Concrete Jungle || Bad Omens || Noah Sebastian

Chapter fourteen

Noah lay on the ground, his body trembling and cold, his mind completely fogged by hunger and thirst. He couldn’t remember how long it had been since he last ate—perhaps days, perhaps weeks. His thoughts were confused; fragments of his past life and illusions intertwined with increasingly distorted memories of his captivity. The world had shrunk to that cell, to that oppressive emptiness.

His mind wandered, and Noah felt as if he were about to slip into an endless abyss. He was too tired to resist. Finally, his eyes closed.

His voice was lost in the electrifying air of the stage. The audience was screaming, and the music filled every part of his being. He remembered that feeling, that pure adrenaline coursing through his body; every note that emerged from his throat seemed to vibrate in the air. He felt invincible, as if nothing could touch him. But that day, there had been a strange sensation, a shadow. Someone in the crowd was watching him.

Now he remembered. The kidnapping. It wasn’t an abstract shadow but a real presence. He had been at home, drinking a beer after unpacking his bags when he heard a noise behind him. Before he could turn around, darkness had swallowed him. It hadn’t been a dream. Someone had followed him there, someone who had waited for the right moment to take him.

The dream changed.

Elise was with him again. This time she was alive, more alive than ever. Her face was radiant, her eyes sparkling with a light Noah had never seen before. Elise's hair swayed in the wind, and her skin was warm, smooth beneath his fingers.

They were in an unfamiliar place, bright and welcoming, a lush garden he had never seen before. Noah couldn’t define it, but for the first time, he felt that this place was safe. There was no more pain, no more fear. There was only Elise, there with him.

She looked at him with those deep, mysterious eyes and whispered, “Noah, did you find me?”

He gazed at her in disbelief. “Find you? You’re here.”

Elise shook her head. “No, silly. Do you remember when we were eating strawberry ice cream in the cell? On the walls, there are some writings. Haven’t you seen them?”

Noah remained confused, his heart racing. They never ate ice cream together.

Elise gently caressed his face; her hands felt like silk against Noah's skin. “You saw them, Noah, there were signs. Carvings on the wall... names, messages from those who had been there before us. If you had looked closely instead of focusing on me... you would have understood that we are not the first. And we are not the last.”

Noah struggled to remember; his brain floundered among the confused details. Yes, there had been an inscription: "E+N."

Were there others? Names? Something he hadn’t wanted to see, perhaps out of fear. Maybe he had been too focused on Elise, too desperate in his attempt to save her.

She looked at him with a surreal calm, her eyes seemingly hiding something deeper. “When they took you, Noah, you were not alone. You should have looked closer.”

Elise's words were cryptic, but Noah couldn’t help but lose himself in them. Yet, in that moment, all that mattered was her, there with him. “I don’t know what you're talking about” he said, almost pleading. “I just want to be with you.”

He held her in his arms, their breaths mingling. Their lips met again, a slow, sweet kiss that seemed to soothe all wounds.

His heart raced furiously in his chest. This moment, this connection with Elise, was all he had ever desired. For the first time since he had been locked away, Noah felt alive. His hands explored Elise’s body; he felt her so real, so tangible. Her skin was soft beneath his fingers, her eyes sparkling with desire and sweetness.