Chapter_25
“Joe…”
She said his name sadly.
“But how did he know your location?” Instead of showing concern, Enzo immediately asked the question.
The two of them sat down on the bed, facing the window.
Sunlight streamed through the glass, falling softly across their faces.
Enzo’s reflection stretched across the window and onto the building opposite them.
“He said he had tracked my location.”
She remembered those exact words from the day she had asked Joe why he needed access to it.
“Did you share your location with him?”
“Yeah. When we were in a relationship, we shared everything. Sharing our location was just a normal thing for us.”
“But why?” Enzo genuinely didn’t understand.
“He said it was a way to protect me.”
“Protect you? From what?”
“I don’t know. When he asked me to share it, I just did.”
“Did he share his location too?”
She shook her head.
“No.”
“Why?”
Enzo was completely focused on her, even though the topic was clearly making her uncomfortable.
“If he was ever in danger, I might have gone looking for him. Maybe that’s what he thought.”
Enzo suddenly burst out laughing.
“You think you’re the smartest journalist in Paris, but you know what? He completely fooled you.”
“Yes.”
His laughter faded when she answered so calmly.
“I loved him enough to let him fool me.”
This time, she was completely serious.
“But now things are a little different.”
Her voice grew softer, sadder.
“Why?”
Enzo wanted to understand her thought process, her feelings, her perspective toward Joe.
He couldn’t let Joe make a fool of her.
Even though nobody knew what Joe had done, what he was doing, or even where he was, Enzo had always felt that something wasn’t right.
“Because I don’t want to trust anyone anymore.”
“And what if he came back to you?”
A faint smile appeared on her face.
“I might be the happiest person alive.”
Her eyes slowly brightened with hope.
“The moment I meet him, maybe I’ll hug him tightly… cry like a baby in his arms… tell him how much I missed him and how desperately I searched for him.”
The sadness in her expression gradually turned into longing.
A longing that still hadn’t faded.
“But you just said things are different now,” Enzo pointed out in a deep voice.
“Hmm…”
She looked out the window.
“But not my love for him.”
She paused for a moment.
“I’ll ask him everything. Every question I’ve wanted to ask.”
Silence filled the room.
Then she spoke again.
“I think… maybe I’m wrong. Maybe he was searching for me too. Maybe he missed me the same way I miss him.”
Enzo smiled in disbelief.
Enzo got up from the bed and offered his hand to her.
Elise looked at it for a moment before playfully ignoring it.
Enzo rolled his eyes while she laughed softly.
The two of them then walked back into the living room.
“Let’s search,” Enzo said.
Without wasting any more time, he headed toward one of the rooms.
Elise went in the opposite direction and entered another room.
Soon, the apartment fell silent once again as they began searching for any clue that could reveal the truth hidden within its walls.
Elise was in the storage room, going through piles of old belongings.
After a while, she began tossing boxes and useless items aside.
Then suddenly—
Something caught her attention.
In the reflection of a mirror, she noticed a photograph hidden inside one of the boxes.
Immediately, she put on a pair of gloves before touching it.
Carefully, she picked it up.
It was a passport-sized photograph of a woman.
The woman was wearing a white deep-neck dress.
Her hair was tied neatly in a tight bun, and a bright smile rested on her face.
After studying the picture for a few moments, Elise walked toward Enzo.
“Enzo!”
Hearing his name, he quickly came over.
“Did you find something?”
Instead of answering, she showed him the photograph.
“Who is she?” he asked curiously.
“How am I supposed to know?” Elise replied, annoyed.
“Maybe she’s her sister.”
Enzo gave her a tired look before smiling sarcastically.
“That’s why you’re in love.”
“What do you mean by that?” she asked, raising an eyebrow.
“Nothing. How could she be her sister? Don’t you know she was an only child?”
He explained patiently.
“Oh.”
Elise scratched her head.
“I don’t know. Maybe I forgot.”
Enzo sighed.
“We need to find her.”
The two of them left the apartment.
As they walked through the hallway, Elise carefully tucked the photograph into her bag.
The old building was silent.
Only the sound of their footsteps echoed through the corridor.
When they reached the ground floor, Enzo pushed open the main door and stepped outside.
Fresh air greeted them immediately.
Elise stretched her arms and let out a long sigh.
“That place still feels creepy.”
“You’re the one who dragged me there,” Enzo replied.
“Because I’m a dedicated journalist.”
“Because you’re nosy.”
Elise shot him an offended look.
“I prefer the word curious.”
Enzo laughed.
The two of them walked toward the car.
Before getting inside, Elise glanced back at the building one last time.
Then she opened the passenger door and sat down.
Enzo got into the driver’s seat.
“Where to now?” he asked.
Elise smiled and tapped her bag where the photograph was safely kept.
“Let’s find out who she is.”
The car slowly pulled away from the building and disappeared into the busy streets.
__________________________________
Résidence Charles Floquet (8 Avenue Charles Floquet)
Steam rose from a cup of coffee, slowly dissolving into the air.
The rich aroma of freshly brewed coffee filled the atmosphere.
A man dressed in simple pajamas walked out of the kitchen carrying a tray of fruits in one hand and a newspaper in the other.
He stepped into the gallery and settled comfortably into a deep chair.
Placing the tray on the round table in front of him, he picked up the warm cup of coffee.
Taking a sip, he let out a long breath of satisfaction.
Then he unfolded the newspaper.
A faint smile appeared on his lips as he read one of the headlines.
“The President of Paris Recently Visited a School.”.
He continued reading the article while sipping the aromatic coffee.
A faint smile remained on his face as his eyes moved across the newspaper.
After finishing the coffee, he ate a few pieces of fruit from the tray.
Once he was done, he got up from the chair and carried everything back to the kitchen.
The newspaper remained on the table.
Rolling up his sleeves, he put on a pair of kitchen gloves and turned on the tap.
The once-silent apartment was soon filled with the sound of running water.
He calmly washed the dishes one by one.
After finishing, he reached for a knife.
A small clock symbol was engraved on its handle.
He admired it with a creepy smile.
There were faint blood stains on the blade.
Carefully, he held it under the running water and washed every trace away.
When the blade was spotless, he dried it thoroughly and wiped away the remaining droplets.
Then, almost affectionately, he pressed a gentle kiss against the knife.
For a moment, the apartment fell silent.
And then—
Laughter echoed through the rooms.
A strange, unsettling laughter that filled every corner of the apartment.
___________________________________
It was a dark and unsettling night.
A student walked along the sidewalk wearing headphones.
A pop song played in his ears as he quietly hummed along to the lyrics, enjoying the music.
The streets were unusually silent.
Almost too silent.
Not far away, a cat slowly stepped onto the zebra crossing.
Halfway across the road, it suddenly stopped.
Its eyes fixed on the student.
For a brief moment, neither of them moved.
The cat’s dark eyes seemed to gleam under the streetlights.
Its lips curled back slightly, exposing two unusually long fangs.
The student, however, noticed nothing.
Just as he was about to step onto the road, he stopped.
The pedestrian signal was still red.
So he waited.
The cat remained motionless.
Watching him.
Waiting.
The cold night breeze drifted through the empty street as an uneasy feeling slowly settled into the air.
Then he noticed the cat.
The moment his eyes landed on it, he froze.
The cat sitting on the zebra crossing was now a fluffy white Persian cat.
Its black eyes sparkled under the streetlights, and it seemed to be smiling in an oddly adorable way.
The student slowly removed his headphones.
“Aren’t you cute?”
A smile appeared on his face.
Without hesitation, he walked toward it.
The cat remained still, calmly watching him approach.
When he reached it, he bent down and gently picked it up.
The Persian cat immediately nestled into his arms.
The student laughed softly and began cuddling it.
“You must be lost.”
The cat rubbed its head against his chest.
Completely charmed by it, the student forgot about the empty road, the silence, and the strange feeling that had been lingering in the air moments ago.
And then—
Time glitched.
The student’s smile froze.
The cat froze.
The cold breeze stopped.
For a brief second, the entire world became unnaturally still.
Then—
Everything skipped.
Like reality had stumbled.
The student blinked.
A strange chill crawled down his spine.
The white Persian cat was still resting in his arms.
Yet something felt terribly wrong.
The road seemed different.
The silence seemed heavier.
Even the air felt colder.
His heart began beating faster.
Slowly, he looked around.
The street was empty.
Too empty.
Not a single car.
Not a single person.
Not even the sound of the city.
The student swallowed nervously.
The cat suddenly stopped purring.
Its body became stiff.
Then it turned its head toward the darkness at the end of the road.
As if it had noticed something.
Something the student couldn’t see.
A wave of fear washed over him.
His grip around the cat tightened.
For some reason, every instinct in his body screamed at him to run.
But he didn’t know why.
The darkness ahead felt alive.
Watching him.
Waiting for him.
And somehow…
He felt certain he wa sn’t alone anymore.
Slowly, he got to his feet while holding the cat in his arms.
His steps felt heavy.
Just like his heartbeat.
Thump.
Thump.
Thump.
The sound echoed inside his head.
The student swallowed nervously and crossed the road.
The cat remained unusually silent.
When he reached the other side, he suddenly felt the urge to look back.
So he did.
And then—
He saw something.
Something unbelievable.
In a world full of glitches, trust is the rarest miracle.