"Don't look back, Elena!" a voice screamed,a voice she should have known, cracked and desperate.
Behind her, the trees of the forest didn't sway; they shivered. Their bark looked like charred bone. She reached out to grab a branch, but her hand passed right through it, as if she were the ghost and the woods were the only thing that was real. Then came the sound,not a scream, but a low, rhythmic humming that vibrated in her teeth.
Just as the humming turned into a roar, the world jolted.
Elena's eyes snapped open.
Her forehead was pressed against the cold, vibrating glass of a window. For a second, she didn't know who she was. Then, the smell of stale upholstery and diesel fuel flooded her senses, anchoring her back to the present.
She wasn't in the charred woods. She was on a bus heading home back to her hometown where she has long forgotten
~~~~~~~
The town looked smaller than Elena remembered.Maybe it was because she had grown older. Maybe it was because time had a way of shrinking places that once felt huge or maybe it was because she had spent the last ten years trying not to remember it at all.
The bus doors hissed open with a tired sound, and Elena stepped down onto the quiet street. The air felt colder than the city she had left behind, carrying the faint scent of rain and damp leaves.
"Willow Creek."
The name on the old wooden sign still hung crooked at the entrance of the bus stop.
Nothing had changed.
The same sleepy street. The same dim streetlights. The same silence that made the town feel like it was holding its breath.Elena tightened her grip on the handle of her suitcase.
She hadn't planned to come back here. Not really.But life had a strange way of dragging people back to places they thought they had escaped.
Her mother's sudden illness had left her no choice. The old house needed someone to take care of it, and Elena was the only one left who could.
Still, something about being here again made her uneasy.Like a memory standing just behind her… waiting.
She shook the feeling away and began walking down the street.
The wheels of her suitcase rattled softly against the pavement.
Most of the shops were already closed for the night. Their windows reflected the glow of the streetlights and the thin mist that had started to drift through town.
It felt strange walking these streets again.
Familiar, but distant.
Like trying to remember a dream that slipped away every time you reached for it.
Elena passed the old bakery on the corner. The same faded blue paint still covered its walls.
She slowed down.
For a moment, a strange image flashed through her mind,children laughing, running past the shop, someone calling her name.
But the memory vanished before she could catch it.
"Strange," she murmured to herself.
She couldn't remember most of her childhood here.
Her mother always said it was because of the accident.
But no one ever explained what accident they meant.
The doctors had called it trauma-related memory loss.
Elena had learned to accept that explanation years ago.
Still… sometimes it bothered her.
Especially now that she was back.
A soft wind rustled through the trees lining the road.
Elena turned the corner toward the quiet street that led to her childhood home.
That was when she heard a voice.
"You shouldn't walk alone this late."
The words came from somewhere behind her.
Elena froze.
Her suitcase stopped rolling.
Slowly, she turned around.
At first, she saw nothing.
Then she noticed him.
A boy stood beneath one of the flickering streetlights across the road.
He looked about her age, maybe a little older. His dark hair fell slightly over his eyes, and his hands were tucked casually into the pockets of his jacket.
But something about him felt… strange.
Not threatening.
Just unexpected.
He watched her with an expression that was almost curious.
As if he had been waiting.
Elena frowned slightly.
"Sorry?" she said.
The boy pushed himself away from the streetlight and walked a few steps closer.
The faint glow of the light revealed more of his face.
Sharp features.
Pale skin.
And eyes that seemed to hold a strange kind of familiarity.
"You're new here," he said.
His voice was calm.
Too calm.
Elena hesitated.
"Not exactly," she replied. "I used to live here. A long time ago."
The boy studied her for a moment.
Then he smiled.
It wasn't a wide smile.
Just a small one.
Like he knew something she didn't.
"Yeah," he said quietly.
"I know."
Elena blinked.
"You know?"
The boy tilted his head slightly.
"You grew up on Cedar Lane," he said. "White house with the big oak tree in the yard."
Elena's stomach tightened.
"How do you know that?"
The boy didn't answer immediately.
Instead, his gaze drifted briefly toward the dark road behind her—the one that led deeper into town.
Then he looked back at her.
"I've lived here a long time," he said simply.
Elena crossed her arms slightly, studying him.
Something about this conversation felt… odd.
This town wasn't that big, but she didn't recognize him at all.
"I'm Elena," she said.
The boy nodded slowly.
"I know."
That strange feeling returned.
Like cold fingers brushing the back of her neck.
Elena forced a small laugh.
"Well… that's a little creepy."
For the first time, the boy looked slightly amused.
"Sorry," he said.
A light breeze passed between them, stirring the leaves along the sidewalk.
Elena glanced up at the dark sky.
The mist in the air had grown thicker.
She suddenly realized how quiet the street was.
Almost too quiet.
She looked back at the boy.
"I should probably get home," she said.
The boy nodded.
"Yeah."
But he didn't move.
He just stood there watching her.
Elena picked up the handle of her suitcase again.
Before turning away, she hesitated.
"By the way," she said. "What's your name?"
The boy looked at her for a long moment.
Something unreadable flickered in his eyes.
Then he finally answered.
"Noah."
" Noah"? She repeated
The name sent a strange chill down Elena's spine but she wasn't sure why.
"Nice to meet you, Noah."
Noah's faint smile returned.
"Welcome back, Elena."The way he said it made her pause.Not like someone greeting a stranger but more like someone greeting a person who had been gone for a very long time.
Elena opened her mouth to ask another question.
But when she looked up again ,Noah was gone.The streetlight flickered softly above the empty pavement.
And suddenly, the quiet town of Willow Creek didn't feel familiar anymore.
It felt like it was hiding something.
Something Elena had forgotten.
Something waiting for her to remember.