The Choice
2318 Words
Chapter 7
The Choice
Nadia took one step forward.
Mr. Elias's hand closed around hers.
It was cold.
Behind her, Adrian jerked against the restraints.
“Don't!”
His voice cracked.
“Nadia, don't.”
She stopped.
For one second, everything inside her screamed at her to turn around.
Adrian was still sitting in that metal chair.
Still surrounded by strangers.
Still watching her like he was trying to tell her something without words.
But Mr. Elias's grip tightened.
“Walk.”
Nadia looked at Adrian one last time.
His eyes met hers.
There was no anger in them now.
Only a silent warning.
Then the warehouse door closed behind her.
---
Rain struck her face immediately.
Mr. Elias led her toward a black car parked beyond the rusted gate. Its headlights were off, but the engine was already running.
Nadia pulled her hand away.
“Where are you taking me?”
“Somewhere safe.”
“That isn't an answer.”
Mr. Elias opened the passenger door.
“Get in.”
“No.”
He looked at her.
“Nadia.”
“You've spent the last few months pretending to be my lecturer while apparently knowing things about my life that I don't even know.”
“I know.”
“You were at Westbridge.”
“Yes.”
“You knew Adrian's sister.”
“Yes.”
“You knew my mother.”
His expression changed.
Only slightly.
But Nadia noticed.
That was enough.
“You did.”
Mr. Elias looked toward the warehouse.
“We don't have time.”
Nadia glanced back.
The door was closed.
She couldn't see Adrian anymore.
Her chest tightened.
“Is he going to be okay?”
Mr. Elias didn't answer immediately.
“I didn't bring you here to hurt him.”
“That wasn't my question.”
“He'll have a chance.”
Nadia hated the answer.
But she got into the car.
Mr. Elias closed the door and walked around to the driver's side.
The doors locked.
The car pulled away.
For the first five minutes, neither spoke.
Rain covered the windshield.
Nadia watched the city pass in blurred lights.
Her hands were shaking.
She curled them into fists.
She couldn't stop thinking about Adrian.
The way he'd said her name.
The way he'd looked at her when Mr. Elias told her to come.
She had chosen to leave him.
She had no idea whether she'd made the right choice.
Finally, she spoke.
“Where are we going?”
Mr. Elias kept his eyes on the road.
“To a place your mother used to live.”
Nadia turned sharply.
“My mother?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because there are things you need to see.”
“Things about Elena?”
He didn't answer.
Nadia leaned back.
“You're not very good at answering questions.”
“I've learned that some answers are dangerous when given too early.”
“That sounds like another way of saying you don't trust me.”
“I don't know you well enough to trust you.”
Nadia stared at him.
“You've been watching me for three months.”
“So have other people.”
“That's not comforting.”
“It wasn't meant to be.”
She looked out the window again.
The car turned onto a road she hadn't seen in years.
Nadia's stomach tightened.
She knew this place.
The houses.
The narrow road.
The old tree near the corner.
“No.”
Mr. Elias glanced at her.
“This is where we used to live.”
“Yes.”
“My mother said we moved because she couldn't afford the house anymore.”
“She wasn't telling you everything.”
Nadia looked at him.
“What was she hiding?”
“That's what we're going to find out.”
---
The house stood at the end of a quiet street.
It looked smaller than Nadia remembered.
The paint had faded.
The grass had grown wild.
One of the windows was cracked.
Mr. Elias parked outside.
Nadia didn't move.
For a moment, she was nine years old again.
She could almost hear her mother's voice.
Stay inside, Nadia.
Don't open the door.
I'll be back soon.
She frowned.
She hadn't remembered that before.
“Why did she say that?”
Mr. Elias turned toward her.
“Say what?”
Nadia shook her head.
“Nothing.”
They stepped out.
The rain had softened to a drizzle.
Mr. Elias unlocked the front door.
Inside, dust covered almost everything.
Nadia walked slowly through the hallway.
There were still pictures on the walls.
Her mother's smile.
Her old school uniform.
A birthday cake.
Nadia stopped at one photograph.
She was standing beside a woman she'd never seen before.
The woman had dark hair and tired eyes.
“Who is she?”
Mr. Elias looked at the photograph.
“Elena.”
Nadia's fingers touched the frame.
She studied the woman's face.
Something about her seemed strangely familiar.
“Why don't I remember meeting her?”
“You were young.”
“How young?”
“Seven.”
Nadia looked at him.
“Did she know me?”
“Yes.”
“How?”
Mr. Elias didn't answer.
Nadia's frustration returned.
“Please stop doing that.”
“Doing what?”
“Giving me half an answer and expecting me to accept it.”
He sighed.
“Elena knew your mother.”
“How?”
“They worked together.”
“My mother was a nurse.”
“So was Elena.”
Nadia frowned.
“At the hospital?”
“Yes.”
“And then?”
“Elena started asking questions.”
“About what?”
“Money. Missing records. People being moved between hospitals without proper documentation.”
Nadia's stomach tightened.
“And Westbridge?”
“That's where things became complicated.”
Mr. Elias walked toward the fireplace.
He ran his fingers along the bricks.
“Your mother became frightened after Elena disappeared.”
“She disappeared?”
“She was officially declared dead later.”
Nadia stared at him.
“You said Adrian's sister died.”
“I said the official story says she died.”
Nadia's heart began beating faster.
“So you don't know?”
“No.”
“Then why did you tell me she was dead?”
“Because that's what everyone was told.”
He pressed one of the bricks.
A click sounded.
Part of the fireplace moved.
Nadia stepped forward.
Behind it was a narrow compartment.
Inside sat a metal box.
Her breath caught.
“What is that?”
“Something your mother hid.”
Mr. Elias lifted it out.
The box was covered in scratches.
He placed it on the floor.
Nadia knelt beside him.
“Open it.”
He did.
Inside were folders.
Photographs.
A USB drive.
Several handwritten pages.
And a small silver key.
Nadia picked it up.
A number had been engraved into it.
47.
“What does that mean?”
“City Bank.”
“Box 47?”
“Yes.”
“What is inside?”
“I don't know.”
Nadia looked at him.
“You expect me to believe that?”
“I've never opened it.”
“Why?”
“Because your mother made sure I couldn't.”
“How?”
“She gave me instructions.”
Nadia looked at the folders.
“What instructions?”
Mr. Elias hesitated.
“She told me that if anything happened to her, I was to keep the key away from anyone connected to Westbridge.”
Nadia's fingers tightened around it.
“Then why give it to me?”
“Because I think she intended it for you.”
Nadia looked down.
One of the handwritten pages had fallen open.
The handwriting was her mother's.
Nadia recognized it instantly.
Her eyes moved across the page.
If Nadia ever finds this, she must know that I didn't leave because I stopped loving her.
Nadia stopped breathing.
Her mother had never talked about leaving.
Not like this.
She read the next line.
I left because staying would have put her in greater danger.
Nadia's eyes burned.
“She knew.”
Mr. Elias said nothing.
“She knew someone was watching me.”
“Yes.”
“How long?”
“I don't know.”
Nadia looked up.
“You do know something.”
He looked away.
“Three years ago, Elena contacted me.”
Nadia waited.
“She told me she had evidence.”
“Evidence of what?”
“I never saw all of it.”
“But you saw some.”
“Yes.”
“What did it prove?”
Mr. Elias's expression darkened.
“That someone at Westbridge had been hiding information about what happened to Ethan.”
Nadia's heart jumped.
“Adrian?”
“No.”
“Then who?”
“I don't know.”
“You're lying.”
“I'm telling you the truth.”
Nadia stared at him.
For the first time, she believed him.
He genuinely didn't know.
And somehow that made the mystery worse.
---
A sound came from outside.
A car door.
Mr. Elias immediately closed the box.
Nadia looked toward the window.
“Who is that?”
“I don't know.”
She almost laughed.
“Of course.”
He grabbed the box.
“Take the key.”
“What?”
“Take it.”
He placed the silver key in her palm.
Nadia closed her fingers around it.
“Why?”
“Because they may be looking for this.”
“Who?”
“I don't know how many people are involved.”
A second car stopped outside.
Then another.
Mr. Elias's face changed.
“They found us.”
Nadia's pulse raced.
“Who?”
“People who don't want that box opened.”
He grabbed a folder and pushed it into her hands.
“Back door.”
“No.”
“Nadia.”
“I'm not leaving you.”
“You have to.”
She looked at him.
“Why are you helping me?”
He stared at her for a long moment.
“Because three years ago, I trusted the wrong person.”
“What happened?”
“I helped someone get close to Elena.”
Nadia's eyes widened.
“Who?”
“I don't know if I should tell you.”
“Tell me.”
Before he could answer, glass shattered in the front room.
Nadia jumped.
Voices echoed outside.
Mr. Elias grabbed her shoulders.
“Listen to me.”
Nadia stared at him.
“If you survive tonight, go to City Bank.”
“Box 47.”
“Yes.”
“What's inside?”
“Something that could tell you why all of this started.”
“And Adrian?”
Mr. Elias hesitated.
Nadia's voice broke.
“Where is he?”
“Alive.”
She exhaled.
“But for how long?”
Another crash sounded.
Mr. Elias opened the back door.
“Go.”
Nadia didn't move.
“You're coming with me.”
“No.”
“Why?”
“Because someone has to make them believe you didn't escape.”
Nadia's eyes filled with tears.
She didn't want to leave another person behind.
Not again.
Mr. Elias softened.
“Your mother spent years trying to keep you away from this.”
He looked at the key in her hand.
“Now you need to decide whether you're going to keep running from it.”
Nadia swallowed.
Then she ran.
---
She crossed two backyards.
Climbed over a low wall.
Slipped in the mud.
Kept going.
Her lungs burned.
Rain soaked her clothes.
She finally reached the main road and waved at a passing taxi.
The car stopped.
“City Bank,” she gasped.
The driver nodded.
As the taxi pulled away, Nadia looked down at the silver key.
47.
Her phone vibrated.
One bar of signal.
A message appeared.
Unknown number.
IT WAS NEVER ABOUT ADRIAN.
Nadia's heart sank.
Another message appeared.
IT WAS ALWAYS ABOUT YOU.
She stared at the screen.
Then another.
DON'T OPEN BOX 47.
Nadia's fingers tightened around the phone.
Someone knew.
Someone knew about the key.
Someone knew where she was going.
She looked through the rear window.
A dark car was following the taxi.
Nadia's stomach dropped.
“Driver?”
“Yes?”
“Can you drive faster?”
He glanced at her through the mirror.
“Why?”
Nadia looked back at the car.
It followed them through the intersection.
“Just please.”
The driver pressed the accelerator.
The dark car remained behind them.
Nadia looked down at the key again.
She suddenly understood something.
Box 47 wasn't simply a place where answers were waiting.
It was something people were willing to chase her for.
Something they were willing to threaten Adrian for.
Something her mother had spent years hiding.
The taxi finally stopped outside City Bank.
Nadia stepped out.
Rain fell harder.
She looked up at the dark building.
Then at the silver key in her hand.
47.
Her phone vibrated one more time.
She looked down.
A final message.
IF YOU OPEN THAT BOX, YOU'LL LEARN WHAT YOUR MOTHER DID.
Nadia froze.
Not what happened to her mother.
Not what someone did to her mother.
What your mother did.
Nadia stared at the words.
Then she looked toward the bank entrance.
Whatever was inside Box 47 wasn't only going to reveal the truth about Elena.
It was going to reveal the truth about Nadia's mother.
And possibly about Nadia herself.
She took one step toward the doors.
Behind her, tires screeched.
Nadia turned.
The dark car had stopped across the street.
The passenger door opened.
Someone stepped out.
Nadia couldn't see their face.
But she knew one thing.
They had followed her all the way there.
And now they were coming for the key.
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