Chapter 5: Ghosts of the past

The gray clouds descended upon the city streets, pouring rain engulfing everything around. Waking up to such weather outside, Caitlin felt disappointment wash over her. She realized that today wouldn’t be as productive in terms of finding the stranger. With concern and anxiety, she decided to share her feelings with her sister, giving her a call.

“Hey,” Caitlin said, “the weather is awful today, and I don’t know what to do. I have no leads, and it’s just pouring outside.”

“Don’t worry, Cait,” her sister replied, “Why don’t you go to the mall? It’s dry and warm there, maybe something will remind you of the stranger, or perhaps new ideas will come to mind.” Her sister’s words sounded like a ray of light in the darkness. Caitlin decided to take her advice and headed to her favorite shopping center. In the mall, she felt calm and serene. Strolling through its corridors, she slowly relaxed, allowing her thoughts to drift into a brighter future. Entering one of the stores, she casually glanced at the fitting room stalls. But suddenly someone grabbed her hand and dragged her into one of the booths. Caitlin’s heart raced, and she began to feel the weight of unexpected fear. What would happen next? Fear and uncertainty engulfed her thoughts as the fitting room door closed behind them, mysteriously creaking on its flimsy hinges like in horror movies. The stranger gripped Caitlin’s face with such force that she could hardly breathe, let alone speak. His eyes flashed with rage, his breath heavy and uneven. The words that escaped his mouth sounded like threats, piercing her heart with icy sharpness, and were disjointed.

“Why did you come here?” he growled, roughly covering her mouth. “Don’t you understand that you don’t belong here? You were warned, and yet you came back!” Frightened and stunned, Caitlin tried to make sense of what was happening, but the stranger didn’t give her a moment to think. He released her but started pacing furiously from one corner of the fitting room to another. His eyes searched for a way out of this tense situation, filled with hatred and fury.

“My name is Caitlin,” she said timidly, trying to keep calm. “I don’t know what you’re talking about, and what I’ve done to deserve such treatment. Maybe you mistook me for someone else?”

The stranger, his voice trembling with rage, snarled through clenched teeth, his gaze shooting bolts of hatred: “Because of you, he’ll beat me if he finds out what you’ve done.” Caitlin whispered “What have I done?”

“If he finds out about the photo, then YOU’RE DONE! He’ll just tear me and you apart!” he looked like a real psycho from the side, talking to himself, sometimes quietly, sometimes loudly, emphasizing the word “HE” as if speaking about the devil himself. He shifted his gaze from Caitlin to the walls of the fitting room, muttering something like “The Cheshire Cat doesn’t forgive such things”. His eyes searched for escape but only found new sources of fear. In his words, there was not only a warning but also despair, as if he knew that their fates were intertwined, and he was powerless to change anything.