Chapter 3: A Name That Doesn’t Exist
661 Words
Evelyn’s breath caught in her throat.
“Aiden Holloway disappeared five years ago. And no one remembers why.”
The words echoed in her mind, heavy and suffocating. She stared at Clara, searching for any sign of a joke, but her expression was eerily serious.
“What do you mean disappeared?” Evelyn whispered.
Clara exhaled slowly. “Exactly that. One day, he was here. The next, it was like he never existed.” She tapped the notes on the table. “No records, no mentions. Like someone wiped him out of history.”
A cold chill crept down Evelyn’s spine.
“But… I saw his name,” she murmured. “Scratched into my locker.”
Clara’s gaze darkened. “Then someone wants you to remember what the rest of us forgot.”
Evelyn swallowed hard. That wasn’t comforting.
“Who was he?” she asked.
Clara hesitated. “I don’t know much. But I do know this—whatever happened to Aiden, the school doesn’t want anyone talking about it.” She leaned closer, her voice a hushed whisper. “People who ask too many questions? They don’t get answers. They just… stop asking.”
Evelyn’s fingers curled into fists. That wasn’t going to happen.
“Then I’ll find out for myself,” she said firmly.
Clara gave her a look—one that was almost pitying. “Be careful, Evelyn. Some things are forgotten for a reason.”
But Evelyn had already made up her mind.
She needed to know the truth.
⸻
The First Clue
That night, Evelyn couldn’t sleep.
Her mind raced with questions, each one louder than the last.
Who was Aiden?
Why was he erased?
Why did it feel like she was supposed to remember him?
At midnight, she gave up on sleeping. Pushing the covers aside, she grabbed her phone and opened the school’s website. If Aiden had gone to Everwood Academy, there had to be some record of him.
She searched for his name.
Nothing.
She searched through old newsletters, student lists, even archived yearbooks.
Still, nothing.
It was as if he had never existed.
Frustration burned in her chest. How was that possible?
Then, just as she was about to give up, she noticed something strange.
In a yearbook from five years ago, there was a page missing.
Not torn out. Not deleted. Just… skipped. The numbers jumped from 42 to 44, as if page 43 had never been there at all.
Her pulse quickened.
Was Aiden supposed to be on that page?
Evelyn’s hands trembled as she shut her laptop. She didn’t have proof—yet. But someone had gone through a lot of trouble to erase Aiden Holloway.
And she was going to find out why.
Even if it meant uncovering something she wasn’t meant to know.
The next morning, Evelyn arrived at school with one goal—find page 43.
She barely noticed her classmates, barely responded to Lucas when he greeted her at their lockers. Her mind was fixed on the missing page, the erased name, and the feeling that someone was watching her every move.
Lucas frowned. “You okay? You look… distracted.”
“I’m fine,” Evelyn said quickly.
Lucas wasn’t convinced. “Eve—”
But before he could say more, the bell rang. She took the opportunity to escape.
She needed answers.
And there was only one place to start.
⸻
The Archive Room
The school library had an archive room—a restricted section filled with old records, yearbooks, and files that no one really paid attention to. It was locked to students, but Evelyn had been coming to the library long enough to know when the librarian took her breaks.
And right now, the room was unattended.
Glancing around, she slipped inside.
The scent of dust and aged paper filled the air. Rows of filing cabinets and shelves stretched before her, filled with the forgotten history of Everwood Academy.
Evelyn scanned
- Writer
