TRUTH ABOUT RICHARD HAYES
964 Words
CHAPTER TEN:The Truth About Richard
Hayes
Rain pounded against the streets as
Ethan pulled Lana through the darkness.
Behind them, voices echoed through
riverside station.
Closer.
Louder.
Searching.
“Keep moving,” Ethan.
They crossed the abandoned tracks and
disappeared into a narrow alley behind
an old warehouse.
Only then did they stop.
Both of them were breathing hard.
Lana leaned against the wall,trying to catch her breath.
“What just happened?”
Ethan ran a hand through his wet hair.
“I don’t know.”
“That’s becoming your favorite answer.
For a moment,neither of them spoke.
Then Lana asked the question that had
been burning in her mind since the statio
“ What did that man mean?”
Ethan looked at her.
“That depends on which father talking
about.”
The words felt heavier now.
More dangerous.
Ethan looked away.
“I was hoping we wouldn’t have to talk
about this yet.”
Lana stared at him.
“Talk about what?”
He reached into his jacket and pulled out
a folded photograph.
Lana recognized it immediately.
The photograph from her mother’s old
house.
Her mother.
Richard Hayes.
Eleanor price.
And another man standing partially
at the edge of the picture.
Ethan pointed at him.
“Jonathan Blackwood.”
“The name from the journal.”
Ethan nodded.
“He wasn’t just your mother’s friend.”
Lana’s stomach tightened.
“He was my father.”
The world seemed to stop.
“No.”
Ethan swallowed.
“I think your mother wanted to tell
you eventually.”
Lana shook her head.
“You’re wrong.”
“I hope I am.”
She looked away.
Everything felt unsteady.
Her entire life she had believed her
father had abandoned her.
Now she was being told he had a
Name.
A face.
A history.
And somehow he was connected to all of this.
“Then who was Richard Hayes?”
Ethan looked down.
“My father.”
Lana frowned.
“No, I mean to my mother.”
Silence.
Too much silence.
Finally Ethan answered.
“They were close.”
“How close?”
His eyes met hers.
“Close enough that people thought they were
In love.”
The world landed harder than she expected.
Lana looked down at the photograph again.
Her mother and Richard standing beside each
other.
Smiling.
Comfortable.
Familiar.
Suddenly the image looked different.
An hour later they arrived at a small cabin
Outside the city.
Ethan unlocked the door.
“We’II be safe here for a while.”
Lana stepped inside.
The cabin was simple.
Quite.
Warm.
For the first time in days,there were no
Shadows.
No footsteps.
No messages.
Just silence.
Ethan set a kettle on the stove.
“ You should try to sleep.”
Lana laughed softly.
“After tonight?”
“fair point.”
For a while they sat in silence.
Then Lana spoke.
“You knew more than you told me.”
Ethan nodded.
“Yes.”
“Because every answer seemed to create
more danger.”
She looked at him.
“And now?”
He gave a tired smile.
“Now danger seems to find us anyway.”
For the first time in hours,Lana smiled back.
The next morning Ethan was already awake
when Lana entered the kitchen.
Several photographs covered the table.
Maps.
Notes.
Names.
Her mother’ journal lay open beside them.
Lana looked closer.
“What is this?”
Ethan pointed to four names written in the
center of the page.
Evelyn Carter.
Richard Hayes.
Jonathan Blackwood.
Eleanor price.
“The original four.”
“The people searching for the secret.”
Ethan nodded.
“Or protecting it.”
Lana frowned.
“What exactly is this secret?”
Ethan looked at the journal.
Then at the two silver keys resting beside it.
“I think we’re finally close to finding out.”
Before Lana could answer, a knock echoed
through the cabin.
Both of them froze.
Nobody knew they were here.
Nobody except—-
Ethan moved quietly toward the window.
His expression changed instantly.
“It’s Claire.”
Lana hurried to open the door.
Claire stepped inside,soaked from the rain.
“Please tell me you too weren’t planning on
solving the mystery without me.”
Lana laughed despite herself.
Claire looked around the cabin.
“Also, this place look exactly like the setting of
a horror movie.”
“Good morning to you too,” Ethan said.
Claire pointed at him.
“I still don’t fully trust you.”
“That’s fair.”
Then Claire’s expression changed.
“There was someone outside the apartment
This morning.”
Lana felt her stomach drop.
“The same man?”
Claire nodded.
“He left this.”
She handed Lana an envelope.
Inside was a single photograph.
It showed Lana as a child.
Maybe five years ago.
Standing beside her mother.
But someone had circled a figure standing in
the background.
A man Lana had never noticed before.
Written beneath the picture were four words.
You already knew him.
Lana stared at his face.
The man looked familiar.
Too familiar.
Slowly she looked up at Ethan.
His expression had gone completely pale.
“What?” Lana asked.
Ethan swallowed.
“That is my father.
The room fell silent.
Lana looked back at the photograph.
Richard Hayes wasn’t standing beside
her mother.
He was standing behind Lana.
Watching her.
Protecting her.
Like he belonged there.
Like he belongs with them.
Claire looked between them.
Claire look between them.
“Okay,” she said quietly.
“Someone needs to explain why Ethan’s father
is in Lana’s childhood picture.”
No one answered.
Because deep down they were all thinking
the same thing.
What if Richard Hayes wasn’t just Ethan’s
father?
What if he was Lana’s father too?
- Writer
