Book 1 - The Boy in the Yearbook: The Photograph - Chapter 17 - The Truth We Weren't Supposed to Find

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For several seconds, nobody spoke.

Maya stared at Professor Ashcroft.

Evelyn stared back.

The words hung between them like something too dangerous to say twice.

We made her forget Elliot.

Maya's voice was barely a whisper.

Maya: "Who is we?"

Evelyn looked toward the locked office door.

Evelyn: "Not here."

Maya: "You don't get to say that anymore."

Evelyn's expression hardened.

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

Maya: "Then explain it."

Evelyn reached for File 006.

Maya stepped in front of her.

Maya: "No."

Evelyn stopped.

Maya: "We're done keeping secrets."

She pulled out her phone.

Maya: "I'm calling Clara."

Evelyn's face changed.

Evelyn: "Don't."

Maya: "Why?"

Evelyn: "Because if Clara remembers too quickly, it could hurt her."

Maya stared at her.

Maya: "What did you do to her?"

Evelyn closed her eyes.

Evelyn: "Nothing permanent."

Maya: "That's not an answer."

A knock came from the office door.

Both women froze.

Three knocks.

Slow.

Deliberate.

Knock.

Maya remembered Elena's warning.

If someone knocks three times, you don't open it.

Evelyn whispered:

Evelyn: "Stay behind me."

The handle moved.

Then stopped.

Maya looked at the cabinet.

File 006 was still open.

She grabbed it.

Evelyn: "Maya!"

Maya: "We're going to need this."

They moved toward the hidden passage.

Before Maya stepped through, she looked back.

The office door suddenly unlocked.

But nobody entered.

Instead, a photograph slid across the floor.

Maya picked it up.

It showed Clara.

Six years old.

Sitting in a hospital bed.

Elliot stood beside her.

Evelyn stood behind him.

And Clara's eyes were closed.

Written across the bottom:

THE FIRST MEMORY WAS REMOVED HERE.

Maya's heart pounded.

Maya: "We need Clara."

They found the others in the library.

Clara looked up when Maya entered.

Clara: "Where were you?"

Maya placed File 006 on the table.

Maya: "With Professor Ashcroft."

Noah immediately stood.

Noah: "What happened?"

Maya looked at Clara.

Maya: "She told me something."

Clara's expression tightened.

Clara: "What?"

Maya hesitated.

Then:

Maya: "You weren't supposed to remember Elliot."

Silence.

Clara stared at her.

Clara: "What does that mean?"

Maya opened the file.

Maya: "Your memories were altered."

Elena covered her mouth.

Adrian stepped closer.

Adrian: "Altered how?"

Maya: "I don't know yet."

Clara looked at the documents.

Her hands began shaking.

Clara: "Why would anyone do that?"

Maya turned to the next page.

There was a medical report.

Patient: Clara Elizabeth Blackwood.

Age: 6.

Date: October 15, 1997.

Procedure: Memory suppression.

Clara's face went pale.

Clara: "No."

Noah moved beside her.

Noah: "Clara..."

She pushed the paper away.

Clara: "No."

Adrian picked it up.

His expression darkened.

Adrian: "This is real."

Clara looked at him.

Clara: "How do you know?"

He pointed to the signature.

Adrian: "My father's."

Everyone went silent.

Clara: "James Blackwood signed this?"

Adrian nodded.

Adrian: "Yes."

Clara stepped backward.

Clara: "Your father helped them erase my memories?"

Adrian: "Apparently."

Clara: "Why didn't you know?"

Adrian: "Because I was never supposed to."

Clara looked away.

Noah placed a hand on her shoulder.

Noah: "We're going to figure this out."

Clara didn't answer.

Maya opened another document.

Maya: "There's more."

She placed a photograph on the table.

It showed the six original people.

Evelyn.

Vivian.

Charles.

James.

William.

Elliot.

But Clara's mother, Elizabeth, stood in front of them.

She was holding a small child.

Clara.

On the back was written:

THE SIX MADE THE DECISION.

Elena stared.

Elena: "The six?"

Maya nodded.

Maya: "Evelyn, Vivian, Charles, James, William, and Elliot."

Clara looked at the photograph.

Clara: "They all agreed to erase my memory?"

Maya turned another page.

Maya: "Not exactly."

She found a handwritten statement.

The handwriting belonged to Elliot.

Maya: "Listen to this."

She read.

Maya: "I refused."

Clara looked up.

Maya continued.

Maya: "Elizabeth begged them to stop. Vivian tried to help her. Evelyn didn't know what else to do."

Maya's voice trembled.

Maya: "Charles and James insisted Clara had to forget."

Adrian looked sick.

Adrian: "My father."

Maya nodded.

Maya: "William approved the procedure."

Elena pointed to the next paragraph.

Elena: "What about Elliot?"

Maya read:

Maya: "Elliot threatened to expose them."

Then the final sentence.

Maya: "So they made him disappear."

Nobody spoke.

Clara stared at the page.

Clara: "He tried to protect me."

Noah nodded slowly.

Noah: "Looks like it."

Clara wiped her eyes.

Clara: "But why was I so important?"

Maya flipped through the file.

Then stopped.

Her expression changed.

Maya: "I found it."

Everyone gathered around her.

At the bottom of a confidential report was a sentence:

Subject 006 possesses inherited access to the Blackwood Archive.

Clara frowned.

Clara: "What does that mean?"

Adrian read the next line.

Adrian: "Only Subject 006 can access the original records."

Maya nodded.

Maya: "That's why they needed you."

Clara looked confused.

Clara: "Why?"

Elena answered.

Elena: "Because the archive was designed to recognize your family."

Clara shook her head.

Clara: "My family?"

Maya pointed to the final page.

There was a diagram.

Six circles.

Five names.

And one empty circle labeled:

SUBJECT 006.

Beneath it:

BLACKWOOD BLOODLINE REQUIRED.

Clara stared at the page.

Clara: "So they didn't erase my memories because I knew Elliot."

Maya shook her head.

Maya: "No."

Clara: "They erased them because I could open something."

Maya nodded.

Maya: "Something they were terrified you'd find."

A sound came from behind them.

Everyone turned.

Professor Ashcroft stood at the library entrance.

She looked exhausted.

Older than Clara had ever seen her.

Evelyn: "You found it."

Clara stood.

Clara: "You knew."

Evelyn: "Yes."

Clara: "You knew everything."

Evelyn shook her head.

Evelyn: "Not everything."

Clara: "Then tell me the rest."

Evelyn looked at the six of them.

Evelyn: "The archive doesn't contain the secret."

She paused.

Evelyn: "It contains proof."

Maya frowned.

Maya: "Proof of what?"

Evelyn looked directly at Clara.

Evelyn: "That Blackwood Academy was never just a school."

Clara waited.

Evelyn: "It was a system."

Noah: "For what?"

Evelyn's voice became quiet.

Evelyn: "Controlling families."

Adrian stepped forward.

Adrian: "What families?"

Evelyn looked at each of them.

Evelyn: "Blackwood."

She looked at Adrian.

Evelyn: "Bennett."

Noah's expression changed.

Evelyn: "Torres."

Maya froze.

Evelyn: "Vale."

Elena stared.

Then Evelyn looked at Clara.

Evelyn: "And Ashcroft."

Silence.

Maya slowly looked at her friends.

Maya: "That's us."

Evelyn nodded.

Evelyn: "Your families have been connected to this school for generations."

Clara whispered:

Clara: "And Elliot?"

Evelyn looked toward the window.

Evelyn: "Elliot discovered the system."

Clara: "And tried to destroy it."

Evelyn: "Yes."

Clara: "Did he succeed?"

Evelyn hesitated.

Then:

Evelyn: "Partially."

Clara's heart raced.

Clara: "What did he leave behind?"

Evelyn looked at File 006.

Evelyn: "A final record."

Noah: "Where?"

Evelyn's eyes met Clara's.

Evelyn: "Inside the east wing."

Clara understood.

Clara: "The door."

Evelyn nodded.

Evelyn: "The door Elliot told me never to open."

Clara stepped closer.

Clara: "Why?"

Evelyn whispered:

Evelyn: "Because behind that door is the reason he disappeared."

A sudden sound echoed through the library.

Click.

Everyone looked toward the old yearbook shelf.

One book slowly slid forward.

It was the missing yearbook.

Clara walked toward it.

She pulled it free.

The cover opened by itself.

A photograph appeared on the first page.

Elliot.

Clara.

And the other five.

But this time, Elliot was holding a piece of paper.

Clara zoomed in.

The words were clear.

THE TRUTH WAS NEVER BURIED.

Beneath them:

IT WAS WAITING FOR SUBJECT 006.

Clara looked at Evelyn.

Clara: "That's me."

Evelyn nodded.

Evelyn: "Yes."

The lights flickered.

The yearbook turned another page.

A map appeared.

A hidden section of Blackwood Academy was marked in red.

And beneath it was one final message:

MIDNIGHT. EAST WING. COME ALONE, CLARA.

Clara stared at it.

Then another line appeared.

OR ELLIOT DIES AGAIN.

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