Eternal Recurrence: The Calendar Conundrum

CHAPTER 03 : Shadows of Doubt

Days had passed since her encounter with the stranger, and despite the time that had elapsed, she never forgot the tumultuous emotion that had gripped her that day. However, sadness enveloped Faith because since that encounter, she had never seen the man again. Every day, she went to his store, hoping to find him again, but in vain. Sometimes, she even wondered if he was a figment of her imagination, but the tangible presence of the calendar he had given her, still at her home, attested to the reality of their meeting. Nevertheless, she held onto hope of seeing him again, which drove her to return to the same place every day, sometimes even multiple times.Since their unexpected and singular encounter, Faith couldn't stop thinking about him.                                                                                                                                                                                            Convinced he wasn't an ordinary human being, or perhaps not human at all, she remained captivated by this mystery. Then, one more day, Faith decided to go to the same place, although she knew she might find nothing. "Please, may God let me find him this time," she murmured in prayer.Upon her arrival, she was shocked to discover the store. Faith felt both joy and confusion upon seeing it, but she was determined to find the young man, to know the truth about his mystery, as he had promised her.Full of excitement, she pushed the door without even bothering to knock. "Hello, it's me, the girl with the calendar... Oh my God," she exclaimed before freezing in place, mouth agape.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         The state of the store stunned her. "What happened?" she murmured, shocked.Her state of shock was amplified upon discovering the extent of the damage. Torn calendars, broken objects littering the floor, everything in this place revealed a disturbing disorder. Yet, her desire to find the man outweighed her own apprehension. She began to run desperately in search of the young man, fearing the worst.Suddenly, a noise from the bathroom caught her attention. Without hesitation, Faith decided to enter. "Sir, your store is ransacked! I hope nothing serious has happened to you..." she began to say before being interrupted by a horrifying sight. In the bathroom, she discovered a gruesome scene: blood everywhere, and in the bathtub, the lifeless and slit throat of the stranger.It was a trauma beyond words for Faith.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     When Faith discovered this atrocious scene, her heart clenched with horror. The beats of her heart seemed to echo in the icy silence of the bathroom. A shiver ran down her spine as she stood there, frozen before the horror unfolding before her eyes.The blood, crimson and thick, stained the walls and tiles of the room, creating a nightmarish image. She forced herself to look away, to breathe deeply to avoid succumbing to the nausea threatening to engulf her. But her attention was irreversibly drawn to the bathtub, where lay the inert body of the stranger, his life cruelly snuffed out in an act of unthinkable violence.Faith approached slowly, as if afraid that the simple act of moving would make the nightmarish reality before her vanish. She observed every detail with icy precision: the closed eyes of the man, his face frozen in an expression of pain and surprise intermingled, and the gaping wound at his throat, releasing a flow of blood that had now ceased to flow.Tears blurred Faith's eyes as she leaned over the body, her trembling hands brushing against the man's cold skin.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               A nagging question echoed in her tormented mind: why him? Why this mysterious man, who had seemed so enigmatic and different from others, had he been ripped from life in such a cruel and brutal manner?Her mind was assailed by a whirlwind of emotions: grief, disbelief, and a visceral terror threatening to engulf her whole. But amidst this emotional chaos, one certainty persisted: she could not let this act go unpunished. She stood up, determined, her gaze fixed on the peaceful face of the man, silently promising to uncover the answers she desperately sought.Faith left the room, her mind tormented but her resolution unshaken. She didn't yet know how she would achieve it, or what dangers she would have to face along the way. But one thing was certain: she would not rest until she had uncovered the truth about the man's death.                                                                                                                                                                                                                 Determined to shed light on this matter, Faith took a deep breath and pulled out her cellphone. She dialed the emergency number for the police, her finger trembling slightly on the keypad. A calm voice answered on the other end of the line."Police, how can I help you?" the operator asked."I... There's been a murder," Faith said, her voice trembling. "I just found a body in an abandoned store."She gave the address with precision, but as she hung up, a feeling of doubt began to creep over her. What if the body was no longer there when the police arrived? What if all of this was just a product of her overactive imagination?Yet, she knew she couldn't ignore what she had seen.As the police cars arrived at the scene, their blue lights illuminating the night, the officers hurried out of their vehicles, ready to investigate Faith's report. With some apprehension, Faith greeted them and explained what she had seen, guiding the officers to the location of the abandoned store.However, as they approached, a strange sense of unreality washed over Faith. The place where the store had stood was now empty, as if it had never existed. The neighboring buildings seemed to blend into the darkness of the night, but there was no trace of the dilapidated store she had discovered just moments before.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       The officers scanned the surroundings with perplexity, searching for clues that could corroborate Faith's account. But there was no sign of struggle, no trace of blood, nothing to confirm her words. They exchanged puzzled looks, wondering if Faith might have imagined the whole story."Are you sure about what you saw?" asked one of the officers, looking skeptical. "There's nothing here."Doubt crept into Faith's mind. Had she really seen a corpse? Had she imagined this whole story in a moment of madness? The officers seemed on the verge of considering her mentally unstable, and the idea terrified her.Yet, despite the doubts tormenting her, Faith remained convinced of what she had seen. She knew she couldn't ignore what had happened, even if no one else believed her.Faced with the lack of tangible evidence and the apparent absence of the store and the body, the officers began to exchange skeptical looks. One of them, visibly concerned about the situation, approached Faith with a worried expression."Miss, I understand that you're troubled, but we have to consider all possibilities here. There's no sign of any crime or violence in this area, and your story seems... contradictory to reality," he said in a calm but firm voice.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          Faith felt a lump form in her throat as she realized that the officers might suspect her of being mentally unstable. The idea of being questioned in this way hurt her deeply. Yet, despite her protests, the officers insisted on taking her with them for further questioning at the police station.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      Faith felt increasingly isolated as the patrol car drove her to the police station. The oppressive silence inside the vehicle was suffocating, and she wondered what the officers might think of her. After all, how could they believe such a strange story, devoid of tangible evidence?