THE LIE
306 Words
Chapter Four
They escaped through an emergency exit.
Emily didn't speak until they were three blocks away.
"My mother is home."
Noah stopped walking.
"Are you sure?"
"Yes."
"Then why was she here?"
"I don't know."
Noah looked at her.
"That's the problem."
Emily hated that he was right.
She pulled out her phone.
Twenty-three missed calls.
All from her mother.
Then one message appeared.
WHERE ARE YOU?
Emily typed:
At the library.
The reply came immediately.
Come home. We need to talk.
Emily showed Noah.
He stared at the screen.
"Don't go."
"She's my mother."
"Exactly."
Emily frowned.
"What is that supposed to mean?"
Noah looked toward the street.
"The person who called your name in that library wasn't your mother."
Emily's blood ran cold.
"How do you know?"
"Because I saw your mother today."
Emily stared at him.
"Where?"
"At the cemetery."
"My mother doesn't go to the cemetery."
Noah's voice became quiet.
"She was standing in front of your father's grave."
Emily felt the world tilt.
"My father doesn't have a grave."
Noah looked at her.
"That's what I thought."
He reached into his pocket.
Then he handed her another photograph.
Emily looked down.
It showed a gravestone.
The name engraved on it was:
DANIEL JAMES CARTER
Born: March 14, 1978.
Died: October 3, 2015.
Emily stared.
The date was familiar.
It was the date her father supposedly died.
But something was wrong.
At the bottom of the photograph was another name.
ELI CARTER
Emily whispered:
"Who's Eli?"
Noah didn't answer.
Emily looked up.
"Who's Eli?"
Noah finally spoke.
"Your father's other son."
Emily laughed.
It wasn't because anything was funny.
It was the kind of laugh people make when reality becomes too impossible to understand.
"My father didn't have another son."
Noah's expression hardened.
"That's what your mother wanted you to believe."
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