeared from the mirror like he was never there.
Lucien looked around silently as the room became unstable again.
At the same moment, the basement door slowly opened.
Lucien returned from the room and walked back toward the entrance gate.
____________________________________
Enzo returned to the palace quietly.
The palace staff quickly gathered around him and started asking about Elise.
“Did you find her?”
“Where is Miss Elise?”
Enzo lowered his gaze silently.
One of the staff members handed him a cup of warm milk with almond and honey on top.
The warm drink was meant to help him relax.

“I… can’t find her,” Enzo said softly, trying hard to hold back his tears.
One of the old maids looked at him sadly.
She gently patted his back and then his head.
“It’s okay,” she said kindly.
“You will find her.”
The others also tried to console him while Enzo stood there quietly, holding the warm cup tightly in his trembling hands..
_________________________________
Elise suddenly remembered something.
Maybe the basement of the school was still there.
Her heartbeat slowly became faster.
She carefully opened the office door and stepped outside again.
The dark corridor felt colder than before.
Without making any sound, Elise slowly walked toward the basement.
Thankfully, she smiled-because the door was still there.
But it wasn’t the same anymore.
It had changed…
now painted in a deep, dark red, as if it was hiding something within itself.
She stood in front of it, frozen for a moment.
Before opening it, she took a few slow seconds to think.
In another world, she had once been trapped behind doors just like this.
The memory alone made her chest tighten.
Still, she gathe red her courage.
Her trembling hand reached out…
and she opened the door.
What she saw on the other side left her completely shocked.
___________________________________
When memories disappear, someone made sure they did.
But truth always leaves a trace.
Shayarasehar11