Till Next Time

Alex's boots pounded against the cobblestone street, weaving effortlessly through the panicked crowd. His hood stayed low as he moved, his mind racing even faster than his feet.

The faint distortions left in the air by the kidnapper were his only guide—afterimages, like ripples on a disturbed pond.

'That movement... it's not pure speed. They're blinking—leaping through space,' he thought. His sharp eyes tracked each distortion, calculating the intervals. Each jump was precise, deliberate, following an unpredictable zigzag pattern.

Alex's jaw clenched. Despite the seemingly chaotic path, there was a familiarity to it—a rhythm that tickled the edges of his memory.

And then, like a slap to the face, he remembered Isabella.

Her expression right before she vanished flashed vividly in his mind: the initial shock of being grabbed, the flicker of suspicion... and then, unmistakably, joy and relief.

Joy and relief?