Chapter 1
Chapter 1: The Name on the Wall
At 11:47 p.m., Elias Vane delivered a package to a dead man.
He didn't know the man was dead when he climbed the stairs.
That detail came later.
At the time, all Elias knew was that the rain had turned the streets of Bellhaven into black mirrors, his shoes were soaked through, and his delivery app had sent him to an apartment building that looked as though it had been abandoned halfway through construction.
MORROW HEIGHTS.
The letters above the entrance flickered between white and red.
Elias checked his phone.
Delivery: Apartment 9C.
Customer: Adrian Vale.
Payment: ₦18,500.
He stared at the amount.
"Okay," he muttered. "Nobody pays eighteen thousand for a sandwich."
The package in his hand was too heavy to be food anyway.
He pushed through the glass doors.
The lobby smelled like dust, wet concrete, and something metallic.
There was no security guard.
No receptionist.
Not even a working light.
Only an old elevator glowing at the far end of the room.
Elias walked toward it.
The elevator doors opened before he pressed the button.
He stopped.
"That's not creepy at all."
The elevator waited.
Elias stepped inside.
The doors closed.
He pressed 9.
Nothing happened.
He pressed it again.
Still nothing.
Then the elevator began moving.
Down.
Elias frowned.
"Wrong direction."
The floor display changed.
8.
7.
6.
He pressed the emergency button.
Nothing.
5.
4.
The lights flickered.
For one second, Elias saw someone standing behind him in the elevator mirror.
A tall figure.
Black coat.
Head lowered.
Elias spun around.
Nobody was there.
He stared at the mirror.
Only his own reflection looked back.
Pale face.
Wet hair.
Gray hoodie.
And the package clutched against his chest.
The elevator stopped.
The display read:
0
The doors opened.
Elias stepped into darkness.
A hallway stretched ahead of him.
There shouldn't have been a basement beneath Morrow Heights.
He had delivered there twice before.
There was no basement.
He looked back.
The elevator doors were already closing.
"Wait."
He lunged forward.
Too late.
The doors shut.
Elias turned around.
At the end of the hallway was a single door.
9C
He walked toward it.
His footsteps echoed strangely.
Not once.
Twice.
Step.
Step.
Step.
Step.
He stopped.
The second set of footsteps continued.
Elias slowly turned.
Nothing.
His heartbeat began hammering.
"Very funny."
No answer.
He reached apartment 9C.
The door was slightly open.
He knocked.
"Delivery."
Silence.
He knocked again.
"Mr. Vale?"
The door moved.
Slowly.
Opening wider.
Elias stared through the gap.
The apartment was completely dark.
"Hello?"
He pushed the door open.
The smell hit him immediately.
Cold air.
Rain.
And something faintly sweet.
The living room was empty.
There was a dining table.
A sofa.
A television.
A wall covered with photographs.
Elias stepped inside.
"Mr. Vale?"
Nothing.
He checked his phone.
11:58 p.m.
He frowned.
The delivery app suddenly refreshed.
The customer's name had changed.
CUSTOMER: UNKNOWN
Elias blinked.
"What?"
He refreshed again.
The name disappeared entirely.
His phone buzzed.
A message appeared.
Not from the delivery company.
Not from a number.
Just:
LEAVE THE PACKAGE.
Elias stared at it.
Then another message appeared.
DO NOT LOOK AT THE PHOTOGRAPHS.
He slowly looked toward the wall.
Hundreds of photographs covered it.
People.
Families.
Graduations.
Birthdays.
Weddings.
Funerals.
And in almost every photograph, someone had been scratched out.
Not crossed out.
Scratched.
Violently.
As if someone had tried to remove the person from the paper itself.
Elias took one step closer.
He shouldn't have.
He knew that.
But curiosity has a way of disguising itself as courage.
He examined the nearest photograph.
A family of four stood beside a Christmas tree.
Father.
Mother.
Little girl.
Little boy.
The boy's face had been scratched away.
Underneath the photograph was a date.
October 1, 2026.
Elias froze.
Today's date.
Another photograph.
A wedding.
The bride's face was gone.
Another.
A school graduation.
One student erased.
Another.
A football team.
One player removed.
Then Elias saw something that made his stomach drop.
A photograph of himself.
He stepped backward.
"No."
There he was.
Standing on a beach.
He looked younger.
Maybe twelve.
Beside him stood a woman Elias had never seen before.
She was smiling.
Her hand rested on his shoulder.
But her face had been scratched away.
Underneath the photograph:
ELIAS VANE
October 1, 2026
His phone clock changed.
11:59 p.m.
A sound came from the hallway.
Three knocks.
Elias turned.
The apartment door was closed.
Another three knocks.
This time from inside the apartment.
His breathing stopped.
Knock.
Knock.
Knock.
Something was behind the bedroom door.
Elias backed away.
His phone buzzed again.
One final message.
YOU HAVE 60 SECONDS.
Then the lights came on.
Every photograph on the wall had changed.
The faces were gone.
Every single one.
Except his.
Elias stared at the wall.
Then the clock struck midnight.
His phone went black.
The bedroom door slowly opened.
And someone whispered his name.
"Elias."
He knew that voice.
He had heard it before.
In dreams.
In places he couldn't remember.
The figure stepped into the doorway.
A young woman.
Dark hair.
Pale coat.
Rainwater dripping from her sleeves.
She looked directly at him.
"Elias," she whispered again.
He couldn't move.
She smiled sadly.
"You weren't supposed to remember me."
The lights went out.
And somewhere across Bellhaven, a million clocks struck twelve.
The woman disappeared.
Elias stood alone in the darkness.
Then his phone screen lit up.
One new message.
GOOD MORNING.
He stared at it.
A second message appeared.
TODAY, THE CITY FORGOT YOU.
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