Book 1 - The Boy in the Yearbook: The Photograph - Chapter 15 - Someone Is Watching

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The yearbook was gone.

One second it had been lying open on the archive table.

The next—

nothing.

Clara stood frozen beneath the emergency lights.

Noah: "Nobody move."

Everyone stopped.

Maya looked beneath the table.

Maya: "It's not here."

Adrian checked the shelves.

Adrian: "Whoever took it had to be in this room."

Elena's face went pale.

Elena: "But we were all here."

Clara stared at the empty table.

Clara: "Someone was watching us."

Noah turned toward the dark security camera mounted in the corner.

Noah: "Maybe they were watching through that."

Maya shook her head.

Maya: "That camera hasn't worked in years."

Adrian looked at her.

Adrian: "How do you know?"

Maya: "Because I checked the school's security system."

She paused.

Maya: "Someone turned it off."

Clara's stomach tightened.

Clara: "When?"

Maya looked at her phone.

Maya: "Twenty-three minutes ago."

Noah looked toward the door.

Noah: "Then we're leaving."

Clara didn't move.

Clara: "Wait."

She pointed toward the floor.

A trail of muddy footprints crossed the archive.

They started at the doorway.

They ended beside Clara's chair.

There were no footprints leading away.

Elena: "That's not possible."

Adrian crouched down.

He examined the marks.

Adrian: "They're fresh."

Clara felt cold.

Clara: "Then where did they go?"

Noah looked around.

Noah: "Maybe they never left."

Everyone went silent.

They searched the archive.

Every cabinet.

Every shelf.

Every hidden passage.

Nothing.

No person.

No yearbook.

No Elliot.

Eventually, Adrian found something behind the desk.

A small recording device.

Maya picked it up.

Maya: "This wasn't here before."

Noah frowned.

Noah: "Play it."

She pressed the button.

Static.

Then a voice.

Unknown: "You should have stopped."

Clara's face went cold.

Unknown: "The photograph was a warning."

Static.

Unknown: "The journal was a warning."

A pause.

Unknown: "The yearbook was a warning."

Clara stepped closer.

Clara: "Who are you?"

The recording continued.

Unknown: "You keep looking for a dead boy."

The voice became quieter.

Unknown: "You're looking in the wrong place."

The recording stopped.

Maya stared at the device.

Maya: "That's it."

Adrian looked at Clara.

Adrian: "Whoever this is knows everything we've found."

Elena shook her head.

Elena: "Not everything."

Clara looked at her.

Elena: "They didn't mention my grandmother."

Noah nodded.

Noah: "Good point."

Maya looked at the device.

Maya: "Maybe they're trying to make us think they're closer than they are."

Adrian's expression darkened.

Adrian: "Or they're trying to scare us."

Clara looked at the empty table.

Clara: "It's working."

The next morning, the school felt normal.

That was the frightening part.

Students walked through the halls.

Teachers carried coffee.

Lockers slammed.

Someone laughed near the cafeteria.

Nobody knew what had happened during the night.

Nobody knew that five students had discovered a hidden archive.

Nobody knew that someone had stolen a yearbook.

Nobody knew that a boy who supposedly disappeared thirty-nine years ago might still be alive.

Clara sat at her desk.

Noah sat beside her.

Maya was across the room.

Adrian leaned against the wall.

Elena hadn't arrived yet.

Professor Ashcroft entered.

The room became quiet.

Her eyes immediately found Clara.

Neither spoke.

Then Evelyn placed her books on the desk.

Evelyn: "Open your textbooks."

Clara watched her carefully.

Clara: "Professor?"

Evelyn looked up.

Evelyn: "Yes?"

Clara: "Did you take the yearbook?"

The room went silent.

Evelyn's expression didn't change.

Evelyn: "No."

Clara believed her.

That frightened her even more.

Clara: "Then who did?"

Evelyn looked toward the classroom door.

For half a second, fear appeared in her eyes.

Then it vanished.

Evelyn: "Forget about it."

Clara: "I can't."

Evelyn's voice became quieter.

Evelyn: "You need to."

The bell rang.

Students began packing their things.

Clara remained seated.

As everyone left, Evelyn approached her desk.

She placed something beside Clara's hand.

A folded piece of paper.

Evelyn: "Don't open it here."

Then she walked away.

Clara waited until the classroom was empty.

She unfolded the paper.

Only one sentence was written.

I KNOW YOU FOUND THE HOUSE.

Her blood ran cold.

A second sentence appeared beneath it.

I KNOW WHAT YOU FOUND THERE.

Clara immediately looked toward the hallway.

Nobody.

Then her phone buzzed.

A photograph appeared on the screen.

It was a picture of Clara sitting in Professor Ashcroft's classroom.

Taken only seconds ago.

From behind her.

Clara stared at the image.

Someone had been inside the classroom.

Watching her.

She turned around.

Nothing.

At lunch, Clara showed everyone.

Maya zoomed in.

Maya: "The photo was taken from the back corner."

Noah looked around.

Noah: "There's no camera there."

Adrian studied the reflection in the window.

Adrian: "Wait."

He pointed.

A figure was visible in the glass.

Someone standing outside.

Wearing a dark coat.

Clara stood immediately.

Clara: "That's them."

They rushed outside.

The figure disappeared around the corner.

Adrian ran after them.

Noah followed.

Clara and Maya stayed behind Elena.

They turned the corner.

Empty.

Adrian stopped.

Adrian: "Gone."

Noah looked down.

Something lay on the pavement.

A black envelope.

Clara picked it up.

Her name was written on the front.

CLARA BLACKWOOD.

Inside was a photograph.

It showed the six original students.

Evelyn.

Vivian.

Charles.

James.

William.

Elliot.

But someone had drawn a red circle around Elliot.

And beneath him was written:

HE WASN'T THE FIRST.

Clara turned the photograph over.

Another message.

ASK WHAT HAPPENED TO THE STUDENT BEFORE HIM.

Maya's expression changed.

Maya: "Student before him?"

Elena shook her head.

Elena: "There was someone before Elliot?"

Adrian looked at the photograph.

Adrian: "Apparently."

Noah took the envelope.

There was something else inside.

A small piece of paper.

One word.

THURSDAY.

Clara looked at the calendar on her phone.

It was Wednesday.

Clara: "Tomorrow."

A shadow moved across the building.

Everyone looked up.

A figure stood in a third-floor window.

Clara's heart stopped.

The figure raised one hand.

Then slowly wrote something against the fogged glass.

A single letter.

The figure disappeared.

Noah: "Did you see that?"

Clara nodded.

Clara: "Yes."

Adrian stared at the window.

Adrian: "Elliot?"

Clara shook her head.

Clara: "I don't know."

Then Elena suddenly grabbed Clara's arm.

Elena: "Look."

Across the courtyard, a security camera had turned toward them.

The red recording light switched on.

Maya checked her phone.

Her face went pale.

Maya: "Clara..."

Clara: "What?"

Maya turned the screen toward her.

The school security system had just uploaded a new video.

The timestamp read:

12:03 A.M. — TOMORROW.

Clara stared.

The video showed the five of them standing in the courtyard.

But there was someone else with them.

A tall boy.

His face was hidden.

And beneath the video was a message:

YOU HAVE UNTIL MIDNIGHT.

Clara looked at her friends.

Clara: "Until midnight for what?"

Her phone buzzed one final time.

A message appeared.

TO FIND OUT WHO ELLIOT REALLY WAS.

Then another.

OR TO BECOME THE NEXT PHOTOGRAPH.

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