Chapter 3

The first day in Rome was more than great. Sarah got up early and after a quick breakfast in the hotel’s restaurant, she headed out to explore. She planned to squeeze a little sightseeing on her own before the time for her booked tour comes, so she grabbed a city map from the reception and headed out.

The same way she explored both London and Paris, but Rome was different. It was special. Every building, every street, every stone exuded with unspoken history …

After she had lunch in a restaurant near the Tiber River, Sarah joined the group she was supposed to see the Colosseum and the Roman Forum with, and she enjoyed every second. She was so engrossed with the story that, at first, she did not pay too much attention to the feeling in her gut that was trying to tell her something. She completely ignored it. But when the hair on the back of her neck refused to calm, Sarah started paying more attention to her surroundings than the beautiful remnants of the ancient Forum.

The most important thing Sarah has learned from her parents was to always listen to her instinct. And she did. Always. In the end, it was her instinct that brought her here today, and now, that same instinct was warning her about the danger.

No matter how hard she focused and tried to look around in all directions while keeping the inspection of her surroundings as discreet as possible, Sarah noticed nothing unusual. No person stood out, no one acted suspiciously, and she soon forgot everything about it and directed all of her attention to the story a guide was narrating.

It had already got darker when the group completed the circle and went each on their way, and since there was no trace of that disturbing feeling of being watched, Sarah continued what she was doing before the tour. She explored the city on her own with a city map in her hand.

When her legs started hurting from walking, Sarah made a break and had dinner in one beautiful, cozy restaurant. The seafood pasta she ate was one of the best things she ever tasted. Food tasted much richer here. Glass of wine she treated herself with tasted extraordinarily. The tastes complemented each other and with the entire atmosphere in the restaurant, cheerful servers, nice, traditional music in the background, and Sarah felt like she didn’t want to leave until all the other guests left, and she was the only one around.

When the staff started cleaning up the joint, Sarah collected her things and left too. It was close to 11, and she still didn’t feel like going to the hotel, so she decided to just walk instead of taking a taxi.

She walked down the narrow streets of The Old Town of Rome, those that could not even accommodate a car. Streetlights were dimmed and only a few people were walking by which gave a special, romantic note to the entire atmosphere.

Seduced by her own senses that were focused on the adventure she was in, and maybe a bit by the wine she had with her dinner, completely forgetting about the feeling of uneasiness and being watched from earlier, Sarah found herself wandering dark and deserted streets. Only then she realized she was in a foreign city, in a foreign country of people whose language she did not speak, and thanks to her recklessness she was now lost. Yes, lost. She didn’t realize when she started walking the dark streets and when she took the wrong turn.

To add to her bad luck, fine hairs at the back of her neck suddenly stood up and goosebumps covered her body. She was being watched again.

Ok, ok. Don’t panic! Sarah told herself while turning on her heel and walking in the direction she came from. She tried to wiggle the city map from her cross-body bag but gave up when she realized it had no point. There was no way she could orient now with the map. She didn’t even know where she was. She pulled her phone from the pocket, but as if things couldn't get any worse; it was dead. Buttery must’ve run out. Shit!

Sarah soon reached an intersection, but looking left and right she saw nothing familiar. Shit again!

How did she let herself get lost in her thoughts that much to not notice where she was going and when she strayed from the lightened streets? And when was the last time when she saw a person walk by?

Panic rose in her, and she tried to control it while picking up her pace. Left, right, left, right… with every turn Sarah was going deeper into the maze, or that’s what it looked like to her.

If only she could get to the river bank or at least to a lightened street or another person… but nooo, instead of that, she heard loud footsteps behind her back and those loud footsteps were approaching her fast!

Sarah ran. She ran as fast as she could and soon she was breathless, but she continued running. All along, she kept cursing herself for being that stupid to not notice she was being followed, all along probably. Not really seeing where she was going, she tripped and fell. Hard. Her palms and knees were scraped and when she stood back up, she noticed her ankle hurting too.

Luckily, those footsteps she heard were now gone. Everything around her was silent, and there could only be heard a muffled sound of a car engine in the distance. Sarah sighed in relief.

Was it possible that she imagined everything? Because who the hell would follow her? She was no one, absolutely insignificant.

She felt even more relieved when she saw the light at the end of the tunnel. Literally. At that moment, she saw what seemed like a wider, lightened street, and she rushed towards it with all the strength she had left in her. Hopefully, there she will find a taxi or at least be able to determine where exactly she was.

Just a couple more steps and she will be safe from her stupidity. She will find a ride or at least get enough light, so she can orient and find a way to the hotel. It shouldn’t be too far away for sure. And tomorrow she won’t make mistakes like today. Maybe she’ll even stay in bed all day.

Sarah was still running, not as fast as before when she heard footsteps behind her again. Shit! She thought and picked up her pace. A few more steps, just a few more steps, she thought, and she will be safe from whoever was after her. She just has to reach the light, and she will be safe…

But before she even had the chance to make those couple of steps, Sarah was suddenly pulled by the hand and slammed onto the wall. A hand that tightly clasped over her mouth prevented her from screaming.

Her eyes watered from the pain that the slamming to the wall caused, and judging by the four glowing eyes she saw in front of her, she might have a concussion too.

“Do you know who I am?” she heard a deep, raspy voice say.

Sarah managed to shake her head in negation.

“Do you know what I am?” she heard again, and she wanted to negate again, but she had no strength. The darkness that she was roaming through for the last few hours took her under its wing and gave her the peace she was desperately looking for.