Adex pulled into the driveway and quickly parked the car. He jumped out and hurried straight to the front door. The moment he opened it, he stepped into the living room, already calling out.
He shouted, 'Lydia?' loud enough to be heard.
Nothing- no response.
He tried again, raising his voice slightly. "Lydia?"
Still silence.
He frowned and carefully made his way to the bedroom. The door creaked slightly as he pushed it open, and his eyes immediately went to the bed where he had left her sleeping.
To his surprise, she was not there.
His eyebrows knitted together. He stepped closer and noticed a folded paper lying on the bedspread.
"Here we go again," he muttered with a sigh. "Another damn note."
He picked it up and unfolded it, his eyes scanning.
It read:
Dear Adex,
Kindly make your way to the dining room. I will wait for you there.
Yours sincerely,
An Unknown Hand.
He stared at it with a confused expression. "What the hell?" he whispered under his breath. This was the last thing he expected, and for a moment, he wasn't even sure if it was from Lydia.
Cautiously, he turned and returned to the living room, heading for the dining area.
As he stepped in, he froze.
Michael was there. He sat calmly, one leg crossed over the other, as if he owned the place.
Adex's eyes widened. "Michael?!"
Michael wore a smug smile. "Surprised to see me?" he asked, tilting his head slightly. "I told you we'd be seeing more of each other."
He gestured toward the chair across from him. "Please take a seat."
Adex remained standing, still attempting to process what he was witnessing. His face was filled with confusion as he glanced around the room.
"How did you get in here?" he asked, his voice low but tense.
Michael responded, appearing completely unfazed."I let myself in."
"Let me guess... you're the reason all this keeps happening to me?" He raised an eyebrow, half-joking and half-serious.
With a grin on his face, Michael shrugged. "Well, you know what they say—trouble always knows where to find a home."
Adex pulled the chair out with deliberate calm, sat down with quiet confidence, and fixed his gaze directly on him.
Michael tilted his head with a knowing smile and asked, "Tell me, boy, why are you troubled?"
Adex nodded, slow and heavy, his gaze lost somewhere far away.
"Lydia's back… and it feels like my heart has finally remembered how to beat," he murmured, his voice barely above a whisper.
However, a hint of skepticism appeared—
"What if this is all just a dream, slipping away before I can hold on?" Adex spoke with a hint of uncertainty in his voice.
"What makes you feel that way?" Michael asked, his voice low, like he feared the answer.
Adex's mind was frantic. He appeared lost and shifted his eyes as if trying to understand something he couldn't explain.
"It feels like I'm losing my mind," he said quietly.
"It all started on the night of my birthday. I had prepared dinner and was waiting for Lydia to arrive. I remember calling her—we talked, and she promised she'd be home soon. However, during our conversation, I heard a terrifying noise through the phone. My heart dropped. The line went dead, and I couldn't reach her again."
He softly sighed and continued.
"I had this feeling… like she was in an accident," Adex said.
"I didn't want to believe it, but deep down, I knew... I knew I heard the crushing, twisted noise of an accident." His face tightened as if the thought was too much to handle.
"I tried to push the worst thoughts away," said Adex, his hands trembling as he rubbed his forehead, the memory clawing at him. "But deep down, I felt something terrible had happened to her."
He paused, breathed, and continued: "Eventually, she came home… but something felt off as soon as she walked through the door." He gazed at the ground, consumed by fear. "I should have seen it then, but I was so relieved to see her that I ignored the signs."
His voice grew softer, almost a whisper.
"That night, I knew… everything was off—from her words to her attitude. Something wasn't right. I couldn't explain it, not even when she lay beside me in bed."
He exhaled sharply, his chest tightening under the weight of the moment.
His gaze grew distant, as if he was revisiting the moment. A faint tremble passed through his fingers, and his eyes were clouded with the weight of memory.
"I wanted it to be her so badly—to believe she was still here. But reality…" he paused, his voice barely a whisper, "…reality was cruel."
He drew a slow, shaky breath as if trying to steady the storm inside him.
"It didn't care about my hopes or my longing. It just stood there—cold and unchanging—forcing me to confront a truth I wasn't ready to accept."
Michael watched him silently, his eyes softening with empathy. He didn't speak for a moment, and he stepped closer. Then, his voice came, gentle and careful, like he didn't want to break him more than he already was.
"I'm so sorry," he whispered. "No one should have to bear that memory alone."
Adex's jaw tightened, and he swallowed hard as emotion flashed across his face. He glanced down for a moment as if the floor might offer answers.
"Eventually, the truth came crashing down, leaving me broken and empty." He tilted his head to the left as if trying to shake off the memory.
"I was told she died in an accident on her way home," he said quietly, pausing to regain his composure, his voice tinged with both sorrow and disbelief.
"I couldn't comprehend the whole situation. I should have trusted my instincts. It feels like I knew before anyone else did, yet I could not stop it. That memory haunts me, knowing I was the only one who sensed it, but I could not change it."
"But you did change the reality. You brought her back to you." Michael's voice was steady, his gaze unwavering as he leaned forward, eyes locked on Adex.
"The woman lying on that bed is real—just as real as the ground you stand on," he said firmly, his tone cutting through the doubt.
"You wished she was alive, and she came crawling back into your arms. What more do you want?" His brow furrowed as if he could not comprehend why Adex was still struggling.
His expression softened, filled with anxiety as he anticipated Adex's release from the weight he was carrying. His eyes remained confused, as if something was eating away at him, and the puzzle pieces were not fitting together.
He said, " Everything you imagined that first night was a projection of your fear." His voice was gentle yet firm, and his eyes locked on Adex like an anchor in a storm.
"You were terrified about what could have happened when you lost contact with Lydia," he continued.
Michael paused briefly, allowing his words to sink in before continuing, his tone calm but unwavering.
"Your mind filled the silence with unending thoughts when Lydia failed to respond to your call. Each possibility felt more potent than the last, reflecting the anxieties you had worked so hard to soothe."
Adex breathed deeply, exhaling a long, shaky breath that seemed like a sigh of relief from within. His shoulders dropped slightly as if the weight pressing down on him had eased, even for a moment.
"The night I left the bar, you told me something strange awaited me at home," Adex said, his voice low and eyes distant.
"Was it that bad?" Michael asked, lifting a brow, trying to keep it light, though his tone hinted at caution.
Adex's gaze darkened, and his jaw tightened. "When I got home… Lydia was there." He took a deep breath. "She had set the table for my birthday, which mirrored what I had planned."
Michael's smile faded.
"Everything was real," Adex continued, his voice shaking. "I could feel her warmth when she was asleep in my arms... It was perfect—like time had rewound just for us." He paused, then looked away.
"My mind has played too many cruel games on me, and I can't take it anymore. I want everything to return to how it used to be—when things made sense, when I felt okay. No more tricks, no more confusion. Please… I'm begging you, help me."
Michael's face softened, a hint of sadness in his eyes. "Adex… our minds are powerful. They shape what we see and what we feel. That night—it wasn't real. It was something beautiful your heart created," he said gently. "You missed her so much, your mind blurred the line between what's real and what you needed to believe. You needed her to be alive, close to you—and your mind gave you that."
Michael's expression shifted. His eyes now burned with conviction. He straightened slightly, his voice becoming stronger but still filled with awe.
He gestured with an open palm to Adex before slowly closing it into a fist.
"If you could craft such a powerful illusion—just to bring back the one your heart aches for—then tell me, boy… what more could you possibly need from me?" His tone deepened with emphasis, his hand trembling slightly with passion. "You've already tapped into a power most can only dream of. You're shaping your destiny with your hands, bending reality to your will…" He leaned in, eyes locked onto Adex's, voice dropping to an intense whisper. "…and it's working. Can't you see that?
"I'm scared… truly scared. What if the one I'm seeing right now… isn't real? What if this is some illusion after all? What if I've crossed a line I can't return from?" said Adex.
Michael adjusted his suit, slow and calm, like someone choosing his words carefully. "You've got to ask yourself—was this moment helping you heal… or was it just holding you back? Sometimes, we hold on so tight to what we want, we end up stuck in memories instead of moving forward."
Michael stepped in a little closer, his voice softer now, almost like a father talking to his son. "You've been given another chance, Adex. Please don't waste it. Please take it. Learn from this. Don't let it slip through your fingers again."
Adex's eyes widened as he caught his breath. "Second chance?" he whispered.
Michael gave him a small, quiet smile. A glance that conveyed more than a thousand words.
Adex looked down, his brows pulled tight in thought. He turned to say something else—
But Michael was gone.
He looked around the living room, alone, and said, "Here we go again… he always vanishes just like a ghost in the wind," he muttered. "One second he's here, the next he's gone."
Adex relaxed in the chair, looking confused as he attempted to grasp Michael's advice.