CHAPTER 2
855 Words
# Chapter 2: The Man Who Remembered Nothing
Elena barely slept after receiving the anonymous letter. Every time she closed her eyes, the same images returned—a long hallway, frightened children, and the little boy whose face remained hidden behind the fog of forgotten memories.
The next morning, she carried the letter and her father's documents in a leather folder as she headed to the City Records Office. If St. Mercy Orphanage had truly existed, there had to be something the internet couldn't erase.
The records building was quiet, filled with shelves of aging files and the faint smell of old paper.
"Good morning," Elena said to the elderly receptionist. "I'm looking for historical records on St. Mercy Orphanage."
The woman's smile faded.
"I'm sorry," she replied. "There are no public files under that name."
"I've already checked online. That's why I'm here."
The receptionist hesitated before lowering her voice.
"Some records were sealed years ago."
"By whom?"
"I don't know."
Before Elena could ask another question, a man approached the reception desk carrying a camera bag and a notebook.
"Excuse me," he said politely. "I'm looking for the archives on unsolved missing-person cases."
The receptionist sighed.
"Another one."
The man offered an apologetic smile.
"I promise I won't take long."
Elena glanced at him briefly before returning her attention to the receptionist.
"You said the files were sealed."
"That's all I can tell you."
The receptionist disappeared into a back office, leaving both visitors standing in awkward silence.
The man finally spoke.
"You're searching for St. Mercy, aren't you?"
Elena's head snapped toward him.
"How do you know that?"
"I heard you."
He extended his hand.
"My name is Adrian Cross."
She shook it cautiously.
"Elena Hart."
"I'm an investigative journalist."
"What are you investigating?"
Adrian studied her expression for a moment.
"Children who disappeared nearly twenty years ago."
Elena's heart skipped a beat.
"You think they're connected?"
"I don't think," Adrian answered quietly.
"I know."
He opened his notebook and showed her a page filled with newspaper clippings, dates, and photographs.
Several articles mentioned children who had vanished after entering different orphanages across the country.
One name appeared repeatedly.
**St. Mercy Orphanage.**
"My editor thinks it's just a coincidence," Adrian said. "I don't."
"Why?"
"Because every trail eventually leads to the same place... and then suddenly ends."
Before Elena could respond, the receptionist returned carrying a small cardboard box.
"I wasn't supposed to find this," she whispered.
Inside the box was a faded visitor registry from more than twenty years earlier.
Most pages were damaged.
Many names had been crossed out with black ink.
One page caught Elena's attention immediately.
Visitor: Daniel Hart.
She recognised her adoptive father's signature.
The date was six months before he adopted her.
Beneath his name was a handwritten note.
**Child transferred. Records incomplete.**
Nothing else.
Someone had torn away the remaining half of the page.
Adrian frowned.
"Someone wanted those names erased."
As Elena turned another page, a small photograph slipped from between the papers and landed on the floor.
It showed a group of children standing outside an old brick building.
Most of their faces were blurred with age.
One little girl stood near the centre.
Beside her was a young boy.
Their hands were tightly clasped together.
Elena stared at the picture.
A sharp pain spread across her temples.
The room around her disappeared.
She was somewhere else.
Cold walls.
Dim lights.
Children whispering.
A frightened little boy looked up at her with tear-filled eyes.
"It's okay," she heard herself whisper.
"I'm here."
Then footsteps echoed down the hallway.
Someone shouted.
The children began running.
The memory shattered.
Elena gasped and nearly dropped the photograph.
"Are you alright?" Adrian asked.
"I..."
She couldn't explain what she had seen.
"It felt real."
Adrian gently took the photograph.
His expression changed.
"I've seen this before."
"You have?"
He nodded slowly.
"I've dreamed about this picture for years."
Elena looked at him in surprise.
"You dream about this place?"
"Not the place."
He stared at the little boy in the photograph.
"The girl."
Before Elena could ask another question, Adrian suddenly pressed a hand against his forehead.
For just a second, he heard a child's voice.
*"Don't cry... we'll get out together."*
He blinked.
The voice disappeared.
Strange.
It had felt so familiar.
Almost as if someone had spoken those exact words to him long ago.
Neither of them noticed the man standing on the second floor balcony, watching them from above.
He quietly took out his mobile phone.
"They found the registry," he whispered.
There was a long silence before a cold voice answered.
"Destroy everything they uncover."
The call ended.
Downstairs, unaware they were being watched, Elena carefully placed the old photograph inside her folder.
"This isn't over," she said.
Adrian nodded.
"No."
He looked once more at the faded image of the little girl and little boy holding hands.
"I think our stories are connected."
Outside, dark clouds gathered over the city.
Somewhere, buried beneath decades of lies, the truth was waiting.
And for the first time in years, it had begun to surface.
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