THE PHOTOGRAPH
275 Words
Chapter Three
Emily didn't get on the bus.
She followed Noah.
She wasn't sure why.
Maybe it was curiosity.
Maybe it was the strange confidence in his voice.
Or maybe it was because nobody had mentioned her father in years.
Her father, Daniel Carter, had died in a boating accident when Emily was seven.
At least, that was what her mother had always told her.
Noah walked into the library.
Emily followed.
He went downstairs, through a narrow corridor, and stopped beside an old storage room.
"This is where I found it."
He pulled a photograph from inside his jacket.
Emily stared at it.
The picture showed a young man standing beside a lake.
Her father.
Emily's hands began shaking.
"Where did you get this?"
"Your father gave it to someone."
"Who?"
Noah didn't answer.
Emily looked closer.
There was another person standing beside Daniel.
A woman.
Her face had been scratched away.
But Emily recognized the necklace around her neck.
She wore it every day.
Emily touched the small silver pendant beneath her shirt.
"No."
Noah watched her carefully.
"You recognize it."
"My mother gave this to me."
"Emily..."
"No."
She stepped backward.
"My father died."
"That's what everyone was supposed to believe."
The library lights flickered.
Noah immediately turned toward the staircase.
"What?"
He grabbed the photograph.
"We need to leave."
"Why?"
"Because we're not alone."
A sound came from the corridor.
Footsteps.
Slow.
Measured.
Someone was walking toward them.
Emily whispered, "Who is that?"
Noah pulled her behind the storage-room footsteps stopped.
Silence.
Then a man's voice echoed through the hallway.
"Emily?"
She covered her mouth.
The voice belonged to her mother.
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