A MEMORY THAT LIED
1540 Words
The words on the metal door seemed darker than the scratches surrounding them.
YOU KNOW ME.
Elena stared at them until the letters began to blur.
The bracelet was still in her hand.
It felt strangely warm.
She turned it over.
There was a tiny engraving on the inside of the silver charm.
A single letter.
E.
Her throat tightened.
"That was mine."
Mara looked at the bracelet.
"Yes."
"You remember it?"
"I remember putting it on you."
Elena looked up sharply.
"You?"
Mara nodded.
"When?"
"That day."
"What day?"
Mara didn't answer.
Elena looked at Adrian.
He was staring at the metal door.
"Why won't either of you tell me what happened?"
Adrian finally looked at her.
"Because you weren't supposed to remember."
"But I do."
"Not enough."
She frowned.
"What does that mean?"
He walked toward the red notebook.
"The game is giving you pieces."
He picked it up.
"Some are true."
He turned a page.
"Some aren't."
Elena looked at the words.
ONE MEMORY IS FALSE.
"So I have to figure out which one is fake."
"Yes."
"And if I get it wrong?"
Adrian closed the notebook.
"We don't know."
Mara gave him a look.
"You know."
He ignored her.
Elena noticed.
"She knows something."
Mara's expression remained calm.
"Everyone here knows something."
"Then why does everyone keep pretending they don't?"
"Because knowing something and being allowed to say it aren't the same thing."
Elena looked at the door.
"What's behind that?"
Mara's face changed.
"The first room."
Adrian immediately turned toward her.
"You shouldn't have said that."
"You can't keep hiding it."
"What first room?"
Elena stepped closer.
Mara sighed.
"That's where the first game began."
Elena looked at Adrian.
"And that's where my parents were?"
"Yes."
The answer came so quietly that she almost missed it.
Her chest tightened.
"Take me there."
"No."
"Why?"
"Because the game hasn't opened it yet."
Elena looked at the metal door.
"Then why is it here?"
Adrian didn't answer.
She stepped toward it.
The scratches were deeper than she'd thought.
Some looked like letters.
Others looked like handprints.
She touched one.
A sharp pain flashed through her fingers.
She pulled back.
A tiny red mark appeared across her skin.
Adrian immediately caught her hand.
"What happened?"
"It scratched me."
He examined her finger.
"It's nothing."
The wound was already fading.
Elena stared.
"That shouldn't happen."
Adrian released her.
"No."
Mara moved closer.
"Interesting."
Adrian gave her a warning look.
She ignored it.
"The room recognized her."
Elena looked at the door.
"How?"
Mara's voice dropped.
"Because she opened it once."
Elena's heart skipped.
"When?"
"Sixteen years ago."
Adrian closed his eyes briefly.
"Mara."
"I'm tired of watching you lie to her."
"I haven't lied."
"You've hidden enough."
Elena turned to Adrian.
"Did I open this door?"
He looked at her.
"Yes."
She swallowed.
"Alone?"
"No."
"With my parents?"
He hesitated.
"With me."
The answer left her speechless.
She looked away.
A memory flickered.
A hallway.
A small hand.
Her hand.
A man's fingers wrapped around it.
The smell of smoke.
Someone crying.
Then darkness.
Elena pressed her palm against her forehead.
"I saw something."
Adrian moved closer.
"What?"
"Smoke."
His face tightened.
"And someone was crying."
"Who?"
"I don't know."
She closed her eyes.
Another flash.
A red door.
A woman's voice.
Don't look back.
Elena opened her eyes.
"Mom."
Mara's expression softened.
"Yes."
"She was there."
"Yes."
"Where?"
Mara didn't answer.
Elena looked at the notebook.
"Maybe it's in there."
She took it from Adrian.
The first page still contained the message.
She turned it.
The next page was filled with handwriting.
Not printed.
Handwritten.
The letters were uneven.
Childish.
Elena recognized them.
Her own handwriting.
She read the first line.
I DON'T LIKE THE GAME.
Her heart sank.
She turned the page.
THE MAN SAYS IT WILL BE FUN.
Another.
MUMMY DOESN'T WANT ME TO PLAY.
Another.
DADDY SAID I HAVE TO.
Elena stopped.
Her fingers tightened around the page.
She kept reading.
ADRIAN SAID I SHOULD HIDE.
Her eyes moved to him.
He looked away.
"Why did you tell me to hide?"
"I don't remember."
"You were there."
"I know."
The next page contained only one sentence.
THEY FOUND ME.
Elena turned it.
MUMMY WAS CRYING.
Another.
DADDY WAS ANGRY.
Another.
ADRIAN CAME BACK.
The next page was torn.
Elena flipped through the remaining pages.
Nothing.
"That's it?"
Mara pointed to the torn section.
"Look underneath."
Elena lifted the remaining paper.
There was writing on the page beneath it.
Only one sentence.
I WASN'T THE ONE WHO THEY FOUND.
Elena frowned.
"What does that mean?"
Nobody answered.
She read it again.
"I wasn't the one they found."
A strange feeling settled in her stomach.
"Then who was?"
The room remained silent.
Elena looked at the photograph.
The little girl.
The same face.
Her face.
She shook her head.
"Something is wrong."
Adrian nodded.
"Yes."
"The notebook says I was here."
"Yes."
"But the memory I have says I wasn't."
"That's the false memory."
Elena looked at him.
"How do you know?"
He didn't answer.
She stepped closer.
"You know which memory is false."
His eyes met hers.
"I have an idea."
"What?"
"You remember leaving this building."
Elena nodded slowly.
"Yes."
"That's the memory you should question."
She stared at him.
"I remember my mother holding my hand."
"Do you remember walking through the entrance?"
She thought.
Nothing.
"Not clearly."
"Do you remember getting into a car?"
She closed her eyes.
A car door.
A woman's perfume.
Rain against a window.
But the image wouldn't settle.
"I think so."
"Do you remember who was driving?"
Elena's eyes opened.
"No."
Adrian nodded.
"Then you don't remember leaving."
Elena looked at the notebook again.
"Maybe."
"Not maybe."
He stepped closer.
"You've been carrying a memory that isn't complete."
Mara interrupted.
"That doesn't mean it's false."
Adrian looked at her.
"Not helping."
She shrugged.
Elena turned the notebook over.
Something fell from between the pages.
A small photograph.
It landed face down.
She picked it up.
The photograph showed the lobby.
Her mother was standing beside the reception desk.
Her father stood several feet away.
Adrian was beside the elevator.
And little Elena stood in the middle.
Everyone was looking toward the elevator.
Elena turned the picture over.
A message had been written across the back.
SHE WAS NEVER SUPPOSED TO SEE HIM.
Elena's eyes narrowed.
"See who?"
Adrian looked at the photograph.
His expression changed.
Mara noticed.
"Who is it?"
Adrian didn't answer.
Elena looked at the elevator in the photograph.
The doors were open.
Someone was standing inside.
But their face had been scratched away.
Elena stared.
"Who was in there?"
Adrian took the photograph.
"I don't know."
She pulled it back.
"You do."
"Elena."
"Who?"
He looked at her.
"The first boss."
She felt a chill.
"The one who disappeared."
"Yes."
"Why wasn't I supposed to see him?"
Adrian looked at the door.
"Because he wasn't supposed to see you."
The words made her stomach drop.
"Why?"
Before he could answer, the metal door clicked.
Everyone turned.
The lock released.
Slowly.
The door opened by itself.
Darkness waited beyond it.
No hallway.
No room.
Just darkness.
Mara stepped backward.
"That's not supposed to happen yet."
Adrian looked at the clock.
8:04 p.m.
Elena stared.
"We've been in here for hours?"
"Apparently."
The door opened wider.
A faint light appeared in the darkness.
Then another.
A corridor began to form.
At the far end stood an old wooden desk.
Something was sitting on it.
Elena squinted.
A red envelope.
Adrian's expression became grim.
"Don't touch it."
Elena looked at him.
"Why?"
"Because that's the next part."
"What next part?"
He didn't answer.
Mara whispered, "The choice."
Elena looked at the envelope.
Her name was written across it.
ELENA CARTER
She took a step toward it.
Adrian caught her arm.
"Wait."
She looked at him.
"What?"
"Listen."
She went still.
A faint sound was coming from the corridor.
Footsteps.
Slow.
Measured.
Someone was walking toward them.
Elena's heart began pounding.
The footsteps stopped.
A voice came from the darkness.
"Elena."
She knew that voice.
It was her father's.
Her fingers went cold.
Mara covered her mouth.
Adrian stared into the corridor.
The voice came again.
"Come here, sweetheart."
Elena couldn't breathe.
Her father had been dead for years.
At least, that was what she remembered.
The voice sounded exactly like him.
Warm.
Familiar.
Patient.
Adrian tightened his grip on her arm.
"Don't answer."
Elena stared into the darkness.
The voice laughed softly.
"You always listened to me before."
A pause.
Then:
"Why don't you listen anymore?"
The red envelope on the desk slowly slid forward.
It fell onto the floor.
The seal broke.
A photograph slipped out.
It landed face-up.
Elena looked down.
It was a picture of her as a child.
Standing beside her father.
But there was something written across the bottom.
THE GAME DIDN'T BEGIN SIXTEEN YEARS AGO.
Elena's breath caught.
Another line appeared beneath it.
YOU HAVE ALREADY PLAYED BEFORE.
The footsteps started again.
Closer this time.
Adrian pulled Elena backward.
"Stay behind me."
But Elena couldn't take her eyes off the photograph.
Because beneath the final sentence was a date.
THREE DAYS AGO.
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