CHAPTER 4
963 Words
# Chapter 4: The Woman Who Knew Their Names
The black sedan came to a slow stop outside Rosewood Nursing Home.
Its engine remained running.
Inside, two men dressed in dark suits watched the entrance without speaking. One of them lowered his sunglasses and studied the building.
"Room 214," he said quietly.
"The old caretaker?"
His partner nodded.
"She worked at St. Mercy before it closed."
"Orders?"
The older man answered without emotion.
"Recover anything she still has. If she talks... we'll know."
The two men stepped out of the car.
---
Inside her room, the elderly woman carefully placed the faded photograph back into the tin box.
Her name was **Margaret Ellis**, though years ago every child at St. Mercy had simply called her **Miss Maggie**.
Unlike the other staff, Miss Maggie had tried to protect the children whenever she could. She had secretly shared extra food, cleaned their wounds, and comforted them during long, frightening nights.
But she had never been able to stop the corruption that spread through the orphanage.
She still carried that guilt.
A loud knock echoed on her door.
Miss Maggie froze.
Another knock.
"Lunch service," a man's voice called.
She frowned.
Lunch had ended an hour ago.
Slowly, she peeked through the small door viewer.
Two strangers.
Her heart began to race.
Without making a sound, she grabbed the tin box and slipped it beneath her sweater.
Then she quietly opened the window beside her bed.
The room was only on the first floor.
Pain shot through her knees as she carefully climbed outside.
She landed safely in the flower garden just as the men forced the door open.
"She's gone."
"Search the grounds."
Miss Maggie hurried toward the back gate, praying they hadn't seen her.
---
Across the city, Elena sat in Adrian's office reading through another stack of newspaper articles.
Every story ended the same way.
Records lost.
Witnesses unavailable.
Investigations closed.
Someone had erased nearly every trace of St. Mercy.
"There has to be a survivor willing to talk," Elena whispered.
Adrian looked up from his laptop.
"There might be."
He turned the screen toward her.
"I found an employment record."
The file listed only one surviving employee.
**Margaret Ellis.**
Former kitchen assistant.
Current address: Rosewood Nursing Home.
Elena's eyes widened.
"She's alive."
"If anyone knows what happened..."
"...it's her," Elena finished.
Without wasting another second, they left for the nursing home.
---
Meanwhile, Miss Maggie reached a nearby bus stop.
Her breathing was uneven.
She looked over her shoulder every few seconds.
The black sedan was nowhere in sight.
She opened the tin box once more.
Inside were several photographs, a small silver key, and an old notebook wrapped in cloth.
The notebook contained names.
Real names.
Children who had entered St. Mercy.
Children who had disappeared.
Children who had survived.
She traced her finger over two familiar names.
**Elena Brooks.**
**Adrian Cole.**
Their surnames before adoption.
"They deserve to know," she whispered.
She climbed onto the arriving bus.
But she never noticed another vehicle quietly following behind.
---
At Rosewood Nursing Home, Elena and Adrian arrived just minutes later.
The receptionist greeted them politely.
"We're looking for Margaret Ellis."
The woman's smile disappeared.
"I'm afraid you just missed her."
"What do you mean?"
"Two visitors came asking for her."
Elena and Adrian exchanged worried glances.
"Who were they?"
"I've never seen them before."
The receptionist hesitated.
"After they arrived... Miss Ellis disappeared."
Adrian's instincts immediately told him something was wrong.
"Did she leave willingly?"
"I don't think so."
He thanked the receptionist and hurried outside.
Near the entrance, Elena noticed deep footprints in the flowerbed beneath an open window.
"Adrian..."
He followed her gaze.
"She escaped."
"But from who?"
As if answering the question, a security guard approached them.
"I found this near the back gate."
He handed Elena a folded piece of paper.
Written in shaky handwriting were four words.
**Trust no one. Basement.**
Elena stared at the note.
"The basement?"
Adrian thought for a moment.
"Maybe she wasn't talking about the nursing home."
He looked at Elena.
"Maybe she meant the orphanage."
A cold breeze swept across the car park.
Neither of them spoke.
The abandoned orphanage.
It was time to go there.
---
Several kilometres away, Miss Maggie finally realised she was being followed.
The black sedan remained two cars behind the bus.
She knew she wouldn't be able to outrun them forever.
As the bus stopped at a crowded market, she stepped off and disappeared into the crowd.
The two men followed.
Miss Maggie hurried between stalls until she spotted a public post box.
Quickly, she placed a sealed envelope inside.
Written across the front were the words:
**For Elena Hart and Adrian Cross.**
Inside the envelope were copies of the children's names, a map of St. Mercy Orphanage, and one sentence.
**The answers are beneath the chapel.**
As the envelope dropped into the box, Miss Maggie allowed herself a small smile.
Even if she was caught...
The truth was already on its way.
She turned a corner—
And found the two men waiting.
"There you are," one of them said coldly.
Miss Maggie tightened her grip on the empty tin box.
"You'll never erase them," she said.
The older man stepped forward.
"We've erased them before."
He reached for her arm.
But before he could grab her, the sound of police sirens echoed through the street.
The men exchanged quick glances.
"This isn't over."
They disappeared into the crowd just as two patrol officers arrived.
Shaken but unharmed, Miss Maggie watched them leave.
For the first time in twenty years, she believed the truth might finally come to light.
She only hoped Elena and Adrian would find the envelope before the people hunting them did.
- Writer
