When the Call Came at Midnight: Chapter Four

My name is Elena. For a moment, hearing it in my own head felt strange, as if I had forgotten it ever mattered. But standing between two men bound by secrets, with rain slashing at my skin and the sea roaring below, I clung to it like an anchor. Elena. I was still me, even if nothing else felt steady.

The stranger’s words lingered in the air, sharper than the lightning above us. Adrian hadn’t denied them quickly enough, and that silence had lodged itself in my chest like a thorn. I wanted to believe him, I needed to believe him, yet doubt spread like the storm itself, slow but unrelenting.

“Adrian,” I said again, my voice trembling but louder than before. “No more half-truths. Why this pier? Why me?”

His eyes darkened, not with anger but with a sorrow I hadn’t seen before. He stepped closer, close enough that the warmth of him cut through the storm. His hand lifted as if he wanted to touch me but stopped just short, fingers curling in restraint.

“This pier,” he began slowly, “is where everything ended. And where everything began.”

The stranger gave a low laugh. “Poetic as ever.”

Adrian ignored him, his gaze fixed on me. “Three years ago, someone I cared about was taken from me right here. The storm was as violent as tonight. The sea swallowed the truth, and I’ve been coming back ever since, trying to piece together what happened. You shouldn’t be here, Elena. It’s not safe.”

His words cracked something open inside me. Not just fear, but understanding. This wasn’t just guilt or mystery, it was grief. The pier wasn’t just a place for him; it was a wound that never healed.

“Who?” I asked softly.

Adrian’s jaw tightened. His answer was barely audible. “My brother.”

The stranger’s shoulders stiffened at those words. His eyes flicked to Adrian, and something passed between them, sharp and unspoken.

“Your brother?” I repeated, my throat dry. “Then who is he?”

The stranger’s lips curved, not into a smile but something darker. “The one left behind.”

The boards creaked under my feet as the storm surged harder, and suddenly I felt the pull of it all. Not just Adrian, not just this stranger, but the pier itself. The place felt alive, heavy with memories and loss, like it wanted me to know its story.

“Why me?” I asked again, almost pleading. “Why drag me into this?”

Adrian’s eyes softened, the storm in them shifting. “Because when I saw you that night outside the café, you reminded me of her. The way she stood in the rain. The way she looked at me. I don’t know why, Elena, but I felt that if I could protect you, maybe I could make peace with what I couldn’t protect then.”

My chest tightened at his words, not just from fear but from the weight of the unspoken pull between us. Despite everything—the lies, the mystery, the danger, I wanted to reach for him. I wanted to believe that his warning had been less about fear of me leaving and more about fear of losing me.

The stranger broke the moment with a sharp tone. “Don’t let him fool you. He isn’t here for redemption. He’s here because the pier has a secret, one buried beneath the water. And the only reason you’re part of this now is because he needs you to uncover it.”

The wind howled, the boards groaning under the force of the tide. I gripped the railing, my heart pounding. “What secret?”

The man’s eyes gleamed in the flash of lightning. “This pier didn’t just take his brother. It took mine too. And both of us have been waiting for the night it would give something back.”

My breath caught. Brothers. Both of them bound to the same place, the same loss, the same storm. And me? Pulled into the middle of it without even understanding why.

Adrian turned sharply to the stranger, fury lacing his words. “This isn’t the way.”

“And yet you brought her,” the man shot back.

My knees felt weak, my grip on the rail tightening. A chill ran down my spine, one colder than the rain. Why me? Why tonight?

Adrian faced me again, desperation in his eyes. “You asked why you came. Maybe you don’t remember, Elena. But you’ve been here before.”

The world seemed to tilt. The storm roared, the waves crashing louder, as if the sea itself wanted to swallow the words.

I shook my head. “No… I’ve never…”

Lightning split the sky, blinding for a heartbeat. And in that flash, a memory clawed at me. A shadow of water. A cry in the storm. My hand reaching out into the dark.

My body went cold.

Adrian’s voice cut through the thunder. “You were here the night my brother disappeared.”

The pier groaned beneath us, the storm rising higher, and I realised the truth was no longer something I could run from. It was already inside me, waiting to be remembered.