Book 1 - The Boy in the Yearbook: The Photograph - Chapter 16 - The Locked Cabinet

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Maya had always believed that every secret had a physical place.

A file.

A photograph.

A hidden drawer.

A locked cabinet.

People could lie.

Paper couldn't.

That was why, the following afternoon, Maya returned to Professor Ashcroft's office alone.

She stood outside the door, listening.

Nothing.

She tried the handle.

Locked.

Maya smiled faintly.

Maya: "Of course."

She pulled a small set of tools from her backpack.

Five minutes later, the lock clicked.

She opened the door.

Professor Ashcroft's office looked exactly as it always did.

Books arranged perfectly.

Desk completely organized.

Old photographs displayed in silver frames.

Nothing seemed out of place.

That was precisely what made Maya suspicious.

She began searching.

Drawers.

Shelves.

Cabinets.

Nothing.

Then she noticed the painting behind the desk.

It was a portrait of Blackwood Academy from 1987.

Maya stepped closer.

Something was wrong.

The painting had been moved recently.

She touched the frame.

It shifted.

Behind it was a small metal panel.

Maya smiled.

Maya: "Got you."

There was a keyhole.

She searched the desk.

Nothing.

The bookshelf.

Nothing.

Then she remembered the pendant around Evelyn's neck.

The silver V.

Maya had seen it before.

She looked through the drawer beneath the desk.

There.

A small photograph.

Evelyn at seventeen.

Wearing the same pendant.

Maya turned it over.

Written on the back:

ARCHIVE C — CABINET 6.

Maya's eyes widened.

Maya: "Cabinet six."

She looked at the wall.

There were six locked cabinets.

Five had visible keys.

The sixth didn't.

Maya examined the sixth cabinet.

The silver V symbol was carved into the lock.

She touched it.

Nothing.

Then she noticed a tiny indentation.

A pendant-shaped opening.

Maya reached into her pocket.

She had taken a photograph of Evelyn's pendant earlier.

The symbol on the pendant matched the indentation.

But a photograph couldn't unlock anything.

She sighed.

Then she heard footsteps.

Maya froze.

Someone was coming down the hallway.

She quickly hid behind the bookshelf.

The office door opened.

Professor Ashcroft entered.

Maya held her breath.

Evelyn walked directly toward the desk.

She stopped.

Her eyes moved around the room.

Then she noticed the painting.

Maya watched her expression change.

Evelyn: "Maya."

Maya's heart dropped.

She stepped out.

Maya: "You knew I was here."

Evelyn closed the door.

Evelyn: "I knew someone would eventually find it."

Maya: "Find what?"

Evelyn looked at the locked cabinet.

Evelyn: "The truth."

Maya folded her arms.

Maya: "Then open it."

Evelyn shook her head.

Evelyn: "You don't understand what you're asking."

Maya: "I understand that Clara is being threatened."

Evelyn's expression softened.

Maya: "I understand someone is watching all of us."

She stepped closer.

Maya: "And I understand you've been hiding something."

Evelyn was silent.

Maya pointed at the cabinet.

Maya: "What's inside?"

Evelyn whispered:

Evelyn: "Everything I couldn't destroy."

Maya stared at her.

Maya: "Then destroy it now."

Evelyn looked almost offended.

Evelyn: "If it could be destroyed, I would have done it thirty-nine years ago."

She walked toward the cabinet.

From beneath her collar, she removed the silver pendant.

Maya watched as she inserted it into the lock.

The cabinet clicked.

Evelyn opened the door.

Inside were dozens of files.

Photographs.

Tapes.

Letters.

And a black ledger.

Maya stepped closer.

Maya: "What is that?"

Evelyn: "The original student register."

Maya reached for it.

Evelyn stopped her.

Evelyn: "Not yet."

She removed a thin folder.

On the front was one name.

ELIZABETH BLACKWOOD.

Maya's eyes widened.

Maya: "Clara's mother."

Evelyn nodded.

Maya: "Why is her file here?"

Evelyn: "Because she was the first person to discover what the school was doing."

Maya looked at the folder.

Maya: "And Elliot?"

Evelyn hesitated.

Evelyn: "He helped her."

Maya: "So they worked together."

Evelyn: "Yes."

Maya pulled out a photograph.

It showed Elizabeth and Elliot standing outside the east wing.

But something else was visible.

A young Clara.

Maya stared.

Maya: "Why is Clara in these photographs?"

Evelyn closed her eyes.

Evelyn: "Because Elizabeth came back."

Maya: "In 1997?"

Evelyn: "Yes."

Maya: "With Clara?"

Evelyn nodded.

Evelyn: "She believed the danger had passed."

Maya looked at her.

Maya: "It hadn't."

Evelyn: "No."

Maya picked up another document.

It was a medical record.

The patient's name had been blacked out.

But the date was visible.

October 14, 1997.

Maya looked at Evelyn.

Maya: "What happened that night?"

Evelyn's voice became quiet.

Evelyn: "Clara disappeared."

Maya froze.

Maya: "What?"

Evelyn: "For seven hours."

Maya: "She was six."

Evelyn nodded.

Evelyn: "She was found at the school."

Maya's heart pounded.

Maya: "Who found her?"

Evelyn looked at the photograph.

Evelyn: "Elliot."

Maya stared at her.

Maya: "But Elliot disappeared in 1987."

Evelyn: "Officially."

The room fell silent.

Maya: "Where did he take Clara?"

Evelyn shook her head.

Evelyn: "I don't know."

Maya looked at the folder.

Maya: "You're lying."

Evelyn looked at her.

Maya: "You know."

A long silence.

Then Evelyn whispered:

Evelyn: "The east wing."

Maya's stomach dropped.

Maya: "The same place he disappeared?"

Evelyn nodded.

Evelyn: "The same room."

Maya stepped backward.

Maya: "What was in that room?"

Evelyn's eyes filled with fear.

Evelyn: "A door."

Maya: "A door to what?"

Evelyn: "I don't know."

Maya frowned.

Maya: "Then why are you afraid?"

Evelyn looked directly at her.

Evelyn: "Because Elliot told me never to open it."

Maya stared at the cabinet.

Maya: "And you did."

Evelyn didn't answer.

Maya looked inside the cabinet again.

There was one final file.

It had no name.

Only a number.

006.

Maya reached for it.

Evelyn grabbed her wrist.

Evelyn: "Don't."

Maya: "Why?"

Evelyn: "Because that's the file they killed people over."

Maya froze.

Maya: "People?"

Evelyn nodded.

Evelyn: "Three."

Maya slowly pulled her hand away.

Maya: "Who?"

Evelyn's voice barely carried.

Evelyn: "William Hawthorne."

Evelyn: "Elizabeth Blackwood."

Evelyn: "And Elliot Ashford."

Maya stared at her.

Maya: "You said Elliot was alive."

Evelyn looked away.

Evelyn: "I said I believed he was."

Maya's heart sank.

Maya: "You don't know."

Evelyn: "No."

Maya suddenly heard something.

A faint sound.

Click.

They both looked toward the cabinet.

File 006 had opened by itself.

A photograph slid onto the floor.

Maya picked it up.

It showed Elliot.

But not in 1987.

Not in 1997.

It was recent.

He stood outside Blackwood Academy.

Older.

His hair touched with gray.

His face was unmistakably his.

And beside him stood someone else.

Maya's breath caught.

Maya: "Professor..."

Evelyn took the photograph.

Her hands began shaking.

On the back were six words:

I NEVER STOPPED WATCHING HER.

Maya looked at Evelyn.

Maya: "Clara."

Evelyn nodded.

Then Maya noticed the timestamp.

August 31, 2026.

Two days ago.

Elliot was alive.

And he had been watching Clara.

But there was something worse.

In the bottom corner of the photograph, someone had written:

HE'S NOT WATCHING HER TO PROTECT HER.

Maya stared.

A final sentence appeared beneath it in fresh ink.

HE'S WATCHING TO SEE IF SHE REMEMBERS.

The office door suddenly slammed shut.

Evelyn turned.

The lock clicked.

Maya's phone buzzed.

One new message.

YOU FOUND CABINET SIX.

Another appeared.

NOW ASK EVELYN WHAT HAPPENED TO CLARA'S MEMORY.

Maya slowly looked at Professor Ashcroft.

Evelyn's face had gone completely white.

Maya: "What happened to Clara's memory?"

Evelyn said nothing.

Maya stepped closer.

Maya: "Professor."

Evelyn finally looked at her.

And whispered:

Evelyn: "We made her forget Elliot."

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