CHAPTER TEN
1351 Words
AT SIGHT
I wasn't alone at the river.
The words echoed through the room.
Nobody spoke.
Nobody even seemed to breathe.
For weeks they had chased fragments.
Broken memories.
Half-truths.
Scattered clues.
Now, for the first time, Ellen remembered someone who had actually been there.
Someone connected to the night everything changed.
Tania leaned forward.
"Who was with you?"
Ellen pressed a hand against her forehead.
The memory wasn't coming easily.
It felt trapped.
Buried beneath layers of darkness.
Like something fighting to remain hidden.
"I..."
Her voice faltered.
Farida immediately sat beside her.
"Don't force it."
Ellen closed her eyes.
Rain tapped softly against the windows.
The grandfather clock continued ticking.
Every second seemed louder.
Longer.
Then suddenly—
The memory broke through.
---
Six Months Earlier
11:47 PM
River Road
The rain had become violent.
Wind shook the trees lining the road.
Ellen tightened her grip on the steering wheel.
Her phone rested on the passenger seat.
The unknown caller had disconnected ten minutes earlier.
Yet the voice still echoed in her mind.
Come alone.
Or Augustus dies.
At first she had dismissed it as a threat.
A sick joke.
But Augustus's reaction changed everything.
The fear in his eyes had been real.
Too real.
And now she was here.
Driving toward the river.
Toward answers.
Toward danger.
The road ahead looked empty.
Silent.
Then headlights appeared behind her.
Again.
The same vehicle.
The one she'd noticed twenty minutes earlier.
Still following.
Still keeping its distance.
Ellen glanced into the rearview mirror.
The vehicle accelerated.
Closing the gap.
Her pulse quickened.
Something felt wrong.
Very wrong.
Then her phone rang.
Unknown Number.
Again.
Her stomach tightened.
She answered.
"Hello?"
Only static.
Then breathing.
Slow.
Controlled.
Deliberate.
The kind of breathing someone makes when they want you to know they're there.
"Ellen."
The voice sounded distorted.
Artificial.
Almost mechanical.
"Who is this?"
No answer.
Instead the caller asked a question.
"Do you trust Augustus?"
The words caught her off guard.
"What?"
"Do you trust him?"
Rain hammered the windshield.
The vehicle behind her moved closer.
Its headlights filling her mirrors.
"Ellen."
The voice sounded colder now.
"Turn around."
She frowned.
"What?"
"Leave."
The call disconnected.
Immediately.
Leaving only silence.
---
Present Day
Ellen's eyes snapped open.
Her breathing had become uneven.
Everyone watched carefully.
"What happened next?" Tania asked.
The memory continued unfolding.
Piece by piece.
Like a puzzle finally assembling itself.
"I kept driving."
Farida groaned.
"Of course you did."
A faint smile touched Ellen's lips.
Briefly.
Then disappeared.
Because the next part wasn't funny.
Not even slightly.
---
Six Months Earlier
12:03 AM
River Road
The river appeared through the darkness.
Wide.
Black.
Endless.
The water reflected flashes of lightning.
Making it look alive.
Waiting.
Watching.
Ellen parked near the edge.
The rain immediately soaked her clothes.
Wind whipped through the area.
The place felt abandoned.
Wrong.
There were no buildings.
No lights.
No people.
Nothing.
Then she saw him.
Standing near the riverbank.
A man.
Tall.
Motionless.
Watching the water.
The exact man Tania had seen beneath the oak tree.
The same face.
The same eyes.
The same unsettling calmness.
Ellen remembered approaching cautiously.
Her heels sinking into wet earth.
The man never turned around.
Never acknowledged her presence.
Not immediately.
Finally she spoke.
"Who are you?"
The stranger looked toward the river.
Not her.
The river.
Then he answered.
"You shouldn't be here."
The memory became clearer.
Sharper.
His voice had sounded normal.
Not threatening.
Not angry.
Concerned.
Almost desperate.
Ellen remembered frowning.
"Were you the one calling me?"
"No."
The answer came instantly.
Without hesitation.
Without uncertainty.
No.
Then another memory surfaced.
The man turning toward her.
The fear in his eyes.
Real fear.
Not for himself.
For her.
The realization struck Ellen even now.
Months later.
He had been afraid.
---
Present Day
Farida looked confused.
"That's the guy trying to save you?"
Ellen nodded.
"I think so."
Tania frowned.
"Then why was he following you?"
The question lingered.
A good question.
An important one.
Ellen slowly looked toward the window.
"I don't think he was following me."
Silence.
"I think he was protecting me."
Nobody knew what to do with that information.
Because protecting someone by appearing outside windows at night was objectively terrifying.
Farida said exactly that.
"He's doing a terrible job."
For the first time, Tania laughed.
A short laugh.
But genuine.
The tension eased briefly.
Only briefly.
Because the memory wasn't finished.
Not even close.
---
Six Months Earlier
Riverbank
The man stared at Ellen.
Then toward the road behind her.
His expression darkened immediately.
"What is it?" she asked.
No answer.
The stranger's entire posture changed.
The calmness vanished.
The concern intensified.
Almost panic.
Then headlights appeared.
Another vehicle.
Approaching rapidly.
The same vehicle that had followed her.
The man cursed under his breath.
The sound surprised Ellen.
Because until then he had seemed completely composed.
"They found you."
The words barely reached her over the storm.
"What?"
"You need to leave."
The vehicle stopped.
Three men emerged.
Dark clothing.
Umbrellas.
Purposeful movements.
Not ordinary people.
Not random strangers.
They looked prepared.
As though they had expected this meeting.
The man beside Ellen took a step forward.
Positioning himself between her and them.
Protectively.
The realization unsettled her.
One of the newcomers laughed.
A cold sound.
Mocking.
Predictable.
"You always interfere."
The stranger didn't respond.
The three men approached slowly.
Confidently.
Like hunters closing in on prey.
Ellen remembered the feeling.
The certainty.
Something terrible was about to happen.
Something irreversible.
Then she saw a fourth figure emerge from the vehicle.
And everything changed.
---
Present Day
Ellen froze.
Completely froze.
The memory hit harder than all the others.
Her face drained of color.
Tania immediately noticed.
"What?"
No answer.
"Ellen."
Still nothing.
"Ellen!"
The older woman looked up suddenly.
Her eyes filled with horror.
Raw horror.
The kind that leaves permanent scars.
Because she remembered.
Finally.
She remembered.
"It was Eddie."
The room exploded with silence.
Nobody moved.
Nobody blinked.
The name landed like a bomb.
Augustus's nephew.
The man who expected to inherit everything.
The man who hated Ellen.
The man who blamed her for taking his future.
Farida slowly stood.
"No."
Ellen nodded.
Tears formed in her eyes.
"He was there."
Tania's stomach twisted.
"You're sure?"
"Yes."
The answer came immediately.
Without doubt.
Without hesitation.
Yes.
For the first time since her death, Ellen remembered a face clearly.
And that face belonged to someone they already knew.
Someone close.
Someone dangerous.
---
The room remained silent for several minutes.
Everyone tried processing the revelation.
Eddie.
Not a stranger.
Not a mysterious figure.
Family.
The enemy is already inside the family.
Augustus's final warning suddenly made sense.
Tania slowly sat down.
Her thoughts racing.
If Eddie had been there...
Then Augustus knew.
If Augustus knew...
Then his death wasn't random either.
The realization created a terrible possibility.
One nobody wanted to say aloud.
Eventually Farida did it anyway.
"You think Eddie killed Augustus too?"
The question hung heavily in the air.
Their mother closed her eyes.
Ellen stared at the floor.
Nobody answered.
Because deep down they were all thinking the same thing.
Yes.
Maybe.
Possibly.
And that possibility was terrifying.
Because it meant they weren't dealing with a ghost story anymore.
They were dealing with murder.
Premeditated murder.
And the murderer might still believe Ellen knew something worth killing for.
The rain intensified outside.
Thunder rolled across the sky.
Then Ellen spoke again.
Softly.
Quietly.
Yet every word carried weight.
"There was something else."
Everyone looked up.
"What?"
The fear returned to her face.
Worse than before.
Because this memory was darker.
Much darker.
"Eddie wasn't afraid of me."
Silence.
"He wasn't afraid of the stranger."
More silence.
"He was afraid of what was in the river."
The room became deathly still.
And for the first time, Ellen realized the conspiracy surrounding CODAX, ViX, Augustus, and her own death might be connected to something far older.
Something buried.
Something waiting beneath the water.
Something powerful enough to terrify even the people willing to kill for it.
- Writer
