Chapter 9 — The Last Thing I Remember
1216 Words
Chapter 9 — The Last Thing I Remember
Alexander stood in the doorway with a gun pointed directly at Amara.
For several seconds, nobody moved.
Rain tapped against the windows, filling the silence.
Amara stared at the black flash drive in Alexander’s hand.
“You followed us.”
Alexander smiled.
“I knew you’d come here eventually.”
Ethan stepped in front of Amara.
“Put the gun down.”
Alexander raised it slightly.
“Move.”
“No.”
“You were given one job, Ethan. Keep her away from the truth.”
“I tried.”
“You failed.”
Amara looked at Ethan.
“You knew?”
Ethan didn’t answer.
Alexander laughed.
“He knew everything.”
Amara’s chest tightened.
“Then tell me.”
Alexander tossed the flash drive onto the table.
“Watch it.”
Ethan shook his head.
“Don’t.”
Amara looked at him.
“I’m tired of everyone telling me what I should and shouldn’t know.”
She walked toward the laptop.
Clara grabbed her arm.
“Amara, please.”
“I need the truth.”
She inserted the flash drive.
One video appeared.
The date was three years earlier.
OCTOBER 21.
Her birthday.
Amara clicked it.
The screen showed a younger version of herself sitting in a dark room.
Her face was bruised.
Her voice trembled.
“If you’re watching this, it means I forgot.”
Amara stopped breathing.
Her younger self looked directly into the camera.
“My father is lying.”
Alexander’s expression changed.
The video continued.
“I found his accounts. There are names, payments, photographs. He’s been paying people to make problems disappear.”
Amara looked at her father.
He remained silent.
The younger Amara continued.
“I don’t know who I can trust.”
The video changed.
Now she was standing outside Apartment 307.
Ethan was beside her.
“You can’t stay here,” he said.
“I know what my father is doing.”
“You don’t understand how dangerous this is.”
“I found the records.”
Ethan looked frightened.
“I’ll help you.”
“Promise?”
“I promise.”
The video ended.
Amara slowly turned toward Ethan.
“You promised me.”
“I did.”
“Then why didn’t you tell me?”
“I was trying to protect you.”
“Everyone says that.”
Her voice cracked.
“You all protected me by lying to me.”
Ethan lowered his head.
Alexander stepped forward.
“You weren’t just investigating me.”
Amara looked at him.
“What does that mean?”
“You were involved.”
“No.”
“You found the records and decided to expose me.”
“Because you were hurting people.”
Alexander’s expression hardened.
“Because you thought you could destroy everything I built.”
“You killed people.”
“I protected my family.”
“You destroyed ours.”
For the first time, Alexander looked away.
Clara stepped forward.
“Amara, there’s something else you need to know.”
Amara turned toward her.
“What?”
“The night of the fire, you gave Ethan the flash drive.”
Ethan nodded.
“I hid it.”
“Why?”
“Your father was looking for it.”
Amara stared at him.
“Where did you hide it?”
“Here.”
“In Apartment 307?”
“Yes.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Because your father was watching you.”
Amara shook her head.
“You had three years.”
“I was afraid.”
“So was I.”
Silence filled the room.
Amara looked back at the laptop.
“There has to be more.”
She opened another file.
This one was labeled:
307_FINAL.
Clara immediately stepped forward.
“Don’t watch that.”
“Why?”
“Because it shows what happened that night.”
Amara clicked it.
The video began.
The hallway of Apartment 307 appeared on the screen.
Three years earlier.
Amara was standing beside Clara.
Her mother looked terrified.
“You have to leave,” Clara said.
“I can’t leave you.”
“You have to.”
“What about Dad?”
“Forget him.”
“I can’t.”
Clara grabbed her shoulders.
“He’s going to kill us.”
The video shook.
Footsteps approached.
Alexander entered the apartment.
Amara’s younger self backed away.
“Let her go.”
Alexander grabbed Clara.
Amara screamed.
Then Ethan appeared.
He rushed into the room.
Alexander pulled out a gun.
The recording suddenly ended.
Amara stared at the screen.
“What happened?”
Ethan swallowed.
“I attacked him.”
“And my mother?”
“He shot her.”
Clara touched her shoulder.
“I survived.”
“And the fire?”
Ethan looked down.
“Your father had his men start it.”
“Why?”
“To destroy the evidence.”
Amara closed her eyes.
Another memory surfaced.
Smoke.
Heat.
Clara screaming.
Amara running toward her.
Then Ethan carrying her.
She opened her eyes.
“You saved me.”
“Yes.”
“But there was someone else.”
Ethan looked confused.
“A man.”
“What man?”
“I saw someone lying on the floor.”
Clara’s expression changed.
Amara noticed.
“Mom?”
Clara looked away.
“Who was he?”
Alexander answered.
“Someone who betrayed me.”
Amara stared at him.
“Did you kill him?”
Alexander said nothing.
Then the apartment door burst open.
Everyone turned.
A stranger stood there.
He was holding a gun.
“Give me the drive.”
Ethan stepped forward.
“Who are you?”
The stranger smiled.
“Someone Amara should remember.”
He looked directly at her.
“You really don’t remember me?”
Amara felt a strange chill.
His face seemed familiar.
A memory flashed.
A dark hallway.
A locked room.
A man’s voice whispering:
“When the time comes, I’ll come back for you.”
Amara stepped backward.
“I know you.”
The man’s smile widened.
“Finally.”
Ethan moved toward him.
“Don’t come any closer.”
The stranger ignored him.
Instead, he pulled a photograph from his pocket and threw it at Amara.
She picked it up.
Her blood ran cold.
It showed her three years earlier.
Standing outside Apartment 307.
Beside a dead man.
And in her hand was a gun.
Amara stared at the photograph.
“I didn’t kill anyone.”
The stranger smiled.
“That’s what you were made to believe.”
She turned toward Ethan.
“What is he talking about?”
Ethan’s face was pale.
“Amara…”
“What did I do?”
He didn’t answer.
She looked at Clara.
“Mom?”
Clara began crying.
Alexander suddenly lowered his gun.
Amara noticed.
Her voice became quiet.
“Why are you afraid?”
Nobody answered.
She turned the photograph over.
There was writing on the back.
THE MAN YOU KILLED WASN’T YOUR ENEMY.
Amara’s hands trembled.
“Who did I kill?”
The stranger stepped closer.
“That’s the question you’ve been trying to remember.”
The lights suddenly went out.
A gunshot exploded through the darkness.
Amara screamed.
And somewhere in the apartment, someone whispered her name.
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