You Saw Him

You’re sitting in a café, alone in the corner. The sweet aroma of coffee and pastries fills the air. You love the smell and for some odd reason it helps you concentrate on your work better. The café was small and there weren’t many customers that came here this early in the morning which made it the perfect work environment for you.

It was supposed to be your day off yet you couldn’t stop work from following you like a lonely ghost in need of attention. Your fingers hurt from typing emails and reports and your eyes were bloodshot from the lack of sleep. The only thing keeping you going was this place’s coffee. This will be the last thing I do and then I can rest. You’ve been telling yourself this for the past few weeks now but the workload doesn’t seem to lessen at all.

You had plans with your friends this afternoon and wondered if you were going to have time to make it. You sigh and stop typing, cracking your aching knuckles you look at the street outside the café. Billions of tiny balls of cotton fell from the sky in a slow dance, covering anything it landed on in white. People passed by outside, their bodies protected by layers of clothing. A faint smile made it’s way onto your face, you loved the cold winter, it was your favorite season.

The smile instantly dropped from your face when your gaze landed on someone. Your body stiffened and your eyes widened. You thought he was dead but he was there, right in front you on the street, standing there and smiling. He was looking straight at you from outside the café. You looked back at him and an unofficial stare down match had begun. A few seconds passed but he showed no intention on entering the coffee shop. 

He broke the staring contest. He turned away from you and slowly started crossing the street. You immediately started packing your things, hurriedly stuffing them into your bag without much care. You left the payment for the coffee on the table and dashed out the café. You had to catch up to him, you thought. He had reached the other side of the street and you followed, your eyes not leaving him. You ran across the street and searched for his figure once again while you tried to catch your breath.

You spotted him in the crowd of people and a series of apologies erupted from your mouth while you shoved past everyone to get to him. People cursed at you for your impatient behavior but you weren’t fazed at all. Everything in your surroundings but him had blurred into black and white. The only thought in your head was that you had to get to him no matter what. 

He took a sharp left into a dark alley and without much thought you did the same. You stood in middle of the alleyway, it led to a dead end and you couldn’t seem to find him anymore. Where could he have gone all of a sudden, you thought. You were sure he turned into here. There was no where else to go and you knew you would’ve run into him if he had come out the same way. 

You felt someone walk behind you and instinctively turned to look but saw nothing. Turning back around you again saw him there, right in front of you, smiling just like before. He made no attempt to come closer to you and all he did was stand there and stare. 

“How are you still alive?” you spoke out, breaking the silence. You waited for him to respond but he just stood there and continued to smile. “Aren’t you going say something? Are you only planning to stare? If you were alive you should’ve told me?” you said again, your voice quivering.

You still got no response from him. His long black coat, fluttered in the icy wind, he didn’t seem to where enough clothing to keep himself warm in this weather but the cold didn’t seem to bother him at all. He just stood there quietly and smiled like he was a robot programmed with only this one function.

“Do you know how much I missed you? All this time I was left heart broken. So, if you were alive all this time then you should’ve told me. You should’ve told me so I didn’t have to be in so much pain.” You said, tears threatening to fall but you held them back, right now the last thing you wanted to do was cry in front of him. 

Seeing that he still wasn’t saying anything, you bit your bottom lip. Anger filling inside you. After all this time, he didn’t even have the decency to give you an explanation, you thought. “Say something, god dammit!” you shout out. “What’s wrong with you? Why won’t you say anything? Has your brain stopped functioning, huh? Is that it? Answer me!” you say getting angrier but he still doesn’t.

“What is your—”

“Riss!” Someone cuts you off placing a hand on you shoulder. You flinch and then turn to face your sister, younger than you by a year. Her breathing was shallow like she had just run a marathon, and despite the weather she was beaded in sweat. She looked at you with worried expression her hand tightening it’s grip on your shoulder. “Who are you talking to?” she said.

“Anya, what are you doing here? No, forget about that. Look, it’s Michael. He’s alive and he never told us.” You say grabbing her sleeve and pointing in front of you. Your sister looks at you and let’s out a heavy sigh.

“Riss, there’s no one there. Michael is dead, he died in that car accident.” She slowly says.

“No, he’s right there.” You say as you look back at where he was standing there and smiling but see that he has disappeared again. “W-where did he go? N-no, he was right here.” You say, your mind confused.

“Riss.” Your sister says. “Are you feeling alright? Did you stop taking your medicines?” she asked.

“Nothing’s wrong with me.” You snap out. “I-I was alone at the café and then I saw him outside and followed him all the way here.” You say.

“Riss.” Your sister calls out again. “You weren’t alone at the café, we were sitting there together. Then you suddenly packed everything and ran out.” She calmly said. “I’ve been running after you since then.”

“No, no. Anya, you don’t understand he was right here, I wasn’t hallucinating, I’m not mad. He really was here.” You insist. Your sister gives you a defeated look.

“Okay, he was here. Let’s go for now, I’m sure we’ll find him again since he’s alive.” She says, turning you around slowly and taking you back to the café. You sit there in a daze, the warm air of the café relaxing your nerves. You look outside and start counting the people. One, two, three.  

“No! I’m telling you, she’s only been getting worse. Today also, she ran out thinking she saw Michael outside. I know she’s in love with him and that it was a tragedy that he died right after they got married but I’m so worried about her.” You hear your sister speak on the phone in the distance but you didn’t really pay attention. 

“Riss!” you hear a man’s voice whisper in your ears. A voice you knew so well. You see him outside again and jerk up, he was across the street. He smiles at you and mouths out something. 

“Follow me.” You say under your breath, decoding what he had said. And once again you run out of the café in a frenzy. 

“Riss! Wait! Riss!” your sister shouts out after you, her attention on you, completely forgetting about the person on the other end of her call. She runs after you but you don’t stop. 

He was standing right there. You couldn’t miss him. He was waiting for you. You could finally be together again. Only these thoughts filled your mind. Only the thoughts of him, the person you loved the most. You start crossing the street, a huge smile on your face.

“Riss! Stop! The light is red, come back, you can’t cross yet!” your sister tries to grab you but she misses you by a second. Cars start to come towards you but you fail to notice them. All you can see is him. 

Just as you’re about to reach him, a strong force collides into. And every cell in your body screams in pain and you want to do too but nothing comes out. You find yourself in the air for a few seconds before coming in contact with the concrete floor. You feel something flowing out, a metallic smell hitting your nose.

You lay on the hard ground, unable to move or speak. It’s so hard to breath like someone is choking you. You feel so tired and cold. Then warm hands touch you and you stare at your sister’s face. Tears are streaming down her cheeks as she sobs uncontrollably, begging for help. 

You didn’t want her to cry. It hurt more than the pain you were feeling right now. She was cradling your body and it made you feel better. From the corner of your eyes you see him, he was still standing there. A smile on his face but for some reason it looked eerie. He mouthed out something once again and your eyes filled with horror. His smile turned cold and he turned away, disappearing into the crowd of people.

You tried to speak again but only hoarse groans came out. You found it harder to stay awake and your consciousness started to slip away. Darkness engulfed you as your eyes shut. The last thoughts you had were the words he mouthed out. 

Follow me into a dreamless slumber. I’ll lure you to me, just like another unfortunate soul that will join the others.

It was death. He had come to take you just like he took Michael.