Book 1 - The Boy in the Yearbook: The Photograph - Chapter 4 - Professor Ashcroft

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Clara didn't tell Noah about the photograph immediately.

She couldn't.

She stood in the empty hallway with it pressed between her fingers, staring at the younger version of Professor Evelyn Ashcroft.

The woman in the photograph looked almost nothing like the professor Clara knew.

She was younger, obviously.

Her hair was longer.

Her expression was softer.

But the eyes were unmistakable.

Those same sharp, observant eyes.

And standing beside her was Elliot Ashford.

The boy from the yearbook.

The boy who supposedly didn't exist.

The boy who disappeared on October 14, 1987.

Clara turned the photograph over.

SHE SAW EVERYTHING.

Her stomach tightened.

Noah: "Clara."

She looked up.

Noah was standing several feet away, watching her carefully.

Noah: "What is it?"

Clara hesitated.

Then she handed him the photograph.

His expression changed immediately.

Noah: "That's Professor Ashcroft."

Clara: "I know."

Noah: "She's young."

Clara: "It's 1987."

Noah stared at the photograph.

Noah: "She told us she didn't know him."

Clara nodded.

Clara: "She lied."

The bell rang.

Students began pouring into the hallway.

Clara quickly slipped the photograph into her notebook.

Noah: "What are you going to do?"

Clara looked toward the stairs.

Clara: "Ask her."

Professor Ashcroft's classroom was unusually quiet.

Students settled into their seats while rain began tapping against the windows again.

Clara sat beside Noah.

Maya was two rows ahead.

Elena sat near the window.

Adrian had arrived late and hadn't spoken to anyone.

Professor Ashcroft entered carrying a stack of papers.

She placed them on her desk.

Evelyn: "Good afternoon."

The class answered.

Her gaze moved across the room.

When she reached Clara, she paused.

Only for a second.

But Clara noticed.

Professor Ashcroft knew.

She knew Clara had found something.

Clara waited until the lesson began.

For nearly twenty minutes, she said nothing.

Then Professor Ashcroft began discussing Blackwood Academy's history.

That was when Clara raised her hand.

Evelyn: "Yes, Miss Blackwood?"

Clara stood.

Clara: "I have a question."

Evelyn: "About the assignment?"

Clara: "About 1987."

The classroom became quiet.

Professor Ashcroft's expression didn't change.

Evelyn: "What about it?"

Clara reached into her notebook.

She pulled out the photograph.

She didn't say anything.

She simply placed it on the edge of her desk.

Professor Ashcroft saw it.

Everything changed.

Her face lost its color.

Her fingers tightened around the papers she was holding.

One sheet slipped from her hand and fell to the floor.

Nobody spoke.

Professor Ashcroft stared at the photograph.

Evelyn: "Where did you get that?"

Clara's heart began pounding.

Clara: "You recognize it."

Evelyn: "Answer my question."

Clara: "The archive."

Professor Ashcroft's eyes moved toward the photograph.

Evelyn: "Who gave it to you?"

Clara: "Nobody."

Evelyn: "Clara."

It was the first time Professor Ashcroft had ever called her by her first name.

Clara noticed.

So did Noah.

Clara: "Who is Elliot Ashford?"

The room became completely silent.

Professor Ashcroft looked as though the name itself had struck her.

Adrian suddenly stood.

Adrian: "You know him."

Professor Ashcroft looked at Adrian.

For a moment, there was something almost like grief in her eyes.

Then it disappeared.

Evelyn: "Everyone out."

A few students exchanged confused looks.

Evelyn: "Now."

Chairs scraped across the floor.

Students began leaving.

Maya grabbed her bag.

Elena glanced at Clara.

Noah remained seated.

Evelyn: "Mr. Bennett."

Noah stood.

Noah: "I'm staying."

Evelyn: "You don't understand."

Noah: "Neither does Clara."

Adrian remained beside the door.

Maya and Elena didn't leave either.

Professor Ashcroft stared at the five students.

Then at Clara.

Evelyn: "You should all leave."

Clara shook her head.

Clara: "Not until you tell us the truth."

Professor Ashcroft slowly sat behind her desk.

She looked exhausted.

Older than Clara had ever seen her.

Evelyn: "Elliot Ashford was a student here."

Noah folded his arms.

Noah: "So he did exist."

Evelyn: "Yes."

Clara's heart hammered.

Clara: "Why isn't he in the school records?"

Professor Ashcroft looked down.

Evelyn: "Because after he disappeared, the administration decided it was easier to pretend he had never been here."

Maya: "That's insane."

Evelyn: "It was 1987."

She looked toward the rain-streaked windows.

Evelyn: "People believed institutions more than they believed children."

Clara stepped closer.

Clara: "You knew him."

Professor Ashcroft didn't answer.

Clara placed the photograph on the desk.

Clara: "You were with him."

Professor Ashcroft looked at the image.

Her eyes became glassy.

Evelyn: "Yes."

Adrian's voice was quiet.

Adrian: "My father knew him too."

Professor Ashcroft looked sharply at Adrian.

Evelyn: "What did your father tell you?"

Adrian: "Nothing."

A pause.

Adrian: "That's the problem."

Professor Ashcroft looked away.

Clara noticed something.

Her hands were trembling.

Clara: "What happened on October 14?"

Professor Ashcroft closed her eyes.

Evelyn: "I can't tell you."

Clara: "Why?"

Evelyn: "Because you don't know what you're asking."

Clara: "Then tell me."

Evelyn: "No."

Clara's voice became firmer.

Clara: "Why is my name written on his photograph?"

Professor Ashcroft froze.

The question seemed to hit harder than everything else.

Her eyes lifted.

Evelyn: "What?"

Clara turned the photograph over.

Clara: "My name."

Professor Ashcroft stared at the handwriting.

For the first time, she looked genuinely terrified.

Evelyn: "That wasn't there."

Clara's blood ran cold.

Clara: "What?"

Evelyn: "When I last saw this photograph, that wasn't there."

Noah stepped closer.

Noah: "When did you last see it?"

Professor Ashcroft didn't answer.

Noah: "Professor."

She stood.

Evelyn: "You need to forget about Elliot."

Clara laughed bitterly.

Clara: "You keep telling me that."

Evelyn: "Because I'm trying to protect you."

Clara: "From what?"

Professor Ashcroft looked directly into her eyes.

Evelyn: "From making the same mistake he did."

Clara went still.

Clara: "What mistake?"

Professor Ashcroft walked toward the classroom door.

Evelyn: "Trusting the wrong person."

She opened it.

Then stopped.

Evelyn: "And Clara?"

Clara looked at her.

Evelyn: "If you find a photograph of Elliot standing inside the east wing..."

Her voice lowered.

Evelyn: "Don't look behind him."

Then she left.

Nobody spoke.

Maya slowly looked at Clara.

Maya: "That's possibly the worst warning I've ever heard."

Noah nodded.

Noah: "Agreed."

Adrian hadn't moved.

He was staring at the photograph.

Elena: "Adrian?"

He finally looked up.

Adrian: "My father had another photograph."

Clara's heart skipped.

Clara: "Of Elliot?"

Adrian nodded.

Adrian: "He was standing inside the east wing."

Clara remembered Professor Ashcroft's warning.

Don't look behind him.

She turned the photograph over again.

Her name was still there.

But something had changed.

The ink looked darker.

As though it had been written recently.

Clara touched the letters.

Then she noticed something beneath her name.

A tiny line of writing.

She hadn't seen it before.

She leaned closer.

Three words.

YOU REMEMBER ME.

Clara's breath caught.

Clara: "Guys..."

Everyone gathered around her.

Noah stared at the message.

Noah: "That wasn't there before."

Maya shook her head.

Maya: "No."

Elena whispered:

Elena: "What does it mean?"

Clara couldn't answer.

Because beneath the message, another line was slowly becoming visible.

As if the old ink were returning.

One word appeared.

Then another.

CLARA...

FIND...

ME.

The classroom lights flickered.

And somewhere down the hallway, an old school bell began ringing.

Once.

Twice.

Three times.

Adrian looked toward the door.

Adrian: "That's impossible."

Noah: "What?"

Adrian's face had gone pale.

Adrian: "That bell hasn't worked since 1987."

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