Book 1 - The Boy in the Yearbook: The Photograph - Chapter 9 - The Writing Beneath His Picture

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Clara couldn't breathe.

She stared at the photograph on the floor.

The sixth person had been Professor Evelyn Ashcroft.

Not a stranger.

Not a forgotten student.

Evelyn.

The same woman who had stood in the classroom that morning and told Clara to forget Elliot.

The same woman whose name appeared in a photograph taken almost forty years ago.

The same woman who had insisted she couldn't tell Clara what happened.

Elena: "Clara..."

Clara didn't answer.

She crouched down and picked up the photograph.

Her hands were shaking.

Clara: "This doesn't make sense."

Elena looked toward the open front door.

Elena: "Nothing about this does."

Clara turned the photograph over.

The back was covered in handwriting.

Most of it had faded.

But one sentence remained clear.

HE WILL RETURN WHEN SHE REMEMBERS.

Clara's eyes narrowed.

Clara: "Who is 'she'?"

Elena didn't answer.

Clara looked at her.

Clara: "Elena."

Elena: "I don't know."

Clara: "You said your grandmother told you something."

Elena swallowed.

Elena: "She told me that some memories aren't really memories."

Clara frowned.

Clara: "What does that mean?"

Elena: "She said sometimes people remember things that haven't happened yet."

The words sent a chill through Clara.

Before she could respond, her phone buzzed.

Another unknown message.

LOOK BENEATH HIS PICTURE.

Clara looked at the photograph.

Then at the yearbook sitting on the table.

She suddenly remembered the strange mark beneath Elliot's photograph.

The tiny number.

17.

She grabbed her coat.

Clara: "We need to go."

Elena: "Where?"

Clara: "Back to school."

By the time Clara and Elena reached Blackwood Academy, the sun had disappeared behind thick clouds.

The school was nearly empty.

Most students had already gone home.

The main entrance stood open.

Clara hurried inside.

Elena: "Clara, wait."

Clara stopped.

Elena: "What exactly are we looking for?"

Clara: "The writing."

Elena: "What writing?"

Clara: "The writing beneath Elliot's picture."

They went directly to the archive.

The door was unlocked.

That frightened Clara more than if it had been locked.

She entered.

The 1987 yearbook was still on the table where they had left it.

Clara opened it.

There was Elliot.

His photograph looked almost ordinary.

Until Clara looked beneath it.

There was writing.

Not printed text.

Handwriting.

She leaned closer.

Clara: "I didn't see this before."

Elena came beside her.

Elena: "What does it say?"

Clara read it.

Elliot Ashford.

Then beneath his name:

October 14, 1987.

And beneath the date:

Clara Blackwood.

Elena stepped backward.

Elena: "Your name."

Clara nodded.

Her fingers hovered above the page.

Clara: "It wasn't here yesterday."

Elena: "Are you sure?"

Clara: "Yes."

The ink looked fresh.

Almost wet.

Clara touched it.

Black ink stained her fingertip.

She pulled her hand back.

Clara: "That's impossible."

Elena stared at her finger.

Elena: "It isn't just writing."

Clara: "What?"

Elena pointed.

The ink had begun moving.

Very slowly.

The letters beneath Elliot's photograph shifted.

The date disappeared.

New words formed.

YOU WERE THERE.

Clara froze.

Clara: "No."

The words changed again.

YOU JUST DON'T REMEMBER.

Clara stumbled backward.

Elena grabbed her arm.

Elena: "Clara."

Clara: "I wasn't alive in 1987."

Elena: "I know."

Clara: "Then how could I have been there?"

A voice answered from behind them.

Evelyn: "You couldn't."

They spun around.

Professor Ashcroft stood in the doorway.

Clara's heart dropped.

Clara: "You knew."

Professor Ashcroft didn't answer.

She looked at the yearbook.

Then at Clara's hand.

Her expression became almost sorrowful.

Evelyn: "You shouldn't have touched the ink."

Clara: "Tell me what it means."

Evelyn: "It means someone wants you to believe something."

Clara: "That I was there?"

Evelyn: "Yes."

Clara: "Were you?"

Professor Ashcroft's eyes flickered.

Clara: "In 1987?"

Silence.

Clara: "Were you there when Elliot disappeared?"

Professor Ashcroft closed the door behind her.

Evelyn: "Yes."

Clara felt a wave of anger.

Clara: "Then why did you lie?"

Evelyn: "Because I was trying to protect you."

Clara: "From the truth?"

Evelyn: "From the people who control it."

Elena stepped forward.

Elena: "My grandmother knew you."

Professor Ashcroft looked at her.

Evelyn: "Vivian."

Elena's face changed.

Elena: "You remember her."

Evelyn: "I could never forget her."

Elena: "She said you knew what happened to Elliot."

Professor Ashcroft looked down.

Evelyn: "Your grandmother knew more than anyone."

Clara: "Then tell us."

Professor Ashcroft shook her head.

Evelyn: "Not here."

Clara: "Why?"

She pointed at the yearbook.

Clara: "Because someone is writing my name underneath his picture."

Professor Ashcroft stared at it.

For the first time, Clara saw fear in her eyes.

Evelyn: "That's not possible."

Clara: "It is."

Evelyn: "No."

She walked toward the yearbook.

Her fingers hovered above the page.

Evelyn: "This book was destroyed."

Clara stared at her.

Clara: "What?"

Evelyn: "After Elliot disappeared, the original yearbook was burned."

Elena looked at the shelves.

Elena: "Then this one..."

Professor Ashcroft whispered:

Evelyn: "Shouldn't exist."

A silence filled the archive.

Clara looked back at Elliot's photograph.

Something was different.

The boy's face seemed clearer.

His eyes seemed brighter.

And beneath his photograph, new words began appearing.

Slowly.

One letter at a time.

Professor Ashcroft stepped backward.

Evelyn: "No."

Clara stared.

The letters completed themselves.

CLARA BLACKWOOD

Then another sentence appeared.

I REMEMBER YOU.

Clara's heart slammed against her ribs.

Clara: "Who is writing this?"

Professor Ashcroft whispered:

Evelyn: "Elliot."

Elena shook her head.

Elena: "He's been gone for thirty-nine years."

Professor Ashcroft looked at her.

Evelyn: "That's what everyone believes."

Clara turned sharply.

Clara: "What does that mean?"

Professor Ashcroft didn't answer.

The yearbook pages suddenly began flipping by themselves.

One page.

Then another.

They stopped at a photograph Clara had never seen.

A group of six teenagers stood inside the east wing.

Elliot was in the center.

Professor Ashcroft stood beside him.

Vivian Vale was behind them.

Clara's father and Adrian's father stood near the door.

And the sixth person—

William Hawthorne—

was holding something.

A small black notebook.

Clara recognized it.

It was sitting on Professor Ashcroft's desk in the present day.

Clara: "That's the notebook."

Professor Ashcroft's face went pale.

Evelyn: "You shouldn't have seen that."

Clara looked at her.

Clara: "What is it?"

Professor Ashcroft's voice dropped to a whisper.

Evelyn: "Elliot's journal."

Clara stepped closer.

Clara: "Where is it?"

Professor Ashcroft didn't answer.

Then the archive lights went out.

Elena screamed.

A loud bang came from the shelves.

Something fell.

When the emergency lights came on, the three women stared at the table.

The yearbook was still open.

But Elliot's photograph was gone.

Only a blank rectangle remained.

Beneath it was a final message.

Fresh black ink.

CLARA, FIND THE JOURNAL BEFORE THEY FIND YOU.

And beneath that—

a name.

ADRIAN.

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