A NAME BENEATH THE NAME
1668 Words
The card remained between them.
Elena read the last sentence again.
AND SO DID ADRIAN.
She looked at him.
He didn't try to take the card back.
That worried her more than if he had.
"What did you lie about?"
Adrian's eyes stayed on hers.
"Several things."
"That's not an answer."
"It's the truth."
"Then start with the first lie."
He looked toward the door Marcus had disappeared through.
"Your father."
Elena's expression tightened.
"What about him?"
"I told you he disappeared."
"You said that was the last thing you knew."
"I lied."
"Is he alive?"
Adrian didn't answer.
Elena stepped closer.
"Is my father alive?"
"I don't know."
"That's not what I asked."
"It's the only answer I have."
She searched his face.
"You know where he was."
"Yes."
"Where?"
"Here."
Her fingers tightened around the card.
"Sixteen years ago?"
"Yes."
"What happened to him?"
Adrian's jaw tightened.
"He went below the thirteenth floor."
"And?"
"He never came back."
Elena looked toward the floor.
"So you don't know if he's dead."
"No."
"Then why did you let me believe he disappeared?"
"Because it was easier."
"Easier for who?"
"For you."
She laughed once, but there was no humor in it.
"You don't get to decide what's easier for me."
"I know."
"You keep saying that."
"Because you're right."
The card suddenly grew warm.
Elena dropped it.
It landed face-up.
The words had changed.
TRUTH REQUIRES A PRICE.
A small line appeared beneath it.
ONE MEMORY.
Adrian crouched and picked up the card.
"Don't."
Elena stopped him.
"What?"
"Don't give it anything."
"What happens if we don't?"
"We wait."
"How long?"
"I don't know."
The lights above them flickered.
Then the speaker came alive.
"Thirty seconds."
Elena looked up.
"Thirty seconds for what?"
"Choose a memory."
Adrian's face hardened.
"No."
The voice continued.
"Thirty."
A digital number appeared on the wall.
29
28
27
Elena stared.
"What memory does it want?"
"Something important."
"How important?"
"Important enough to hurt."
The number dropped.
21
Elena looked at Adrian.
"Can we choose someone else's?"
"No."
"How do you know?"
"Because I've seen this game before."
She froze.
"You've played it?"
"Not this exact version."
"But you know it."
"Yes."
"With my father?"
Adrian nodded.
"Yes."
The number reached:
15
Elena felt her heart beating harder.
"What did he give?"
Adrian looked at the floor.
"Your mother."
She stared.
"What?"
"One memory of her."
"Why?"
"Because the game wouldn't accept anything else."
"What memory?"
"I don't know."
"You're lying again."
"I'm not."
The number reached:
10
Elena closed her eyes.
Her mother's face came to mind.
She could remember her voice.
Her hands.
The smell of her perfume.
The way she used to fix Elena's hair.
She opened her eyes.
"I'll give it."
Adrian shook his head.
"No."
"Why?"
"Because you don't know what it'll take."
"If we don't, what happens?"
"I don't know."
"Then I'm choosing."
She picked up the card.
The number reached:
5
4
3
Elena pressed her thumb against the black surface.
"I give it."
The number disappeared.
For a moment, nothing happened.
Then Elena's head throbbed.
She stumbled.
Adrian caught her before she fell.
"Elena."
She grabbed his shirt.
Something was disappearing.
Not completely.
It was more like a photograph being rubbed away.
A face.
A room.
A voice.
She tried to hold onto it.
Her mother's face became blurry.
Elena gasped.
"No."
Adrian held her shoulders.
"Stay with me."
She squeezed her eyes shut.
The memory changed.
She was six again.
Sitting on the floor.
Her mother was kneeling in front of her.
She was holding Elena's face.
"Whatever happens, don't open the red door."
The memory flickered.
Elena's father stood behind her mother.
He looked frightened.
Then the image changed.
Adrian stood beside the red door.
He was younger.
He was bleeding from his forehead.
He looked at Elena.
"Run."
The memory vanished.
Elena opened her eyes.
The room returned.
She was still holding Adrian.
Her breathing was uneven.
"What did it take?"
Adrian didn't answer.
"What did it take?"
He looked at her.
"You tell me."
She frowned.
"What?"
"Tell me what you remember."
Elena tried.
Her mother's face came to mind.
She could still see it.
But something was missing.
She couldn't remember the sound of her voice.
She couldn't remember the song.
She couldn't remember what her laugh sounded like.
Her eyes widened.
"My mother's voice."
Adrian's face fell.
"It took her voice."
Elena released him.
She stood there silently.
The speaker crackled.
"Payment accepted."
A door opened.
Behind it was a small room.
Inside stood a single chair.
And on the chair was Marcus.
His hands were tied.
Elena rushed forward.
Adrian grabbed her arm.
"Wait."
Marcus looked up.
His face was exhausted.
"Elena."
"Are you okay?"
He nodded.
"Mostly."
Adrian entered first.
He checked the room.
Nothing happened.
He cut the rope around Marcus's wrists.
Marcus rubbed them.
"Thank you."
Adrian stepped back.
"Who took you?"
Marcus looked at Elena.
"I don't know."
"Where were you?"
"Another room."
"Below?"
"Yes."
"Did you see the boss?"
Marcus hesitated.
"Yes."
Elena watched him carefully.
"What did he tell you?"
Marcus looked at Adrian.
"He told me you were never supposed to come here."
Adrian frowned.
"Why?"
"He said you were supposed to remember before the games began."
Elena's stomach tightened.
"Remember what?"
Marcus shook his head.
"I don't know."
"You've been saying that a lot."
"I know."
She stared at him.
He looked genuinely frightened.
Adrian noticed something on Marcus's wrist.
A small symbol had been drawn there.
A circle with a line through it.
Elena recognized it.
It was the same symbol from the photograph.
"What's that?"
Marcus looked down.
"I don't know."
Adrian grabbed his wrist.
"Who put this there?"
"I said I don't know."
Adrian's grip tightened.
"Who?"
Marcus winced.
"I woke up with it."
Elena stepped between them.
"Let him go."
Adrian released him.
Marcus rubbed his wrist.
"There's something else."
"What?"
"The boss told me something about you."
Elena waited.
"He said you shouldn't trust Adrian."
She looked at Adrian.
"Anything else?"
Marcus nodded.
"He said Adrian wasn't the first person assigned to protect you."
Elena's eyebrows lifted.
"Who was?"
Marcus looked at the door.
"He didn't tell me."
A faint sound came from the hallway.
Footsteps.
Slow.
Measured.
Someone was approaching.
Adrian moved toward the door.
"Stay here."
Elena grabbed his sleeve.
"No."
He looked at her.
"Don't go alone."
"I'm not."
Marcus stood.
The footsteps stopped.
Silence.
Then a piece of paper slid underneath the door.
Elena picked it up.
There was a photograph attached.
She stared at it.
Three people stood outside Vespera.
Her father.
Adrian.
And a woman Elena didn't recognize.
The woman was holding little Elena's hand.
On the back of the photograph was a date.
SIXTEEN YEARS AGO.
And beneath it:
SHE WAS THE FIRST ONE TO FIND HER.
Elena turned the photograph over again.
"Who is she?"
Adrian looked at it.
His face changed.
He knew her.
Elena noticed immediately.
"You know her."
Adrian said nothing.
"Who is she?"
"Someone who shouldn't be here."
"That's not her name."
"I know."
"Then tell me."
Adrian looked at Marcus.
"Leave the room."
Marcus frowned.
"Why?"
"Now."
Marcus stepped toward the door.
Elena stopped him.
"No."
Adrian looked at her.
"Elena."
"I'm tired of people telling me to leave whenever something important happens."
"You're not ready."
"Then make me ready."
He stared at her.
She held up the photograph.
"Who is she?"
Adrian finally spoke.
"Her name was Clara."
"Was?"
"She died."
"When?"
"Sixteen years ago."
Elena looked at the photograph again.
The woman was smiling.
She looked kind.
Almost familiar.
"How did she die?"
Adrian didn't answer.
"How?"
"She took your place."
Elena went completely still.
"What does that mean?"
"Your father had made a deal."
"With the boss?"
"Yes."
"What deal?"
"One person had to enter the game."
Elena's voice dropped.
"And he chose her?"
"No."
Adrian looked at her.
"She volunteered."
"Why?"
"Because she knew what would happen to you."
Elena stared at the photograph.
The woman was holding her hand.
She looked down at their hands.
Something about the picture felt familiar.
Not like a memory.
Like a feeling.
"What happened to Clara?"
Adrian looked toward the door.
"She lost."
"Then what?"
"The game didn't kill her."
Elena's eyes narrowed.
"Then where is she?"
Adrian's silence answered before his words did.
"Below."
A cold chill moved through Elena.
"You mean she's still here?"
"No."
"Then where?"
Adrian looked at the symbol on Marcus's wrist.
"That's what we've been trying to find out."
The lights flickered.
Once.
Twice.
Then the speaker came alive.
A man's voice filled the room.
"Stop telling her half the story, Adrian."
Adrian's face went pale.
Elena looked toward the ceiling.
The voice continued.
"Tell her what Clara really did."
Adrian said nothing.
The voice laughed.
"Tell her who opened the red door."
Elena froze.
Her mother's warning returned.
Don't open the red door.
She looked at Adrian.
"Who opened it?"
He didn't answer.
The speaker crackled again.
"Tell her."
Elena stepped closer.
"Adrian."
He looked at her.
His expression was unlike anything she had seen from him before.
Fear.
Real fear.
"I opened it."
Elena stared.
"You?"
He nodded.
"Why?"
Adrian looked at the photograph of Clara.
"Because your father told me you were trapped inside."
Elena's heart stopped.
"But I was six."
"Yes."
"You went inside to get me?"
"Yes."
"What happened?"
Adrian looked at the photograph.
"I found you."
Elena's voice became barely audible.
"Then why don't I remember?"
He looked at her.
"Because I didn't bring you out."
Silence.
Marcus stepped backward.
Elena stared at Adrian.
"What?"
"You were already outside."
Her brows pulled together.
"Then who did you find?"
Adrian didn't answer.
The speaker did.
"His first mistake was thinking he rescued you."
The lights went out.
A child's voice whispered through the darkness.
Not from the speaker.
Not from the hallway.
Right beside Elena.
"You rescued the wrong girl."
- Writer
- chap_listContents
- likeADD