The footsteps in the hallway grew louder, then suddenly it was silent. Lena and Max held their breath, listening intently. After an eternity, it seemed no one was moving. “Was that someone just now or just imagined?” Max whispered.
“No idea,” Lena replied, pulling the curtains closed. “But I have the feeling something’s wrong here. Someone is watching us.”
Max nodded seriously. “Maybe the fisherman was right about his secrets after all. And maybe someone doesn’t want us to discover them.”
They decided to leave the guesthouse as quickly as possible. Without breakfast, they packed their backpacks and set off for the small town. The streets were still quiet, only a few locals passed by, eyeing them curiously.
“Let’s go into that café,” Lena suggested, pointing to a tiny, cozy-looking place with colorful shutters and hand-painted signs. “Maybe we’ll find out what’s really going on here.”
The café felt a bit like it was stuck in time: wooden tables, old chairs, and black-and-white photos of people and boats hung on the walls. An older woman behind the counter smiled at them as they came in.
“What can I get you?” she asked with a warm dialect.
“Two coffees, please,” Max said, sitting down at a table by the window. Lena took off her jacket and draped it over the chair back.
While they waited, Lena noticed something on the floor – a small piece of paper half sticking out from under the table. Curious, she picked it up. It was a crumpled note with a handwritten message: “Trust no one. Seek the old lighthouse.”
Max leaned over curiously. “The old lighthouse? The fisherman didn’t tell us about that, did he?”
“No, he didn’t,” Lena murmured, letting her gaze wander around the café. “But why would a message like this be lying here? And who left it?”
At that moment, they noticed another map hanging on the opposite wall – not the same as the missing one, but an old nautical chart showing the coastal area. On the map, a route was marked in red pen, leading away from the village – straight toward a small, abandoned lighthouse on the edge of the cliffs.
“That can’t be a coincidence,” Max said, pointing at the map. “I think we have to go there.”
Lena nodded slowly. “But why all this secrecy? And who wants us to find this lighthouse – or not find it?”
Suddenly her eyes fell on a man hiding in a dark corner at the other end of the café. He wore a cap pulled low over his face and watched them closely.
“Max, do you see that guy over there?” she whispered.
Max followed her gaze and frowned. “Definitely not here for coffee. Should we get out of here?”
Lena shook her head. “No, we need answers. But carefully.”
The man suddenly stood up, grabbed his jacket, and left the café as quickly as he had come. Lena and Max looked at each other, a silent agreement between them. This adventure was suddenly much bigger than they had thought.
Outside on the street, the wind had picked up and the clouds were gathering. “Alright,” Max said, “lighthouse it is. Let’s not waste any time.”
As they set off, they both felt a shadow behind them, step by step drawing closer...