chapter 15: Questions without answers
533 Words
Chapter 15: Questions Without Answers
Serena didn't return to work after the phone call.
She couldn't.
The elderly woman—who finally introduced herself as Eleanor Reed—left shortly afterward.
Not because she wanted to.
Because she was frightened.
Before leaving, Eleanor handed Serena a small card.
A phone number.
Nothing else.
"If you remember anything," Eleanor said quietly, "call me."
Serena stared at her.
"Remember what?"
Eleanor looked away.
For the first time, genuine sadness appeared in her eyes.
"The truth."
Then she walked away.
Leaving Serena with more questions than answers.
That evening rain covered the city.
Serena sat at her kitchen table long after Lily had gone to bed.
The photograph remained in front of her.
She had examined it dozens of times.
Looking for something.
Anything.
A clue.
A memory.
A connection.
But the image refused to reveal its secrets.
A younger Serena smiled beside Eleanor Reed.
The problem was that Serena couldn't remember smiling.
Couldn't remember the photo.
Couldn't remember Eleanor.
And that terrified her.
Because memories don't simply disappear.
Not entire relationships.
Not entire periods of life.
Unless something happened.
Something serious.
A sudden knock interrupted her thoughts.
She immediately stood.
Alert.
Careful.
The knock came again.
Her stomach tightened.
Nobody should be visiting this late.
Especially after today's warning.
Quietly, she approached the door.
And looked through the peephole.
Adrian.
Relief arrived first.
Annoyance followed immediately afterward.
She opened the door.
"What are you doing here?"
"I need to talk to you."
"You could've called."
"You wouldn't answer."
Fair point.
Reluctantly, she stepped aside.
Adrian entered.
His gaze automatically swept the apartment.
Every entrance.
Every window.
Every exit.
Serena noticed.
"You do realize you're acting like a bodyguard."
"I've been told worse."
The response almost made her smile.
Almost.
Then Adrian noticed the photograph on the table.
His expression changed instantly.
"Where did you get this?"
Serena frowned.
"You've seen it before?"
Without answering, Adrian removed a photograph from his jacket.
The one he had received anonymously.
He placed it beside hers.
Both stared at the images.
The similarities were impossible to ignore.
The same period.
The same timeframe.
The same unanswered questions.
Serena looked up slowly.
"What is happening?"
For once, Adrian didn't have a sarcastic answer.
Didn't have confidence.
Didn't have certainty.
Only honesty.
"I don't know."
The admission surprised them both.
Silence settled between them.
Heavy.
Uncomfortable.
Outside, thunder rolled across the sky.
Inside, the mystery continued growing.
More photographs.
More warnings.
More missing memories.
More secrets.
And somewhere in the darkness, somebody was watching every move they made.
Waiting.
Planning.
Preparing.
The worst part?
Neither Adrian nor Serena had any idea how close they already were to the truth.
But someone else did.
And that person had finally decided to act.
The next morning, a fire would destroy an old storage facility on the outskirts of the city.
Officially, it would be ruled an accident.
Unofficially, it contained records somebody desperately wanted erased.
Records connected to Serena.
Records connected to the Blackwoods.
Records connected to a secret buried six years ago.
And by the time Adrian learned about the fire—
The race for the truth would become far more dangerous.
- Writer
