Part 2After She Was Gone

I told Sarah about the dream again, insisting, over and over, that it felt like a premonition.

The same late-night work, the same suitcase by the sofa, the same flight time.

At first, Sarah patiently tried to reason with me.

She said I had it backward.

The work, the flight, the suitcase – those were all things that were real before I went to sleep.

My subconscious had just woven them into a nightmare.

Her logic made me waver for a second.

But I was still terrified. What if…? That tiny chance it could actually come true.

So I kept trying to persuade her, until Sarah finally lost her patience.

She yelled, "You've been watching too many Final Destination movies! A premonition? Yeah, right, a premonition about bubblegum!"

I opened my mouth to argue again, but she shot me a look, frowning impatiently. "Go to work, or deal with me. Your choice."

I wanted to say more, but I stopped myself.

Finally, with dignity, demonstrating sound judgment, I chose... to go to work.

Sitting on the subway car, I kept thinking about what Sarah said, about the subconscious.

Maybe it was just my subconscious playing tricks.

But… I had this nagging feeling, a memory from the nightmare, something that happened after I fell asleep.

Something from the morning of December 5th.

Something I did before getting on this subway… I felt like it was crucial.

But what was it? I couldn't remember.

The automated voice announcing the next stop broke my train of thought.

The crowd surged out like a receding tide, leaving the car emptier.

I looked out at the platform sign revealed as people dispersed: Tech Center West.

My stop was next.

I stood up and walked towards the door, watching the ads flicker past outside the window. My mind uncontrollably drifted back to the nightmare details.

In the dream, after leaving the cemetery, I’d walked forever, unable find a bus stop.

The rain got heavier, the cold seeped into my bones, and I stumbled, dazed, into a subway station I’d never seen near the cemetery before.

It was a weird station – silent, cold, completely empty.

Trains waited on both sides, but only the one on the left had its lights on, doors wide open, as if waiting just for me.

Soaked from the rain, head throbbing, I hadn't even bothered to check the station name before getting on.

…

My thoughts kept looping, giving me a splitting headache.

Outside the window, the advertisements had vanished.

The subway plunged into an unnatural, thick darkness. The car suddenly became silent, like sinking into the deep ocean.

Then, in the endless darkness stretching ahead, a single beam of light appeared.

And in the light… was a girl?

She was dressed all in black, hair pulled back in a ponytail, facing my direction.

I couldn't see her face clearly, but I felt like that blurred face under the eerie light was glaring at me, furious.

The scene from my dream was happening again!

Fear froze me in place.

Suddenly, a fragment of memory flashed through my mind.

I remembered a detail.

When Sarah called me from the airport gate to say she was okay, she mentioned running into someone she knew.

Who was it? Right, the daughter of her parents' neighbors, Brenda White.

I took a few deep breaths, trying to calm my racing heart.

If Sarah ran into Brenda White at the gate this afternoon… then I absolutely could not let Sarah get on that plane.