SELENA BLACKWOOD

Chapter 5

Selena's POV ☘️

The photograph wasn't the beginning.

It was only the first thing they had allowed me to find.

That thought followed me as I ran.

I didn't know where I was going.

I didn't care.

All I knew was that I had to get away from the house.

Away from that man.

Away from my father.

Away from the questions nobody wanted to answer.

My feet carried me down the hallway before I even realized I was moving.

"Selena!"

Josh's voice followed behind me.

I didn't stop.

"Selena, wait!"

"No!"

I pushed through the front door.

Cold air hit my face.

I ran down the driveway.

"Selena!"

I heard Josh behind me, but I kept going.

I couldn't trust him.

Not anymore.

None of them.

The gate was still open.

I slipped through it and ran onto the road.

For a few seconds, I just ran.

My lungs burned.

My heart pounded.

But I didn't slow down.

I needed to think.

The man had known me.

He had looked at my neck.

He had said I finally remembered.

But remembered what?

I didn't remember anything.

At least, I thought I didn't.

Then the flash came back.

The white room.

The metal table.

The voice.

Don't let her remember.

I stumbled.

My hand flew to my head.

"What is happening to me?"

I looked around.

Nobody.

The road was almost empty.

I kept walking.

Running now seemed too obvious.

I pulled out my phone.

No signal.

Of course.

I tried calling Josh.

Nothing.

Dad.

Nothing.

Mom.

Nothing.

I stared at the screen.

Three missed calls appeared.

All from Josh.

I didn't answer.

Then another call came through.

Unknown number.

I stared at it.

It stopped.

A few seconds later, it rang again.

I declined it.

The phone rang a third time.

I switched it off.

"Okay," I whispered to myself.

"Just keep moving."

I continued down the road.

Five minutes.

Then ten.

The houses became fewer.

The street became quieter.

I looked behind me.

Nothing.

Maybe I'd lost them.

Maybe I had been overreacting.

Maybe—

A car passed.

Black.

I stopped walking.

The car continued.

I watched until it disappeared.

My heart started beating faster.

I told myself it was nothing.

Just a car.

Then I noticed another one parked farther down the road.

Black.

Engine running.

I stopped.

The windows were tinted.

I couldn't see inside.

I took one step backward.

The car remained still.

I turned around and walked in the opposite direction.

Slowly at first.

Then faster.

I heard an engine start behind me.

I didn't look back.

I walked faster.

The engine followed.

I crossed the road.

The car crossed too.

My stomach dropped.

I started running.

The car accelerated.

I heard tires against the road.

I ran harder.

My bag slipped from my shoulder.

I didn't stop to pick it up.

"Help!"

My voice disappeared into the empty street.

I ran around a corner.

Nothing.

No people.

No shops.

No open gates.

Nothing.

I looked behind me.

The car was gone.

I stopped.

Breathing heavily.

Maybe I'd lost them.

Maybe—

A hand covered my mouth.

I screamed.

A strong arm wrapped around my waist and pulled me backward.

I kicked violently.

The person holding me cursed.

"Hold her!"

I bit down on the hand over my mouth.

"Ah!"

The grip loosened.

I twisted around and elbowed whoever was behind me.

I ran.

Three steps.

That's all I got.

Someone grabbed my wrist.

I screamed.

"Let me go!"

"Stop fighting!"

"Get off me!"

Another person grabbed my other arm.

I kicked one of them in the knee.

He stumbled.

"She's stronger than we thought."

"Just get her into the car!"

"No!"

I screamed as loudly as I could.

Someone grabbed me from behind again.

I fought until my entire body hurt.

Then something pressed against my neck.

A sharp sting.

My strength disappeared almost instantly.

My knees buckled.

"What did you—"

My words slurred.

The street tilted.

I tried to grab onto something.

Anything.

But my fingers closed around nothing.

The last thing I saw was the black car.

The last thing I heard was a man's voice.

"Careful with her."

Another voice answered.

"We need her conscious."

Then darkness swallowed everything.

---

When I opened my eyes, I couldn't move.

My wrists were tied.

My ankles were tied.

I pulled against the restraints.

Nothing.

Panic immediately flooded my chest.

"Help!"

My voice echoed.

A chair scraped against the floor.

Someone was sitting in the corner.

I stared at the silhouette.

A woman slowly stood.

She walked into the light.

I didn't recognize her.

"Where am I?"

She ignored my question.

Instead, she looked at the man standing beside the door.

"She's awake."

The man nodded.

Then he looked at me.

"Good."

I pulled against the restraints again.

"Let me go!"

The woman walked closer.

"Selena Blackwood."

My blood ran cold.

"How do you know my name?"

She smiled faintly.

"We know quite a lot about you."

"Who are you?"

"That's not important."

"It is to me."

She pulled a chair toward the bed and sat.

"We're not interested in hurting you."

"Then untie me."

"Not yet."

I glared at her.

"What do you want?"

She studied my face for a moment.

Then she asked quietly,

"What do you remember?"

I froze.

The exact question.

Again.

"What?"

"What do you remember?"

"I don't know what you're talking about."

The woman leaned forward.

"You found the photograph."

My stomach dropped.

"How do you know about the photograph?"

She smiled.

"So you do remember it."

I said nothing.

She watched me carefully.

"You don't know why you were shown that photograph, do you?"

"No."

"You don't know who the little girl is?"

I swallowed.

"I already told you. It's me."

The woman's expression changed.

"Yes."

She leaned back.

"That's what makes this complicated."

"What does?"

"You."

I stared at her.

She reached into her coat.

I tensed.

But she only pulled out a photograph.

My photograph.

The one I'd lost.

She placed it on the table.

"You were never supposed to see this."

I looked at it.

"Then why did someone leave it for me?"

The woman didn't answer.

Instead, she asked another question.

"What happened after you found it?"

I frowned.

"I went home."

"And?"

"I talked to my brother."

"What did he say?"

I hesitated.

Then I remembered Josh's face.

His fear.

His warning.

"You don't understand."

"He knew something."

"What?"

"I don't know."

"Your father?"

I looked away.

"He knew too."

"And your mother?"

I stayed silent.

The woman nodded slowly.

"Exactly."

I frowned.

"What?"

"Everyone around you knows something."

She stood.

"And everyone has been waiting for one thing."

"What?"

She looked directly into my eyes.

"For you to remember."

My stomach twisted.

"I don't remember anything."

The woman studied me.

Then she walked toward the door.

"Maybe not consciously."

She stopped.

"But memories have a way of returning."

The door opened.

Before she left, she looked back at me.

"And when yours do..."

She paused.

"People are going to come looking for you."

The door closed.

I stared at it.

My heart was pounding.

Who were these people?

And why did everyone keep asking me what I remembered?

I closed my eyes.

The white room appeared again.

The metal table.

The bright lights.

A little girl crying.

A man's voice.

Then another voice.

A woman's.

"She's waking up."

My eyes flew open.

I gasped.

For the first time, I wasn't sure whether the memories were coming back...

Or whether someone was trying to make me remember something that had never happened.

And somewhere outside the room, someone whispered—

"She remembered something."

A pause.

Then another voice answered.

"Tell them."

My blood ran cold.

Because suddenly, I understood.

The people who had taken me weren't the same people I'd been running from.

And whatever they wanted from me...

someone else was looking for me too.