THE FIRST NAME ON THE LIST
1716 Words
The list sat on the kitchen table like a loaded weapon.
Declan had been staring at it for an hour, the names blurring together, the addresses swimming in his vision. Forty-seven names. Forty-seven people who had helped Elias. Forty-seven people who had never been caught.
Claire brought him coffee.
"You've been staring at that for an hour."
"I'm trying to figure out where to start."
"The first name. That's usually a good place."
Declan looked at the top of the list.
Marcus Webb. No relation to the other Marcus Webb. Address: 1427 Cedar Street.
The house with yellow curtains. Lara's house.
But Lara didn't live there anymore. Someone else did.
Someone named Marcus.
---
Declan called Reyes.
"The first name on the list is Marcus Webb. He's living at Lara's old address."
"Marcus Webb? We already have a Marcus Webb in custody."
"Different Marcus Webb. No relation. According to Sophia, he's been hiding in plain sight. Working at the hospital. Cleaning up Elias's messes."
"What's his connection to Elias?"
"He was a janitor. At Holloway. For twenty years. He saw everything. Heard everything. Never said a word."
"Why now?"
"Because now he's scared. Because now the network is gone. Because now he's the only one left who knows where the bodies are buried."
---
Declan drove to the house with yellow curtains.
The curtains were gone now. The porch swing was gone. But someone was home.
He knocked on the door.
A man opened it. Mid-fifties. Gray hair. Tired eyes. He was wearing a janitor's uniform—gray pants, gray shirt, a name tag that read MARCUS.
"Declan Cole," Marcus said. "I've been expecting you."
"Then you know why I'm here."
"You want to know about the bodies. The ones Elias buried. The ones no one found."
"I want to know everything."
Marcus stepped aside.
"Come in. We have a lot to talk about."
---
The house was different inside.
No furniture. No photographs. Just boxes. Dozens of them. Stacked against the walls.
"I've been packing," Marcus said. "Getting ready to leave."
"Where are you going?"
"Somewhere far away. Somewhere no one knows my name."
"That seems to be a trend."
Marcus sat on a box and gestured for Declan to do the same.
"I started working at Holloway in 1985. Fresh out of high school. Needed a job. Didn't ask questions."
"When did you start asking questions?"
"When the bodies started appearing. In the basement. In the yard. In the walls."
"How many?"
"Dozens. Maybe more. I stopped counting after a while."
"Did you tell anyone?"
"I tried. Once. I went to the police. They sent me away. Said I was crazy. Said I was making it up."
"Who did you talk to?"
"A detective. Name was Morrison. He's dead now. Heart attack."
"Convenient."
"Very."
---
Declan leaned forward.
"Why are you telling me this now?"
"Because I'm tired. Tired of carrying this secret. Tired of being afraid. Tired of wondering if today is the day someone comes to silence me."
"Who would silence you?"
"The same people who've been silencing everyone. The ones who are still out there. The ones Sophia couldn't stop."
"There are more?"
"There are always more. Elias built a network that stretched across the country. Across the world. You've barely scratched the surface."
Declan pulled out the list.
"Sophia gave me this. Forty-seven names."
Marcus looked at the list.
"This is incomplete. There are at least twice that many. Maybe more."
"Then give me the rest."
"I can't. I don't have them. They're in a safe. In the basement of the old hospital. But the hospital is gone. Demolished."
"Then the safe is gone too."
"Not if someone moved it before the demolition."
"Who?"
"Someone who knew what was in it. Someone who wanted to keep the secrets safe."
"Sophia?"
"Maybe. Or someone else."
---
Declan called Reyes.
"There's a safe. In the basement of the old hospital. It might have been moved before the demolition."
"We searched that basement. We didn't find any safe."
"It could be hidden. Behind a wall. Under the floor."
"We'll send a team back. See if anything was missed."
"Do that. And Reyes?"
"Yeah?"
"Marcus is willing to cooperate. He wants protection."
"We can arrange that."
---
Marcus stood up.
"Thank you," he said.
"Don't thank me yet. We haven't found the safe."
"But you're trying. That's more than anyone else has done."
Declan walked to the door.
"One more thing," Marcus said. "The bodies. The ones in the yard. They're not all patients. Some of them are children."
Declan's blood ran cold.
"Children?"
"Elias's children. The ones who didn't survive. The ones he buried in the backyard."
"How many?"
"Five. That I know of."
Declan's hands curled into fists.
"Where are they buried?"
"In the backyard. Under the oak tree."
---
Declan walked to the backyard.
The oak tree was still there, old and gnarled, its branches reaching toward the sky. The ground around it was overgrown, covered in weeds and fallen leaves.
He called Reyes.
"Marcus says there are bodies under the oak tree. Children. Elias's children."
"We'll send a forensic team."
"How many more secrets does this man have?"
"I don't know. But we're going to find out."
---
The forensic team arrived within the hour.
They dug carefully, sifting through the dirt, documenting everything. Declan watched from a distance, his arms crossed, his jaw tight.
At four feet, they found bones.
Small. Fragile.
Children.
Declan turned away.
He couldn't watch.
---
Reyes came up beside him.
"Five bodies. Just like Marcus said. We'll run DNA. Try to identify them."
"Their names are probably in the safe."
"If we ever find it."
"We'll find it. We have to."
---
Declan drove home.
The sun was setting. The sky was orange. The world was turning.
Claire was waiting on the porch.
"You found bodies."
"Children. Elias's children. Buried in the backyard."
Claire's face went pale.
"How many?"
"Five."
"That's horrible."
"I know."
Claire took his hand.
"What are you going to do?"
"I'm going to find the safe. And I'm going to give those children their names back."
---
That night, Declan couldn't sleep.
He sat on the porch, staring at the stars, Marcus's words echoing in his head.
Some of them are children.
He thought about Finn. About how close he'd come to losing him. About how many parents had lost their children to Elias's cruelty.
Claire brought him tea.
"You're thinking about them."
"I'm thinking about all of them. The ones who died. The ones who survived. The ones who are still out there."
"You can't save everyone, Declan."
"No. But I can try."
Claire sat beside him.
"You're not doing this alone."
"I know. That's why I keep going."
---
The next morning, Declan received a letter.
Plain white envelope. His name written in black ink.
He opened it.
Inside was a photograph. The oak tree. The hole they'd dug. The bones.
And on the back, in handwriting he didn't recognize:
You found them. Now find the rest.
The safe is in the old power plant. Behind the furnace.
—A friend
Declan called Reyes.
"The safe is in the old power plant. Behind the furnace."
"How do you know?"
"I received a letter. Someone who wants to help."
"Can you trust the source?"
"I don't know. But it's all we have."
---
Declan drove to the old power plant.
The building was abandoned, dark, filled with rusted machinery and broken glass. The furnace was in the back, huge and cold, covered in decades of soot.
Behind it, a metal box.
Locked.
Declan smashed the lock with a pipe.
Inside were files. Dozens of them. Birth certificates. Death certificates. Medical records. Photographs.
The children had names.
Declan pulled out the first file.
Sophia Vance. Born 1977. Mother: Eleanor Vance. Father: Unknown.
Sophia's file.
She hadn't been given away. She'd been taken. By Elias. For the experiments.
Declan's blood ran cold.
He called Reyes.
"I found the safe. It's full of files. Including Sophia's. She wasn't given away. She was taken."
"By Elias?"
"By Eleanor. Or by someone working for her. The records are unclear."
"What happened to her?"
"She survived. Obviously. But the file says she was part of an experiment. The first experiment. The one that started everything."
---
Declan spent the rest of the day going through the files.
Each one was a story. A tragedy. A life destroyed by Elias and his family.
He found Lara's file. Julian's file. Michael's file. Isabella's file.
And he found files for children who hadn't survived.
Children who had died in the basement. In the treatment rooms. In the backyard under the oak tree.
He called Reyes.
"We need to notify the families. The ones who are still alive."
"We will. But it's going to take time."
"They've waited long enough."
"I know. But we have to do this right. Legally. Ethically."
Declan was quiet.
"Do it fast."
---
That night, Declan sat on the porch.
The stars were bright. The air was cool. The world was quiet.
Claire brought him tea.
"You found their names."
"I found their names. Now I need to find their families."
"That's not your responsibility, Declan."
"It is. I made it mine. When I decided to keep fighting."
Claire sat beside him.
"Then keep fighting. But don't forget to live."
---
The next morning, Declan received a letter.
Plain white envelope. His name written in black ink.
He opened it.
Inside was a photograph. The old power plant. The furnace. The safe.
And on the back, in handwriting he recognized:
You found the safe. You found the truth. Now find the rest.
—Sophia
Declan put the photograph in the drawer with the others.
The drawer was overflowing now.
Letters. Photographs. Memories.
The past.
But the drawer wasn't his life.
His life was outside. In the sun. With his son.
He walked out the door.
Finn was waiting.
"Dad! Come on! We're going to be late for the park!"
"I'm coming, buddy."
Declan ran to catch up.
The sun was shining. The birds were singing. The world was turning.
Normal things.
Beautiful things.
And Declan Cole knew that the work wasn't over.
But for now, he was exactly where he was supposed to be.
- Writer
