The Voice In The Dark
1612 Words
Chapter 12
The Voice in the Dark
Nadia couldn't breathe.
For one second, she thought she had imagined it.
The darkness pressed around her.
Layla's fingers tightened around her hand.
“Did you hear that?” Layla whispered.
Nadia nodded.
The voice came again.
“Nadia.”
This time, there was no mistaking it.
Adrian.
Her heart jumped.
“Adrian?”
A figure moved in the darkness.
Nadia reached for her phone, but before she could turn on the flashlight, a hand caught her wrist.
She flinched.
“It's me.”
The flashlight came on.
Adrian stood in front of her.
His clothes were damp.
His hair was messy.
There was still a bruise near his eye from the warehouse.
But he was standing.
Alive.
Nadia stared at him.
“You're okay.”
Adrian looked at her.
“I told you not to trust anyone.”
Nadia's relief immediately turned into anger.
“You could have told me you escaped.”
“I didn't escape.”
Her expression changed.
“What?”
Adrian looked toward the door.
“I was brought here.”
Layla stepped forward.
“By who?”
“I don't know.”
Nadia stared at him.
“You don't know?”
“I woke up in a room upstairs. Someone left the door open. I followed the hallway until I found the stairs.”
“You expect us to believe that?”
Adrian looked at her.
“No.”
Nadia frowned.
“Then why tell me?”
“Because it's the truth.”
For a moment, none of them spoke.
Then Nadia noticed something.
Adrian was holding a small object.
A silver necklace.
Her eyes widened.
“Where did you get that?”
Adrian looked down at it.
“This?”
“Yes.”
He held it out.
Nadia stared.
The pendant was small and simple.
A silver circle with three thin lines across it.
The same symbol.
Her heart began pounding.
“That's Elena's.”
Adrian looked at her.
“No.”
“What?”
“It belonged to you.”
Nadia stopped.
“What are you talking about?”
Adrian stepped closer.
“Elena gave it to you when you were seven.”
Nadia stared at him.
“You knew.”
“Yes.”
“You knew about the necklace?”
“Yes.”
“You knew about Elena?”
“Yes.”
“And you knew about me?”
Adrian didn't answer immediately.
That was enough.
Nadia's expression hardened.
“You lied to me.”
“I didn't lie.”
“You kept the truth from me.”
“I was trying to protect you.”
“Everyone keeps saying that.”
Her voice shook.
“My mother said she was protecting me. Mr. Elias said he was protecting me. Ethan said he was protecting me.”
She stepped closer.
“And now you're saying the same thing.”
Adrian's face remained calm, but his eyes changed.
“I know.”
“Then tell me the truth.”
He looked at the necklace.
“Elena gave you this because she knew someone would come looking for it.”
Nadia's voice became quieter.
“Why?”
“Because it contains something.”
She stared at him.
“What?”
“I don't know.”
“You're lying again.”
“I'm not.”
“Then how do you know it contains something?”
Adrian looked at the pendant.
“Because Elena told me.”
“When?”
“Three years ago.”
Nadia froze.
“Before she died?”
Adrian nodded.
“She found me after school.”
“What did she say?”
Adrian looked away.
“She told me that if anything happened to her, I had to keep you away from the people looking for the necklace.”
Nadia's heart sank.
“You knew me before I met you.”
“Yes.”
“How long?”
Adrian hesitated.
“Three months before you found the file.”
Nadia stared at him.
The words felt familiar.
He had told her that before.
But there was something he hadn't said.
“Why were you watching me?”
Adrian looked directly into her eyes.
“Because they were watching you.”
“That isn't enough.”
“I needed to know whether you remembered.”
“Remembered what?”
“The night Elena disappeared.”
Nadia's chest tightened.
“I don't remember.”
“I know.”
“Then what did you expect me to do?”
“Nothing.”
Nadia laughed bitterly.
“You expected me to just live my life while people followed me?”
“I wanted you to have a normal life.”
“Well, that worked.”
Adrian's expression softened.
“I know.”
The room became quiet.
Layla looked between them.
“So what exactly is inside the necklace?”
Adrian shook his head.
“We need to find out.”
Nadia took the necklace from his hand.
The metal was cold.
She turned it over.
There was a tiny line running around the edge.
She pressed it.
Nothing happened.
Adrian noticed.
“Try the symbol.”
Nadia pressed the three lines.
A faint click came from inside the pendant.
All three froze.
Nadia looked at Adrian.
“It opened.”
The pendant separated slightly.
Inside was a tiny piece of paper.
Nadia carefully pulled it out.
It was no larger than her fingernail.
Three words were written on it.
ASK YOUR FATHER.
Nadia stared.
Layla whispered, “Your father?”
Nadia's hands went cold.
“My father doesn't know anything.”
Adrian looked at her.
“You don't know that.”
Nadia folded the paper.
“He never talked about Elena.”
“Maybe he couldn't.”
“Why?”
Adrian didn't answer.
Then the computer beeped.
All three turned.
The screen had changed.
The video was gone.
A new message appeared.
THREE MINUTES REMAINING.
Layla stepped backward.
“What does that mean?”
Adrian looked around the room.
“We need to leave.”
Nadia shook her head.
“Not yet.”
“Nadia.”
“We came here for answers.”
“We have one.”
She held up the paper.
“Ask my father.”
Adrian nodded.
“Then we leave.”
A loud metallic sound came from the other side of the door.
Someone was trying to open it.
Layla panicked.
“They're here.”
Adrian moved toward the door.
“There's another exit.”
“How do you know?”
“I saw it upstairs.”
“Then go.”
Adrian looked at Nadia.
“You first.”
She shook her head.
“No.”
“Nadia.”
“You've been protecting me since before I even knew you existed.”
She looked him directly in the eyes.
“I'm not running behind you anymore.”
For the first time, Adrian smiled slightly.
“Good.”
The door shook.
Someone hit it from the other side.
Adrian grabbed a metal chair and pushed it against the door.
“Move.”
They ran toward the back wall.
There was a narrow passage hidden behind the shelves.
Adrian pushed one aside.
A dark staircase appeared.
Layla stared.
“How many secret rooms does this school have?”
“Apparently too many,” Nadia said.
They ran down the stairs.
Behind them, the door finally burst open.
Voices echoed through the underground room.
“Find them!”
Nadia ran faster.
They reached another door.
Adrian opened it.
Cold air rushed in.
They emerged behind the old auditorium.
Rain had started again.
Nadia looked back at the building.
Three years ago, Elena had been here.
Her mother had been here.
Adrian had been here.
And somehow, Nadia had been part of it.
She looked at the tiny piece of paper in her hand.
ASK YOUR FATHER.
Her phone buzzed.
She pulled it out.
Unknown number.
One message.
YOUR FATHER ISN'T WHO YOU THINK HE IS.
Nadia stared at the screen.
Another message appeared.
AND ADRIAN KNOWS WHY.
She slowly looked up.
Adrian was standing a few feet away.
He was watching her.
Nadia's heart sank.
“Adrian…”
He didn't answer.
“Why does this person say you know something about my father?”
Adrian looked at the ground.
Then back at her.
“Because I do.”
Layla went silent.
Nadia felt the world shift beneath her.
“What do you know?”
Adrian took a breath.
“Your father wasn't supposed to survive Westbridge.”
Nadia stared at him.
“What?”
“He was there that night.”
Her voice became barely audible.
“My father?”
Adrian nodded.
“And he wasn't alone.”
Nadia's phone buzzed again.
A photograph appeared.
It showed her father standing outside Westbridge three years ago.
Beside him stood Elena.
And behind them—
a fourth person.
Nadia zoomed in.
Her breath stopped.
She knew that face.
She had seen it before.
On the photograph from Box 47.
The same person Adrian had been looking at.
The same person Ethan refused to name.
Nadia looked at Adrian.
“Who is that?”
Adrian's face went pale.
“I was hoping you'd never find out.”
Nadia stared at the photograph.
“Who is he?”
Adrian didn't answer.
Then, somewhere behind them, a car engine started.
Headlights appeared through the trees.
Adrian grabbed Nadia's hand.
“Run.”
And this time, Nadia didn't ask where they were going.
Because she finally understood something.
The people chasing them weren't trying to stop her from finding the truth.
They were trying to make sure she found it in the wrong order.
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