Book 1 - The Boy in the Yearbook: The Photograph - Chapter 12 - What Evelyn Knows

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Professor Evelyn Ashcroft had spent thirty-nine years learning how to lie.

Not cruel lies.

Not selfish ones.

The kind of lies people told when the truth was dangerous.

She had told herself that every lie had been necessary.

Until Clara Blackwood found the photograph.

Until Elliot's name appeared again.

Until the past began knocking on the doors she had spent decades keeping locked.

Now she sat alone in her office, staring at the black notebook she had taken from Archive C.

Elliot's journal.

She hadn't opened it.

She was afraid of what she would find.

A knock came at the door.

Evelyn closed her eyes.

Evelyn: "Come in."

The door opened.

Clara stood there.

Noah was behind her.

Maya, Elena, and Adrian waited in the hallway.

Evelyn looked at them.

Evelyn: "I suppose asking you to leave would be pointless."

Clara: "Yes."

Evelyn almost smiled.

Almost.

Evelyn: "Sit down."

They entered.

Clara remained standing.

Clara: "You knew him."

Evelyn looked at her.

Evelyn: "Yes."

Clara: "You knew Elliot Ashford."

Evelyn: "Yes."

Clara: "You knew my father."

Evelyn: "Yes."

Clara: "You knew Adrian's father."

Evelyn hesitated.

Evelyn: "Yes."

Clara's voice hardened.

Clara: "And Vivian Vale."

Evelyn looked at Elena.

Evelyn: "Yes."

Elena stepped forward.

Elena: "My grandmother."

Evelyn nodded.

Elena: "What happened between all of you?"

Evelyn looked toward the window.

Rain had begun falling again.

Evelyn: "We were young."

Noah: "You were adults."

Evelyn looked at him.

Evelyn: "Not all of us."

She opened a drawer.

Inside was an old photograph.

She placed it on the desk.

Six teenagers stood outside Blackwood Academy.

Elliot.

Vivian.

William Hawthorne.

Charles Blackwood.

James Blackwood.

And Evelyn.

Clara stared at the photograph.

Clara: "You were all friends."

Evelyn: "Yes."

Clara: "Then what happened?"

Evelyn's fingers tightened around the edge of the photograph.

Evelyn: "Elliot found something."

Maya: "We know."

Evelyn: "No."

Maya frowned.

Evelyn: "You don't know what he found."

The room became silent.

Evelyn opened Elliot's journal.

She turned to a marked page.

Evelyn: "He discovered that Blackwood Academy had been keeping private files on certain students."

Noah: "Why?"

Evelyn: "Blackmail. Influence. Families. Money."

Clara frowned.

Clara: "They were spying on students?"

Evelyn: "For decades."

Adrian stepped forward.

Adrian: "And my father knew?"

Evelyn nodded.

Evelyn: "Your father and Charles were involved."

Adrian's face hardened.

Adrian: "How involved?"

Evelyn: "They didn't create it."

She paused.

Evelyn: "But they protected it."

Clara felt sick.

Clara: "Why?"

Evelyn looked at her.

Evelyn: "Because their families benefited from it."

Clara stared at the floor.

For years, she had believed her family was complicated.

She had never imagined this.

Clara: "And Elliot?"

Evelyn looked down at the journal.

Evelyn: "Elliot wanted to expose everything."

Maya: "So they made him disappear."

Evelyn didn't answer.

That silence was enough.

Noah: "They killed him?"

Evelyn's eyes lifted.

Evelyn: "I don't know."

Clara stepped closer.

Clara: "You don't know?"

Evelyn: "I saw him leave."

Clara: "Where?"

Evelyn swallowed.

Evelyn: "The east wing."

Clara remembered the photograph.

Clara: "The photograph dated October 14."

Evelyn nodded.

Evelyn: "11:52 p.m."

Clara: "What happened at midnight?"

Evelyn's expression changed.

Evelyn: "Elliot told me he had proof."

Clara: "Proof of what?"

Evelyn: "The sixth name."

Everyone went silent.

Adrian looked at her.

Adrian: "Who was the sixth person?"

Evelyn's eyes moved toward him.

Evelyn: "William Hawthorne."

Adrian: "We already know that."

Evelyn shook her head.

Evelyn: "No."

She pointed toward the photograph.

Evelyn: "Hawthorne wasn't the sixth."

Clara's stomach dropped.

Clara: "Then who was?"

Evelyn stared at Clara.

For several seconds, she couldn't speak.

Finally, she whispered:

Evelyn: "You."

Clara froze.

Clara: "What?"

Evelyn shook her head.

Evelyn: "Not you."

She closed her eyes.

Evelyn: "Your mother."

Clara's face went blank.

Clara: "My mother?"

Evelyn nodded.

Evelyn: "Her name was Elizabeth."

Clara: "I know my mother's name."

Evelyn: "Then you know she attended Blackwood Academy."

Clara stared at her.

She did know.

But her mother had always said she left the school before graduating.

She had never explained why.

Clara: "She knew Elliot?"

Evelyn: "She knew all of us."

Clara: "Why didn't she tell me?"

Evelyn looked at her sadly.

Evelyn: "Because she made me promise."

Clara: "Promise what?"

Evelyn's voice broke.

Evelyn: "To protect you."

Clara stepped backward.

Clara: "Everyone keeps saying that."

She looked at Noah.

Then Maya.

Then Elena.

Then Adrian.

Clara: "Protect me from what?"

Evelyn stood.

Evelyn: "From Elliot."

Clara's expression hardened.

Clara: "Why?"

Evelyn walked to a locked cabinet.

She removed a small key from around her neck.

Then opened it.

Inside was a single envelope.

She handed it to Clara.

Clara opened it.

Inside was a photograph.

Her mother.

Young.

Standing beside Elliot.

They were both smiling.

But Clara's eyes immediately went to the writing beneath them.

ELIZABETH BLACKWOOD & ELLIOT ASHFORD

THEY KNOW.

Clara looked up.

Clara: "What did they know?"

Evelyn sat down.

Evelyn: "Elliot discovered that your mother wasn't just another student."

Clara: "What was she?"

Evelyn looked directly at her.

Evelyn: "She was the reason the entire secret existed."

Clara's hands went cold.

Clara: "That doesn't make sense."

Evelyn: "It will."

She opened Elliot's journal to another page.

The handwriting was hurried.

Almost frantic.

Evelyn read aloud.

Evelyn: "Elizabeth says the records aren't about the students."

She turned the page.

Evelyn: "They're about the children they'll have."

Clara stopped breathing.

Noah: "What?"

Evelyn continued.

Evelyn: "The school wasn't predicting which students would become important."

She looked at Clara.

Evelyn: "They were tracking their future families."

Clara stared at the journal.

Clara: "My family?"

Evelyn nodded.

Evelyn: "Yours. The Bennetts. The Vales. The Blackwoods."

Noah looked stunned.

Maya whispered:

Maya: "That's why we're all involved."

Evelyn shook her head.

Evelyn: "You're involved because Clara is."

Clara's heart pounded.

Clara: "Why me?"

Evelyn didn't answer.

Instead, she reached into the envelope.

There was one final photograph.

She handed it to Clara.

Clara looked down.

It showed her mother.

Elliot.

Evelyn.

And a little girl.

Clara.

But Clara was only six years old.

She was standing beside Elliot.

His hand rested gently on her shoulder.

Clara stared at the image in disbelief.

Clara: "This was taken in 1997."

Evelyn nodded.

Clara: "Ten years after Elliot disappeared."

Evelyn: "Yes."

Clara looked up.

Her voice trembled.

Clara: "Then he's alive."

Evelyn's eyes filled with tears.

Evelyn: "Yes."

The room went completely silent.

Clara: "Where is he?"

Evelyn looked toward the window.

Evelyn: "I don't know."

Clara: "You just said he's alive."

Evelyn: "I know he's alive."

Clara: "How?"

Evelyn reached into the cabinet again.

She pulled out a second envelope.

This one was sealed.

The handwriting on the front belonged to Elliot.

FOR EVELYN — IF CLARA EVER REMEMBERS.

Evelyn handed it to Clara.

Evelyn: "He left this for me."

Clara stared at the envelope.

Clara: "When?"

Evelyn whispered:

Evelyn: "Last week."

Clara's blood ran cold.

Noah: "Last week?"

Evelyn nodded.

Evelyn: "Someone delivered it to my office."

Clara slowly opened the envelope.

Inside was a single sheet of paper.

Three lines.

Don't tell Clara where I am.

Don't let her trust Adrian.

And whatever happens...

Clara's eyes moved to the final sentence.

Her breath caught.

He isn't the boy in the photograph.

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