Book 2 - The Boy in the Yearbook: The Boy Who Remembered

The photograph was still on Clara Blackwood’s desk.

She had tried everything to get rid of it.

She had put it inside a drawer.

She had locked the drawer.

She had even wrapped it in an old envelope and shoved it beneath a stack of school papers.

But somehow, every time Clara opened her desk, the photograph was there.

Black and white.

Faded.

A teenage boy standing in front of Blackwood Academy.

Elliot Ashford.

The boy who supposedly disappeared in 1987.

The boy whose name had been erased from the school’s records.

The boy Clara had somehow known when she was six.

And now—

The boy who was alive.

Clara stared at the photograph again.

Her fingers trembled as she turned it over.

There was writing on the back.

The same handwriting she had seen before.

YOU WERE NEVER SUPPOSED TO REMEMBER ME.

A knock came at her bedroom door.

Clara quickly turned the photograph facedown.

Noah:“You awake?”

Clara:“Yeah.”

The door opened.

Noah Bennett stepped inside, holding two cups of coffee.

He stopped when he saw her expression.

Noah:“You look like you haven’t slept.”

Clara:“I didn’t.”

He handed her a cup.

Noah:“That’s becoming a problem.”

Clara barely noticed the coffee.

Clara:“I remembered something.”

Noah’s expression changed.

Noah:“What?”

Clara looked toward the window.

Outside, Blackwood Academy stood beyond the trees.

Dark.

Silent.

Watching.

Clara:“The night I disappeared.”

Noah slowly sat beside her.

Noah:“What do you remember?”

Clara closed her eyes.

At first, there was nothing.

Then—

A hallway.

A little girl running barefoot across cold stone.

A red emergency light flashing overhead.

Someone shouting.

A door opening.

And Elliot.

Young.

Terrified.

Blood running down the side of his forehead.

He crouched in front of her.

Elliot:“Clara, listen to me.”

She could hear his voice as clearly as if he were standing beside her.

Elliot:“Whatever happens, don’t tell them you remember.”

Clara opened her eyes.

Noah was watching her.

Noah:“What did he say?”

She swallowed.

Clara:“He told me not to tell anyone.”

Before Noah could respond, Clara’s phone vibrated.

A message.

Unknown number.

She opened it.

There was only one sentence.

YOU REMEMBERED THE WRONG NIGHT.

Her stomach dropped.

Then another message appeared.

ASK ADRIAN WHAT HAPPENED ON OCTOBER 14, 1987.

Noah read it over her shoulder.

His face hardened.

Noah:“We’re going to Adrian.”

Blackwood Academy looked different that morning.

Maybe it was the weather.

Maybe it was because Clara now knew what had happened beneath its walls.

Or maybe the building itself seemed different once you knew it had been hiding something.

Students crossed the courtyard, laughing and talking.

Teachers carried books.

Everything looked normal.

That was the worst part.

Clara walked beside Noah toward the main building.

Maya Torres was waiting near the entrance with Elena Vale.

Maya immediately noticed Clara’s expression.

Maya:“Okay. Something happened.”

Noah:“She remembered.”

Elena’s eyes narrowed.

Elena:“Remembered what?”

Clara showed them the messages.

Maya read them twice.

Maya:“That’s not Elliot’s handwriting.”

Clara:“I know.”

Maya:“And whoever sent this knows about the night you disappeared.”

Elena looked toward the east wing.

Elena:“Then they were there.”

A voice came from behind them.

Adrian:“Or they found the same records we did.”

Everyone turned.

Adrian Blackwood stood several feet away.

His expression was unreadable.

Clara stared at him.

The message had told her to ask Adrian.

So she did.

Clara:“What happened on October 14, 1987?”

Adrian went completely still.

Noah noticed.

Maya noticed.

Elena noticed.

Clara noticed most of all.

Clara:“You know.”

Adrian looked at the ground.

Adrian:“I know what my father told me.”

Clara:“Then tell me.”

Adrian:“Not here.”

Noah:“Why not?”

Adrian looked directly at Clara.

Adrian:“Because if someone sent you those messages, they’re watching.”

A chill moved down Clara’s spine.

Clara:“Who?”

Adrian didn’t answer.

Instead, he walked toward the east wing.

Adrian:“Come with me.”

Noah stepped forward.

Noah:“She’s not going anywhere alone with you.”

Adrian looked at him.

Adrian:“Then all of you come.”

They entered the east wing.

The corridor was empty.

The old windows were covered in dust.

Their footsteps echoed through the hall.

Clara remembered this place.

Not from the present.

From somewhere else.

She stopped.

Clara:“This is where it happened.”

Adrian turned.

Adrian:“What?”

Clara touched the wall.

Another memory hit her.

A little girl.

Elliot’s hand.

A metal door.

A voice behind it.

James Blackwood:“She can’t know.”

Clara pulled her hand away.

Clara:“My father was here.”

Adrian’s face went pale.

Adrian:“Clara...”

Clara:“He was here.”

She looked at Adrian.

Clara:“What did he do?”

Before Adrian could answer, a door at the end of the corridor opened.

Everyone froze.

A man stepped out.

Older.

Gray hair.

Dark coat.

Clara’s heart stopped.

She knew him.

She had seen him in the photograph.

She had heard his voice in her memories.

Elliot Ashford looked directly at her.

For several seconds, neither of them spoke.

Then Elliot smiled sadly.

Elliot:“You remembered me.”

Clara couldn’t move.

Clara:“Elliot.”

His expression changed when she said his name.

Like hearing it from her meant more than she could explain.

He took one step toward her.

Elliot:“You weren’t supposed to remember until much later.”

Clara’s eyes filled with tears.

Clara:“Who did this to me?”

Elliot looked past her.

Toward Adrian.

His expression hardened.

Elliot:“That’s the question you should be asking him.”

Adrian stepped forward.

Adrian:“Don’t.”

Elliot ignored him.

He looked at Clara.

Elliot:“Your father didn’t erase your memory because he wanted to protect you.”

Clara’s breathing stopped.

Elliot:“He erased it because you saw something.”

Clara:“What?”

Elliot hesitated.

Then he said the words that changed everything.

Elliot:“You saw who really controls Blackwood Academy.”

The lights above them flickered.

Once.

Twice.

Then every light in the corridor went dark.

A phone rang somewhere in the building.

Noah reached for Clara.

Maya whispered:

Maya:“Who’s calling?”

Elliot’s face had gone completely pale.

Elliot:“Nobody.”

The ringing continued.

Clara looked toward the darkness.

Clara:“Then why are you afraid?”

Elliot stared at her.

Elliot:“Because that phone only rings when someone has been marked.”

The ringing stopped.

A second later, Clara’s phone vibrated.

One new message.

She looked down.

Her blood ran cold.

SUBJECT 006 HAS REMEMBERED.

Then another message appeared.

PHASE TWO BEGINS NOW.