CHAPTER 17: THE PAST REFUSED TO STAY BURIED
1083 Words
The dream began the same way it always did.
Laughter.
Children running across a sunlit playground.
The distant ringing of a school bell.
Nate stood among them.
Small.
No older than seven or eight.
Everything looked strangely familiar...
Yet just out of reach.
He couldn't remember the faces.
Only fragments.
Someone called his name.
"Nate!"
He turned.
A little girl was running toward him.
Before he could see her face...
The memory shifted.
A gold medal hung around his neck.
Children clapped.
Teachers smiled.
Beside him stood another child.
A little girl.
Silver medal.
Her head was lowered.
Someone was crying.
Someone was angry.
Someone whispered...
"...It's not fair."
The voices became distorted.
The playground faded.
The sky darkened.
Then...
Another voice.
Older.
Gentler.
Urgent.
> "Listen to me..."
The world around him dissolved into darkness.
A pair of warm hands rested on his shoulders.
A man knelt before him.
His face remained hidden.
No matter how hard Nate tried to look...
He couldn't see it.
Only his voice.
Soft.
Filled with worry.
> "No matter what happens..."
> "Never tell anyone who you are."
Another voice answered.
Firm.
Steady.
Like an oath.
> "The Moon Goddess stands witness."
> "Our blood stands witness."
> "I will protect him."
The dream shattered.
---
Nate's eyes flew open.
He sat upright, breathing unevenly.
Morning light filtered through the curtains of his room.
For several seconds...
He simply stared ahead.
His heart refused to slow.
"...Again..."
He rubbed his forehead.
That dream.
He had seen pieces of it before.
Never the whole thing.
Never enough to understand.
He could remember the playground.
The medals.
The voices.
But every face...
Every single face...
Vanished the moment he tried to recall it.
He closed his eyes.
"...Why can't I remember?"
No answer came.
Only silence.
---
At that very moment...
Across the estate...
The atmosphere inside the Blackwood study was anything but peaceful.
A knock sounded.
"Enter."
The door opened.
Damien stepped inside carrying a black document folder.
He stopped before Derek's desk.
"First Young Master."
Derek looked up from the reports spread across his desk.
"You found something."
Damien hesitated.
It was brief.
Barely noticeable.
"...There was one detail."
Derek immediately caught the hesitation.
"Why wasn't it reported?"
Damien lowered his head.
"I believed it was an error."
The room grew still.
Only the ticking of the antique clock could be heard.
Damien carefully placed the folder on the desk.
"When we conducted our investigation before the marriage..."
"...one of my subordinates discovered inconsistencies regarding Young Master Nate's background."
Derek's expression didn't change.
"Inconsistencies."
"Yes, First Young Master."
Damien continued carefully.
"The file was never submitted."
Derek's gaze sharpened.
"Why?"
"The investigating officer believed it conflicted with the information provided by Mr. Carter."
"So he assumed the government records were incorrect."
"...Yes."
Silence.
Derek slowly closed the report he had been reading.
"That assumption was not his to make."
"...No, First Young Master."
Damien bowed lower.
"It was my oversight."
Derek finally opened the black folder.
Inside were several copies of official records.
Some complete.
Some unfinished.
Some...
Missing entirely.
He turned another page.
Birth Certificate.
Father's information: Incomplete.
Mother's information: Restricted.
Another page.
Medical records.
Unavailable.
School enrollment.
Transferred.
Transfer destination.
Missing.
Another page.
Residence history.
Only the island where Nate had grown up appeared consistently.
Everything before that...
Looked as though someone had carefully removed it.
Derek slowly looked up.
"This wasn't negligence."
"No."
Damien answered quietly.
"It appears intentional."
Another silence settled between them.
Derek tapped one finger lightly against the desk.
Once.
Twice.
Three times.
"Who benefits from erasing someone's past?"
Damien answered honestly.
"I don't know."
Derek looked back at the scattered documents.
"This isn't hiding information."
He paused.
"...It's erasing a person."
Damien remained silent.
Then...
"There was one more discovery."
Derek looked up.
"Mr. Carter..."
"...isn't Young Master Nate's biological uncle."
The room fell quiet.
"They're related?"
"Yes."
"But only through marriage."
"Young Master Nate's father and Mr. Carter were stepbrothers."
Derek's eyes narrowed slightly.
"Interesting."
Damien continued.
"We've verified it through older civil records."
"The information still exists."
"But only in archives."
"Someone attempted to remove newer records."
Derek closed the folder.
"Don't investigate Mr. Carter."
Damien blinked.
"...Sir?"
"Investigate everyone around him."
"The island."
"His parents."
"The town where they lived."
"The hospital."
"The school."
"I want every missing year accounted for."
Damien bowed immediately.
"At once, First Young Master."
As he turned to leave...
Derek spoke again.
"...Damien."
He stopped.
"Yes, sir?"
Derek's eyes rested on the incomplete birth certificate.
"If someone went to this much trouble..."
"...they weren't trying to hide Nate."
His voice became quieter.
"They were trying to hide who Nate came from."
For the first time...
Even Damien couldn't answer.
---
Hundreds of kilometers away...
A phone rang.
A middle-aged man answered almost immediately.
"...Hello?"
His expression changed.
"What do you mean someone was asking questions about my nephew?"
Silence.
His face slowly hardened.
"No."
"You don't tell them anything."
Another pause.
"If they come back..."
"Delay them."
"Tell them the archives are incomplete."
"Tell them the records were destroyed."
"I don't care."
"Just don't let them find anything."
The call ended.
He remained standing in the middle of the room.
His grip around the phone tightened.
A memory surfaced without warning.
A rainy night.
A crying child.
A young man placing a sleeping little boy into his arms.
His younger stepbrother.
Eyes filled with desperation.
> "Brother..."
> "You gave me your word."
Rain poured around them.
The little boy slept peacefully.
Completely unaware.
> "The Moon Goddess stands witness."
> "Our blood stands witness."
> "Protect him."
> "No matter what happens..."
> "...don't let anyone discover who he really is."
His stepbrother had nodded.
Without hesitation.
"I swear it."
The memory dissolved.
"Dear?"
A gentle voice called from outside the dining room.
Martha smiled as she peeked around the doorway.
"Dinner's getting cold."
He blinked.
The worry vanished from his face as though it had never existed.
He placed the phone into his pocket.
"...I'm coming."
He smiled.
The same calm smile everyone knew.
As though the conversation had never happened.
But once Martha turned away...
His smile disappeared.
Just for a second.
"They're looking for you now, Nate..."
His voice was barely a whisper.
"I only hope..."
"...I'm still strong enough to keep my promise."
He turned off the light and quietly followed Martha to dinner.
Behind him...
The unanswered questions remained.
Waiting.
For someone to uncover them.
- Writer
