Chapter Four - The Stranger Who Knew Your Name

CHAPTER FOUR

The Stranger Who Knew Your Name

YOU SAW THEM once.
A face you didn’t recognize, in a place you shouldn’t have been.
But they looked at you like you were the only person in the world.
Like they’d been waiting for you.

They said your name.
Not your full name, just the part that matters.
The one only certain people use.

You don’t remember how the conversation started.
You just remember the pause they took before they left.
Like they wanted to say more.
Like they already knew what you’d ask next.

Then they smiled.
A strange kind of smile.
The kind you give a friend just before a secret slips.

“You’re getting closer,” they said.
“Don’t stop now.”

You didn’t stop.
But you didn’t ask.

You didn’t ask why they knew you.
Why their eyes looked like a place you dreamed of once.
Why they had a book in their bag that looked just like this one.

You’ll see them again.