Party is still going on.....
A sudden wave of nausea rolled through me.
I gripped Victor's arm instinctively. "I… I need to go to the washroom."
He looked down at me immediately, concern flashing across his face. "Are you feeling sick?"
I nodded, forcing a steady breath. "Just for a minute."
"I'll come with you," he said at once.
"I'm fine" I started, but he was already guiding me through the crowd, his hand firm at my back, protective.
"No," he said quietly. "I'm not leaving you alone."
As we walked, my eyes searched the room again my heart pounding harder with every step.
While on the other side.....
Sara sat on the high-backed chair near the edge of the ballroom, one leg crossed over the other, fingers loosely wrapped around an empty glass. The music was loud enough to feel but not enough to drown out her thoughts.
She wasn't supposed to be nervous.
It was just a party.
She adjusted the strap of her dress and glanced around, scanning familiar faces clients, executives, guests she had spoken to a hundred times before.
Then she saw him.
Her breath caught.
He stood a few steps away, talking casually with another guest, posture relaxed, smile effortless. He looked exactly the way he always did confident, charming, dangerously easy to like.
The man she had been pretending not to notice for months.
Her crush.
As if sensing her gaze, he turned.Their eyes met.
He smiled.Her heart skipped.
A moment later, he was standing in front of her, holding two glasses of wine.
"Long night?" he asked lightly, extending one toward her.
Sara hesitated.Normally, she would have refused. She was careful. Always professional. Always alert.
But this wasn't just someone.
This was him.
The man she had liked for months the one who remembered her coffee order, who lingered a second longer in conversations, who made her laugh when work became exhausting.
She smiled back, a little shy. "I guess so."
"Then you deserve a break," he said gently. "Just one drink."
She looked at the glass.Then at him.
And against the quiet voice of caution in her head, she reached out and took it.
"Thank you," she said.
Their fingers brushed briefly.
He smiled again wider this time.
And as Sara lifted the glass to her lips, unaware of the eyes watching her from across the room, the party music swelled.
Sara took a small sip.The wine tasted sweeter than she expected.
Too sweet.
She frowned slightly, lowering the glass. The room felt… different all of a sudden. The music seemed louder, the lights sharper, her head oddly light.
"You okay?" he asked, his voice sounding distant.
She nodded instinctively. "Yeah… just a little dizzy."
She tried to stand but the floor tilted beneath her feet.
Her vision blurred at the edges, the faces around her melting into streaks of light and color. Her fingers tightened around the glass before it slipped from her hand and shattered softly on the floor.
"I think I need to" she started, but the words wouldn't come out properly.
Her heart began to race.Something was wrong.Very wrong.
She blinked hard, trying to focus.
That's when she saw them.
Three men.
They were no longer standing at a distance.
They were closer now moving toward her with slow, deliberate steps, their expressions unreadable, eyes fixed only on her.
Her breath hitched.
Fear cut through the haze for a split second.
"No…" she whispered.
She tried to scream, but her voice failed her. The sounds of the party drowned everything out laughter.
When Victor and I came back into the hall, the music was still playing.
People were still laughing.
Glasses were still clinking.
The party hadn't stopped.
But Sara was gone.
The chair she had been sitting on was empty.
My heart dropped so hard it felt like my chest caved in.
"No… no, no…" I whispered, my eyes scanning the room frantically.
I stepped forward without thinking, my gaze darting from face to face, corner to corner.
"She was here," I said, my voice rising. "She was right here."
Victor followed my line of sight, then frowned. "Elena, calm down."
"She didn't leave on her own," I said quickly. "She wouldn't."
People nearby started looking at us.
Curious.
Confused.
I turned in a slow circle, panic crawling up my throat. "Sara!" I called out, louder now.
A few guests stared.
Others whispered.
Victor's hand closed around my wrist. "Elena," he said sharply under his breath, "you're drawing attention."
"She's missing," I said, my voice shaking. "Don't you understand? She's missing."
Victor's jaw tightened. "She's an adult. She probably stepped outside. Or went to the restroom."
"No," I said immediately.
That caught a few people's attention.
One woman frowned. "What's going on?"
"I saw her earlier," someone else added. "She was fine."
Fine. The word made my head spin.
I pulled my hand free from Victor and rushed toward the bar area, then toward the corridor, my heart pounding harder with every empty space I saw.
"She's not here," I whispered. "She's not here."
Victor caught up to me, his frustration finally breaking through his control.
"Elena, enough," he said tightly. "You're acting strange. First the accident, now this"
"Because I've seen this!" I snapped, tears burning my eyes. "I told you something would happen to her."
He stared at me, stunned.
People were openly watching us now.
Whispers spread through the room.
"She's overreacting."
"Is she okay?"
"Didn't she have an accident?"
I felt exposed. Helpless.
My hands trembled as the realization settled in like a blade to my chest.
She had been taken.
I looked at Victor, my voice dropping to a broken whisper.
"She's gone," I said. "And this is exactly how it starts."
Victor ran a hand through his hair, anger and confusion flashing across his face.
"This is getting out of control," he said. "You're scaring people. You're scaring me."
I shook my head, tears slipping free. "I'm scared because I know what comes next."
He didn't answer.
A sharp pain sliced through my head.
I staggered back, my breath catching painfully in my throat.
"No…" I whispered.
The vision hit me all at once.Darkness.
Cold stone beneath bare feet.
A narrow space low ceiling, no windows.
A basement.
I saw Sara.
She was on the floor, trembling, her dress torn, her body curled in on itself as if trying to disappear. Her face was streaked with tears, eyes empty broken in a way that shattered something inside me.
Three men stood around her.
Laughing....Unbothered.....Cruel.
I couldn't hear their words, but I didn't need to. The marks on her skin told me everything.
Dark bruises.Red fingerprints.
Signs of violence no one should ever carry.
My chest burned like it was being crushed.
"No… no… no…" I gasped, clutching my head.
Victor appeared beside me in the vision, his face drained of color as he saw the same thing his fists clenched so tightly his hands shook.
Sara looked up.Her eyes met mine.
And in them, I saw fear.
Pain.
And the silent question that destroyed me. ..
Why didn't you save me?
The vision shattered violently.
I screamed and lurched forward as reality slammed back into place.
The music.
The lights.
The party.
I spun around wildly.
"The basement," I cried, already running. "She's in the basement!"
Victor grabbed my arm. "Elena what are you talking about?!"
"She's there," I shouted, tears streaming down my face. "I saw her. Please—trust me!"
I didn't wait for his answer.
I tore free and ran, my heart pounding like it was trying to escape my chest. Every step felt too slow. Every second felt stolen.
Because this time
I wasn't just seeing the future.
I was watching someone's life break apart.
And if I didn't reach her in time
I knew I would never forgive myself again.