The Secret Behind the Name
1108 Words
Chapter 5
I couldn't move.
Someone had accessed Adrian's security system.
Someone had written my name.
Not Aaron.
Amara.
The name I had buried.
The name only a handful of people from my past knew.
Adrian was still staring at his phone.
“Who else knows you're here?” he asked.
I shook my head.
“I don't know.”
“Think.”
“I am thinking!”
My voice came out sharper than I intended.
I turned away from him and pressed my fingers against my temples.
There were only a few possibilities.
And none of them were good.
Adrian walked closer.
“Tell me everything.”
“I can't.”
“You keep saying that.”
“Because it's true.”
He stared at me for a moment.
Then he sighed.
“Fine. Then tell me what you can.”
I looked at him.
For some reason, his patience made everything harder.
If he had shouted at me, I could have become defensive.
If he had accused me, I could have walked away.
But he wasn't doing either.
He was simply waiting.
And I was beginning to realize that I trusted him more than I should.
“I wasn't always Aaron,” I finally said.
“I know.”
“My real name is Amara.”
“I know that too.”
I looked down.
“I disappeared because someone was trying to destroy my life.”
“Who?”
“I don't know.”
He raised an eyebrow.
“You don't know?”
“I knew who I was afraid of. I just never knew how many people were involved.”
Adrian was silent.
Then he asked,
“And the man who came here?”
I swallowed.
“He was part of it.”
“Part of what?”
“My past.”
He looked at me carefully.
“Did he hurt you?”
The question caught me off guard.
I looked away.
“Not in the way you're thinking.”
“Then what happened?”
I didn't answer.
Because there were memories I still couldn't say out loud.
Memories that had followed me into my dreams.
Memories that had made me change my name.
Memories that had made me believe disappearing was the only way I could survive.
Adrian noticed my silence.
“You don't have to tell me everything tonight.”
I looked at him.
“Why are you helping me?”
He didn't answer immediately.
Then he said quietly,
“Because I remember you.”
My heart skipped.
“You remember Amara?”
“Yes.”
“How?”
He smiled faintly.
“You were impossible to forget.”
I looked away before he could see my expression.
That was the problem.
He was remembering me.
And I was remembering him too.
The girl I used to be had loved Adrian.
But Aaron couldn't.
Aaron wasn't supposed to feel anything.
Aaron was supposed to be invisible.
Safe.
Untouchable.
Yet standing beside Adrian, I was beginning to wonder how long I could keep pretending.
Suddenly, his phone rang again.
He answered.
“Yes?”
His expression became serious.
“Where?”
He listened.
“Don't let anyone leave the building.”
He ended the call.
“What happened?” I asked.
“There was a problem downstairs.”
My stomach tightened.
“What kind of problem?”
“The man who came looking for you is gone.”
I frowned.
“Gone?”
“He disappeared before security could stop him.”
I felt a strange mixture of relief and fear.
“Maybe that's good.”
Adrian shook his head.
“No.”
“Why?”
“Because he left something behind.”
He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small black envelope.
My heart sank.
“What is that?”
“I don't know.”
He handed it to me.
My fingers trembled as I opened it.
Inside was a single sheet of paper.
Only one sentence had been written.
YOU CAN CHANGE YOUR NAME, BUT YOU CAN'T CHANGE YOUR PAST.
I stared at the words.
Then I noticed something beneath them.
A date.
My birthday.
My blood ran cold.
Adrian saw my reaction.
“What does that date mean?”
“It's my birthday.”
He looked at the paper again.
“Why would someone write your birthday?”
“I don't know.”
But I did.
At least part of me did.
That date was connected to the night everything changed.
The night I stopped being Amara.
The night I became someone else.
I folded the paper quickly.
Adrian caught my wrist.
“Wait.”
I froze.
His fingers were around my wrist.
Not tightly.
Just enough to stop me.
“There's something you're not telling me.”
I looked into his eyes.
“I know.”
“Then tell me.”
I gently pulled my hand away.
“I'm scared.”
His expression softened.
“Of me?”
“No.”
“Then of what?”
I looked toward the window.
“Of what happens when people find out I'm still alive.”
Adrian stepped closer.
“Then we'll make sure they don't find you.”
I almost smiled.
“You can't promise that.”
“I can try.”
Before I could respond, the office lights flickered.
Once.
Twice.
Then went out.
Again.
Adrian immediately reached for his phone.
I heard a sound behind us.
A faint click.
I turned.
The door was opening.
My heart stopped.
Someone stepped into the darkness.
Adrian moved in front of me.
“Who's there?”
No answer.
Then a familiar voice whispered,
“You should have stayed dead, Amara.”
I stopped breathing.
Adrian turned toward me.
But before he could ask anything, the figure disappeared into the darkness.
Only one thing remained behind.
A small photograph.
I picked it up.
My hands began shaking.
It was a picture of me from years ago.
But there was something else in the photograph.
Someone standing beside me.
Someone I had never expected to see again.
Adrian looked over my shoulder.
“Who is that?”
I stared at the face in the picture.
Then whispered,
“My brother.”
Adrian looked at me.
“You said you were alone.”
I felt tears gathering in my eyes.
“I thought I was.”
I turned the photograph over.
There was another message written on the back.
HE'S ALIVE.
My entire world went silent.
Because my brother had been declared dead years ago.
And if this photograph was real...
Then everything I thought I knew about my past was a lie.
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