Book 1 - The Boy in the Yearbook: The Photograph - Chapter 10 - After Midnight

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At 11:47 p.m., Clara stood outside Blackwood Academy.

The school looked different at night.

During the day, its stone walls and tall windows made it look prestigious.

Beautiful.

Almost welcoming.

After midnight, it looked like something else entirely.

The windows were black.

The courtyard was covered in mist.

The old trees moved in the wind, their branches scraping against the stone walls like fingernails.

Clara pulled her jacket tighter.

Noah: "Last chance to change your mind."

She turned.

Noah stood beside her, his hands in his pockets.

Clara: "You're the one who said you weren't leaving me alone."

Noah: "I know."

Clara: "Then stop trying to talk me out of it."

He smiled faintly.

Noah: "Just making sure."

Behind them, Maya approached carrying a backpack.

Maya: "Good. Everyone's here."

Adrian followed.

Elena came last.

She looked nervous.

More nervous than usual.

Elena: "We shouldn't be doing this."

Maya raised an eyebrow.

Maya: "You said that yesterday."

Elena: "And I was right yesterday."

Adrian looked toward the school.

Adrian: "We don't have much time."

Clara frowned.

Clara: "What do you mean?"

Adrian pulled out a folded piece of paper.

Adrian: "My father came home early."

Everyone went quiet.

Noah: "And?"

Adrian: "He asked where I'd been."

Clara stared at him.

Clara: "Does he know?"

Adrian shook his head.

Adrian: "I don't think so."

He unfolded the paper.

It was a hand-drawn map of the school.

Adrian: "But I found this in his study."

Maya leaned closer.

Maya: "What's that?"

Adrian pointed toward a section beneath the east wing.

Adrian: "There's another archive."

Clara's heart skipped.

Clara: "Another one?"

Adrian: "Archive B wasn't the only room."

Noah: "Then what's this?"

Adrian looked at the map.

Adrian: "Archive C."

Elena's face went pale.

Elena: "My grandmother mentioned that."

Everyone looked at her.

Clara: "When?"

Elena: "In one of her letters."

She pulled a folded piece of paper from her coat.

Elena: "She said Archive C was where they kept the things they couldn't destroy."

Clara stared at the school.

Clara: "Then that's where Elliot's journal is."

Adrian nodded.

Adrian: "That's what I think."

They entered through a side door.

Adrian had the key.

The hallway was completely dark.

Maya switched on her flashlight.

Maya: "I hate this."

Noah: "You were the one who wanted to come."

Maya: "I can regret decisions."

Clara almost laughed.

Almost.

The atmosphere was too heavy.

They moved silently through the empty school.

Every footstep seemed louder than it should have been.

The portraits lining the walls watched them as they passed.

Clara stopped beneath one.

It was a photograph of former Blackwood headmasters.

William Hawthorne was there.

She looked at his face.

Then at the date beneath his portrait.

1986–1988.

Clara: "He was only headmaster for two years."

Adrian looked over.

Adrian: "He died in 1988."

Elena: "My grandmother said his death wasn't an accident."

Everyone turned toward her.

Elena: "I found it in her notes."

Noah: "You might want to mention these things earlier."

Elena sighed.

Elena: "I'm trying."

Clara looked at the portrait again.

There was something scratched into the frame.

She raised her flashlight.

Three letters.

E.A.

Elliot Ashford.

Clara touched them.

Clara: "He was here."

Adrian looked around.

Adrian: "Let's keep moving."

The entrance to the lower archive was hidden behind an old storage room.

Maya found the mechanism.

A loose brick.

A small metal switch.

The wall moved.

A narrow staircase appeared.

Noah stared into the darkness.

Noah: "That's definitely not creepy."

Maya looked at him.

Maya: "You first."

Noah: "Absolutely not."

Adrian walked down.

Adrian: "I'll go."

Clara followed.

Noah immediately followed Clara.

Maya and Elena came last.

The staircase seemed endless.

Cold air rose from below.

When they reached the bottom, they found a steel door.

There was no handle.

Only a keypad.

Maya examined it.

Maya: "This is newer."

Adrian nodded.

Adrian: "The school renovated the east wing in 2019."

Clara: "So someone knew this existed."

Maya looked at the keypad.

Maya: "We need a code."

Elena stepped forward.

She pulled out her grandmother's letter.

There was a sequence written at the bottom.

10-14-87.

Maya entered it.

Nothing.

She tried it again.

The keypad beeped.

The door opened.

Noah stared at Elena.

Noah: "Your grandmother really didn't like making things easy."

Elena smiled weakly.

Elena: "She was good at secrets."

The door opened completely.

Inside was Archive C.

Unlike Archive B, this room was clean.

Not dusty.

Not abandoned.

Someone had been here recently.

Boxes were stacked neatly.

Files lined the shelves.

A desk sat in the center.

And on it—

a black notebook.

Clara stopped breathing.

Clara: "That's it."

She moved toward it.

Adrian caught her wrist.

Adrian: "Wait."

Clara: "Why?"

He pointed.

A thin wire ran beneath the notebook.

Maya crouched down.

Maya: "Trap."

Clara stared.

Maya: "Someone doesn't want this opened."

She carefully disconnected the wire.

Nothing happened.

Clara reached for the journal.

The moment she touched it, the lights turned on.

All of them.

Every shelf.

Every box.

Every corner of the archive became visible.

And there was writing on the wall.

Words covering the entire back wall.

Names.

Dates.

Events.

One sentence appeared repeatedly.

THE SIX NEVER LEFT.

Clara looked at the journal.

She opened the first page.

The handwriting was unmistakable.

Elliot Ashford.

Beneath his name was a date.

October 1, 1987.

Clara began reading.

Clara: "I finally know why they're lying."

Noah moved closer.

Noah: "What does it say?"

She continued.

Clara: "The school isn't hiding my disappearance."

She turned the page.

Her voice became quieter.

Clara: "They're hiding what happened before it."

Adrian stared at the journal.

Adrian: "Keep reading."

Clara turned another page.

A list of names appeared.

William Hawthorne.

Evelyn Ashcroft.

Charles Blackwood.

James Blackwood.

Vivian Vale.

Clara stopped.

Noah: "That's five."

Clara turned the page.

The sixth name had been torn out.

But underneath it, Elliot had written:

She doesn't know who she is yet.

Clara's heart began pounding.

Clara: "Who is 'she'?"

Nobody answered.

She turned another page.

There was a photograph taped inside.

Clara pulled it free.

It was a picture of a little girl.

Maybe six years old.

Standing in front of Blackwood Academy.

Clara stared at the girl.

Her face went pale.

Maya: "Clara?"

Clara couldn't speak.

Noah took the photograph.

His eyes widened.

Noah: "That's you."

Clara shook her head.

Clara: "No."

Noah: "Clara..."

Clara: "I never came here when I was six."

Adrian looked at the back of the photograph.

His expression changed.

Adrian: "There's a date."

Clara looked.

October 14, 1997.

Ten years after Elliot disappeared.

Elena whispered:

Elena: "Why would Elliot have a photograph of you?"

Clara turned the photograph over.

There was writing.

Fresh black ink.

I TOLD YOU I'D REMEMBER.

A sound echoed through the archive.

Footsteps.

Above them.

Someone had entered the school.

Maya turned off her flashlight.

Maya: "We're not alone."

The footsteps moved closer.

One floor.

Then another.

Then they stopped directly above Archive C.

Clara closed the journal.

Noah: "We need to go."

Adrian shook his head.

Adrian: "The stairs are the only way out."

A heavy sound came from the door.

Someone was coming down.

Elena grabbed Clara's hand.

Elena: "Hide."

They rushed between the shelves.

The steel door opened.

Footsteps entered.

Slow.

Calm.

Deliberate.

Clara held her breath.

A shadow moved across the floor.

Someone walked toward the desk.

Then stopped.

The stranger picked up Elliot's journal.

Clara could see only their shoes.

Black.

Polished.

Familiar.

The stranger spoke.

Unknown: "You really shouldn't have opened this."

Clara's heart stopped.

She knew that voice.

Professor Evelyn Ashcroft.

The figure closed the journal.

Then whispered:

Evelyn: "Now he knows you're looking for him."

The lights went out.

And in the darkness, something whispered directly beside Clara's ear.

"Run."

12Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUdMwUnuNpq
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