The missing night
1376 Words
I didn’t tell my mother about Raven.
I didn’t tell her about the photograph.
And I definitely didn’t tell her what he’d said.
Someone else was there.
Instead, I spent the rest of the night sitting on my bedroom floor with an old family photo album spread across my lap.
If I had really been in an accident three years ago, there had to be something.
A photograph.
A hospital bracelet.
A newspaper clipping.
Anything.
I turned page after page.
Birthdays.
Christmas.
School events.
Family vacations.
Then I found a picture that made my hands go cold.
It was taken three years ago.
I was thirteen.
I was standing beside my mother, smiling at the camera.
But there was something wrong.
My left wrist was wrapped in a bandage.
I stared at it.
I had no memory of the injury.
None.
I flipped the page.
A hospital discharge paper had been tucked between the photographs.
My name was printed across the top.
AVERY COLLINS.
Date of admission: three years ago.
I stopped breathing.
The paper said I had suffered a concussion.
Memory loss was listed among the possible symptoms.
But that wasn’t the part that scared me.
At the bottom of the page was my mother’s signature.
And underneath it, in handwriting I didn’t recognize, were four words.
Do not tell Avery.
I dropped the paper.
Someone had deliberately hidden this from me.
I grabbed my phone and took a picture.
Then I heard footsteps outside my bedroom.
I quickly shoved the papers back into the album.
The door opened.
My mother stood there.
She looked at the album.
Then at me.
Her face changed.
“What are you doing?”
“Looking at old pictures.”
“You shouldn’t be going through those.”
“Why?”
She didn’t answer.
I stood up.
“Mom.”
“It’s late.”
“Were you there?”
Her expression tightened.
“At the hospital.”
Silence.
My heart started pounding.
“You knew?”
She looked away.
“Go to sleep, Avery.”
“What happened to me?”
“You were in an accident.”
“What kind?”
“A car accident.”
“Who was with me?”
She froze.
That was all the answer I needed.
“Who was with me?”
“Avery—”
“Was it Elise?”
My mother’s face went completely pale.
She looked at me like I’d just said something impossible.
“Where did you hear that name?”
I couldn’t speak.
She walked toward me.
“Who told you?”
“Mom.”
“Who?”
“Raven.”
Her expression changed again.
Fear.
Real fear.
“You need to stay away from that boy.”
“Why?”
“Because he doesn’t know what he’s talking about.”
“Then tell me what happened.”
“I can’t.”
“Why?”
“Because some things are better forgotten.”
I stared at her.
“I don’t want to forget anymore.”
She turned away.
“You don’t understand what you’re asking.”
“Then help me understand.”
She didn’t answer.
Instead, she left my room.
I waited until the door closed.
Then I whispered,
“What happened that night?”
⸻
The next morning, Maya was waiting outside school.
She looked exhausted.
“You talked to Raven.”
It wasn’t a question.
I stopped walking.
“How do you know?”
“Because he called me.”
“When?”
“Last night.”
“What did he say?”
“That he told you.”
“Told me what?”
She looked around.
“Not here.”
We walked behind the school building.
Maya leaned against the wall.
“You were right.”
“About what?”
“I knew more than I told you.”
I crossed my arms.
“Start talking.”
She took a deep breath.
“Three years ago, you and Elise were friends.”
“I saw the picture.”
“She was your best friend.”
I frowned.
“I don’t remember her.”
“I know.”
“What happened?”
Maya looked down.
“You and Elise found something.”
“What?”
“I don’t know exactly.”
“Then what do you know?”
“That it involved people at school.”
“Who?”
“I can’t tell you.”
“Why?”
“Because I’m scared.”
“Of who?”
She looked at me.
“Raven isn’t the person you should be afraid of.”
A cold feeling moved through me.
“Then who?”
Before she could answer, a voice came from behind us.
“She’s not ready.”
We both turned.
Raven stood there.
Maya immediately stepped away from him.
“You shouldn’t be here.”
“I know.”
He looked at me.
“You found the hospital papers.”
My heart skipped.
“How do you know?”
“Because I knew you’d look.”
“How?”
“I know you.”
“You keep saying that.”
“Because it’s true.”
Maya shook her head.
“You shouldn’t tell her everything.”
Raven looked at her.
“She’s already finding out.”
“What happened three years ago?” I asked.
Neither of them answered.
“Enough,” I said. “I’m tired of everyone deciding what I can and can’t know.”
Raven’s expression softened.
“You were there the night Elise disappeared.”
“I know.”
“No.”
He stepped closer.
“You were there when she ran.”
“Ran from what?”
“Someone.”
“Who?”
He looked at Maya.
She looked away.
Then Raven said,
“Your father.”
My entire body went still.
“What?”
Maya whispered, “Raven…”
“My father?”
Raven didn’t look away.
“Elise was scared of him.”
I shook my head.
“No.”
“You asked her to help you.”
“No.”
“You both found something you weren’t supposed to find.”
I backed away.
“My father wouldn’t—”
“Wouldn’t what?”
Raven’s voice was quiet.
“Hide something?”
I couldn’t answer.
“Threaten someone?”
“Stop.”
“Make sure you forgot?”
“Stop!”
My voice echoed across the empty space behind the school.
Maya grabbed my arm.
“Avery, listen to me.”
I pulled away.
“No.”
I looked at Raven.
“Give me one reason to believe you.”
He reached into his pocket.
This time, he pulled out a small silver necklace.
My breath caught.
I recognized it.
I’d seen it in Elise’s photograph.
Raven held it out.
“She was wearing this the night she disappeared.”
I stared at it.
“Why do you have it?”
“Because she gave it to me.”
“When?”
“The night before.”
“Why?”
He hesitated.
“Because she knew she wasn’t going to see me again.”
My throat tightened.
“What did she say?”
Raven looked directly into my eyes.
“She told me if anything happened to her, I should find you.”
I stared at him.
“Why me?”
He didn’t answer.
Then Maya whispered,
“Because Elise believed you were the only person who could expose the truth.”
My heart pounded.
“What truth?”
Raven looked toward the school.
Then back at me.
“The reason your father made sure you forgot.”
A car horn sounded in the distance.
All three of us turned.
A black car was parked across the street.
Its windows were tinted.
Someone was sitting inside.
Watching us.
Raven’s expression immediately changed.
“Get inside.”
“Why?”
“Now.”
The car started moving.
Slowly.
Past the school.
Then it stopped.
The passenger window rolled down.
A man looked out.
I couldn’t see his face clearly.
But I recognized the car.
It was my father’s.
And suddenly, I understood why my mother had been so afraid.
Someone wasn’t trying to hide the past from me anymore.
They were trying to make sure I never uncovered it.
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