And to my surprise, I hear a phone ringing from behind.

The call is answered this time.

"Lisha?"

The voice from the other side of the phone feels so near.

Tears run down my eyes.

As I turn behind to see him.

"You are safe..."

Behind, was a thin looking guy in glasses along with another older man.

"Is that really you, Lisha?

I wipe my eyes and smile at him, "Yeah!"

"Lisha...? That is really you?" The older man says.

"Yeah but sorry I don't recognise you"

"Oh well, I suppose it has been very long. I'm John! I used to teach History, remember?"

But I just stared blankly at him unable to recall anything.

Noticing my expression, Ray says, "Let's go somewhere, where we can sit and speak...We have a lot to discuss..."

I agree with him.

"Cool then, we can visit the cafe nearby"

"Do you mean the Rose cafe?"

"Yeah, that one near the lake?"

"Yes!! Glad to see you remember that place, you guys used to have concerts over there right?"

"Yeah, I can never forget that place!"

I listen to their conversation, unable to take part in it.

I lower my head down.

Ray who notices it, says, "Let's go, Lisha."

I look up at him and nod.

Ray and John starts walking ahead.

I follow them behind.

They look so happy as they speak of old times.

Something, which I was missing.

We reach the cafe in a few minutes.

The cafe was simple yet beautiful. The smell of freshly brewed coffee, soft music and light chatters warmed up my heart.

I wonder why but I feel like I am at home.

I haven't felt like this in a long time.

"Welcome!" A kind looking lady greets us.

"Hey Martha, how have you been?" John asks.

"Oh well, just how the lord's been keeping me! I see you have brought company today." She glances at me and Ray, standing behind.

"Well! Well! Look who I have got here! It's Ray and Lisha, can you believe they have grown up so much?"

"Ray and Lisha?!! You mean those kids who used to play in that band-Scandal? Oh my! I almost didn't recognise you!! How have you been?"

"It's nice to see you Martha! I have been good and so had been Lisha. I would love to have your special coffee and and sandwich again, if you still have that on the menu that is!!" Ray laughs.

"Of course, I do! Have a seat guys, Its on the house!"

We gladly accept her offer and sit down at the table.

I Don't remember her, but she seems like such a nice person!

John looks at me and says, "So Lisha...How have you been? I heard from Ray that he was in Japan all these years. But why did you never visit us, you were here right?"

"I was...yes"

"Then? Why did you guys move without informing anyone at that time? I know that incident from years ago must have left a scar on you but you could have atleast visited once or twice right?"

"..."

"Lisha?"

"Mr John, there is something you need to know..." Ray breaks in.

"What is it?"

"Tell him Lisha"

I bite my lips to look at him.

"Actually, you see..."

"I don't remember anything."

"Huh?" He gasps.

"Ever since that kidnapping incident...I have lost my memories. I remember nothing about this town, this school or you guys. My parents moved to a different city, far from here and I didn't have any kind of contact with the people I knew from here"

"What!? Are you serious???"

"Yeah, I'm so sorry but I don't recognise you at all. Even for Ray, I only got to know him after he had contacted me".

"No way..."

"I know all of this sounds wild, but it's all true." Ray adds.

"Even I didn't believe Lisha when she told me all this. But meeting her face to face like this, I know for sure it's Lisha but it seems like she has lost all her memories..."

"I can't say that I don't understand... Even though it's crazy but I can understand why this all could have happened..."

"Mr John..."

"I remember your farewell class, Ray, and your last performance. I know you never wanted to leave but I think it was probably good for you..."

"What do you mean?"

"I don't know if you're aware or not but Lisha was actually kidnapped and although she escaped, the aftermaths of that incident continued."

"What happened here? Mr John, please tell me! What happened in this town after I left?" Ray pleads

"A lot. A lot happened."

"What about Mike, Keith or Haley? Where are they now? "

"That's because they are no longer with us" He says in a grave voice.

"What!?" Ray gasps in shock

Its just as I had guessed.

I look away, unable to look at Ray anymore.

"Yeah not just them, their family, even the principal sir, Martha's husband and many others died. I Barely made it but here's what I got..."

John pulls up the sleeve of his shirt to show burnt scars.

"How...And when did this all happen" Tears rush down from Ray's eyes.

"So all these time, I have been waiting for ghosts?"

"Just a few months after you had left..."

"There was a fire. It was on the the day of the town's longstanding festival and everyone was gathered at the community hall for the celebration."

"But how did all of this happen!?"

"No one knows...This event has been going on for years now, but something like that has never happened. The police just blamed it on our carelessness but none of us are ready to buy that. Because of that incident we have decided to stop our longstanding ceremony..."

John breathes out a heavy sigh and then continues...

"But if I were to make a guess then..."

"It was related to Lisha's kidnapping case"

"Wait what?"

"I had a similar hunch as well. I found articles about this on the news." I added.

"But how?" Ray wipes his eyes.

"You know how peaceful our town has always been right? There's rarely any robberies, break-ins or any sort of crimes at that. A kidnapping case out of the blue, followed by such a huge mishap? It doesn't sit right with me" He shakes his head.

"All of them are really gone...Their family...all of them???" Ray asks in disbelief.

"I think only Hayley's little sister, Sarah, survived...The rest all of them."

"Sarah...Where is she now?"

"She was in an orphanage, and then adopted, as per what I remember"

"All of this is so strange...Their whole families just passed away? Like all of them ?" I ask.

"I know, its all very very suspicious. But the police couldn't find any evidences. It seems like the fire started in the storeroom, and at that time, all of them were present inside. Sarah somehow managed to escape, however, she went mute from shock for awhile and couldn't be of much help for the investigation" John explains.

"So are you suggesting that this was a planned arson attack?" Ray questions in disbelief.

"Yes. Although we don't have any proofs, but a lot of us believe so."

"Did the police do nothing?" I ask.

"No. They only told us that they couldn't find any evidences and just called it off as an accident. But, I feel like they were rushing it, almost as if they are trying to cover up the whole thing..."

"What!? But why!?"

"I Don't know."

There was a silence between us for a while.

"Here's Martha's special coffee!", Martha breaks the silence by placing the coffee and snacks in front of us.

"What's wrong!? Why so dull?" She asks.

"Nothing, Martha. Thanks for the coffee!" Ray smiles, trying to hide his tears.

"Let me know if you need something more!"

"Sure!"

Ray looks like he wants to cry, but puts on a smiles.

I think he doesn't want to worry Martha after meeting her for so long.

I take a sip of my coffee.

"So who all were present in that storeroom when the fire started?"

"From what the police said, it was Hayley and Keith's whole family along with Mike" John answers.

"Just them? No one else?" I ask surprised.

"No, not that I remember."

"That's weird." Ray adds.

"Tell me something- Did I have any enemies? Do you have any idea who could have kidnapped me?"

John shakes his head, "I don't have any idea."

Then Ray says, "If you really wanna know about your enemies..."

"Yeah?"

"Then I would say that that would be your parents"

"What?"