Chapter 1

He was there one second and gone the next.

Amidst the mad rush of the cafe, I was frozen with a tray of cookies in my hand. The noise, the chatter, and the movements around me blurred into a distant vision.

My world stood still.

The face that haunted me every night, the face that made me want to hide under my covers in the dark, the face that gave a new meaning to fear in my life. He was here.

The deafening silence that had me wrapped me in a vacuum gradually dwindled away. A loud sound cut through to me, bringing my surroundings back into focus.

"Zuri, hey."

"Zuri?"

Someone was touching my arm, waving their hand before my eyes.

"Are you all right?" I heard her ask. Her voice rose above the pounding sound in my ears.

I blinked, realising that the sound was my own heart racing and hammering wildly in my chest.

"Zuri?" She held me by my shoulders and shook me.

Then something snapped in my head, bringing me out of the maze of thoughts in my mind.

"Huh?" I looked around frantically, trying to find that face in the crowd again.

"Where is he?" I murmured, moving around the people, pushing through, and registering the different faces in my mind. "He was here. I saw him."

"Zuri, what's wrong?" she asked, following me around. "You have gone so pale."

Where is he? Where is he?

"Zuri, stop." She pulled me back firmly by my arm. "What happened?"

I stopped and turned around to face her.

He was not here. I had gone around the whole cafe. He was nowhere to be seen.

I must have imagined it all.

Maybe I was mistaken. He had appeared and then vanished into the crowd within a few seconds. Maybe it was my paranoia again. He was not here. He could not be here.

It's definitely my paranoia. It has to be.

"You're scaring me now," she said.

I blinked and realised that it was Elisha.

She held both my hands in hers, squeezing them comfortingly. Her worried eyes stared back at me anxiously, as she waited for me to say something.

"I-I am fine," I said, clearing my throat. "I'm sorry for worrying you."

"Zuri, are you serious? You were standing frozen in the middle of the cafe. Your face was white like you'd seen some ghost. What happened?" she asked.

I took in a deep breath and then smiled at her. "It was a misunderstanding. Nothing happened, I promise."

"Misunderstanding?" She frowned.

"I'm fine, don't worry," I said, giving her my best reassuring smile. "Let's get back to work, okay?"

She seemed unconvinced but slowly nodded. "Fine."

She let go of my hands and made her way back to the counters.

I sighed and allowed myself to gather up all my thoughts for a moment.

I was definitely mistaken.

With this belief, I exhaled deeply and followed Elisha.

When I got back to my place behind the counters, I looked down at my empty hands.

Where is the cookie tray?

Just as I was about to go looking for it, I saw Elisha holding it. She had probably taken it from my hands.

Although I had snapped out of my daze and understood that I had only imagined him being here, I was still not able to get back into the flow of rapidly going through all the orders that were coming in.

I resigned myself into a corner behind the counters, hidden from people's view.

I did not blame myself for my brain and body shutting down. I could never do that because I knew that no matter how much I overreacted, it would still not be enough. The horror laced with the idea of him ever being here was real.

For an entire year, I had been in hiding. I had left my home, my city, and my life to embrace this new identity. I had changed my hair, my eye color, my style, my clothes, and everything else that he might remember about me.

He could not be here. He could not find me. Because if he ever did, then it would be my death sentence. He would not spare me. My life would be over. Everything would be over.

Even for them.

I shook my head to clear away the thoughts, shuddering at even the mere speck of imagination of that scenario.

"He's not here," I told myself, reaffirming the belief to stabilize myself to be able to work again.

Sighing, I realised that my hand was subconsciously stroking the small tattoo on my arm. The tattoo that was my strength and my hope.

I touched the tattoo with two fingers and then brought them to my lips for a light kiss. "I wish I was as strong as you."

With determination, I clenched my fists and walked over to the counter to take orders again.

Wearing a bright smile, I took down a new order and prepared it as fast as I could.

"Here you go," I said.

The customer, who was a regular here, smiled and gave me a small salute. "Thank you, Zuri."

I laughed and waved him off.

My elbow touched the tissue stand and knocked it off the counter.

"Great," I muttered, bending down to pick up the fallen tissues, a little glad that there were no customers waiting to be served.

As I finished picking up the last tissue, I realised that another customer had come up to place an order.

"Good afternoon, what would you like today?" I asked, quickly standing up.

I placed the tissue stand back in its place and smiled at the customer. "Our special today is–"

The rest of the words got caught in my throat, mixing with the screams that died down there.

Terror shot through my blood like a razor blade.

I found myself stepping back, stumbling over my own feet.

My eyes never left his. He had seen me, and I had seen him.

As I moved back, I hit myself on various objects, knocking a few things down in the process.

I could not breathe. My heart pounded at an inhuman rate, and my gut twisted and knotted.

I saw his forehead creasing into a frown. He was saying something, but I could not make out what. I was moving far away from him.

I stumbled into the kitchen and hastily locked the door behind me.

My shaking knees gave way, and I sank to the floor. My hands trembled as his eyes still vividly stared back at me in my mind.

I tried to breathe but couldn't. My chest heaved. My ears rang.

He's here.

He found me.

Now he'll kill me.