The Photograph That Shouldn't Exist
1055 Words
STOP LOOKING FOR THE DEAD...
OR YOUR SON WILL JOIN THEM.
The blood drained from her face.
"Mummy?"
Ethan's voice trembled behind her.
"What's wrong?"
She quickly hid the note behind her back.
"Nothing."
But her hands refused to stop shaking.
Outside the apartment building...
Parked beneath a broken streetlight...
The same black SUV sat silently.
Inside...
A man lowered a pair of binoculars.
"They've received the message."
The driver smiled.
"What next?"
The man looked toward Amara's apartment.
His expression was completely emotionless.
"Now..."
"We wait."
He started the engine.
The SUV disappeared into the darkness.
Amara locked the door.
Checked every window.
Pulled every curtain closed.
Then she hugged Ethan so tightly that he could barely breathe.
Deep inside...
She finally understood.
Damien wasn't the only one whose life had been stolen.
Someone had buried the truth...
And now that truth was fighting its way back to the surface.
Someone was willing to kill to keep it buried.
As Amara clutches the anonymous threat against her son, Damien's assistant begins digging into her past. By morning, two people will be searching for the truth... while an unseen enemy prepares to silence them forever
Morning arrived, but sleep never did.
Amara sat on the edge of her bed, staring at the anonymous note that had changed everything.
STOP LOOKING FOR THE DEAD... OR YOUR SON WILL JOIN THEM.
She had read those words at least fifty times.
Each time, they became more frightening.
Across the room, Ethan slept peacefully, hugging the framed photograph of Damien to his chest.
He had refused to let it go.
"Mummy," he had whispered before falling asleep, "Daddy will remember us tomorrow."
Amara wished she had the faith of a child.
She quietly folded the note and slipped it into her handbag.
No matter how terrified she felt, one thing had become clear.
Someone was watching her.
Someone who knew where she lived.
Someone who had followed her to the cemetery.
She walked to the window and carefully pulled one corner of the curtain aside.
The street looked ordinary.
Vendors were setting up their stalls.
Children in school uniforms hurried past.
A bus honked in the distance.
Nothing seemed unusual.
Yet she couldn't shake the feeling that unseen eyes were still fixed on her.
Across town, the Blackwood Mansion buzzed with activity.
Damien sat alone in his office, but he wasn't reading the documents spread across his desk.
His thoughts remained trapped in the cemetery.
A knock sounded.
"Come in."
His assistant, Daniel, entered carrying a brown envelope.
"You asked me to investigate the woman."
Damien looked up immediately.
"What did you find?"
Daniel hesitated.
"Her name is Amara Okoye."
The name echoed strangely inside Damien's mind.
Amara.
Why did it sound so familiar?
"Continue."
"She's twenty-eight years old."
"A widow."
"She has a six-year-old son named Ethan."
Damien frowned.
"Who was her husband?"
Daniel opened the file.
According to official records...
"Damien Blackwood."
Silence.
The room suddenly felt colder.
Damien stared at Daniel.
"What did you just say?"
Daniel swallowed.
"The documents state that her husband was... you."
Damien slowly stood.
"That's impossible."
"I know, sir."
"But there's more."
Daniel placed several documents on the desk.
"A marriage certificate."
"Hospital records."
"Newspaper articles covering your reported death."
"And..."
He slid one final photograph forward.
Damien picked it up.
The photograph showed a smiling bride and groom.
The bride was Amara.
The groom...
Was him.
He stared at the image.
His pulse quickened.
"No..."
His fingers tightened around the photograph.
"This has to be fake."
Daniel shook his head.
"I checked with three different government offices."
"Every record appears genuine."
Damien looked back at the wedding photograph.
The happiness in his own eyes looked real.
Not staged.
Not forced.
Real.
His breathing became uneven.
Then—
Another memory flashed.
A woman's voice laughing.
"You're not allowed to look at me until the ceremony starts."
He closed his eyes.
The memory vanished before he could see her face.
He grabbed the edge of his desk to steady himself.
"Sir?"
"I'm fine."
But he wasn't.
Meanwhile...
Inside a luxurious penthouse, Isabella stared at her phone.
Her private investigator had just sent a message.
Damien has started investigating Amara.
Her face lost all colour.
"No..."
She immediately dialled a number.
The call connected after one ring.
"He knows."
The man on the other end remained calm.
"How much?"
"He has her file."
Silence.
Then...
"I warned you."
"I tried to stop him."
"Trying isn't enough."
The line went dead.
Isabella stared at the phone.
For the first time in years...
She realised they were losing control.
Back at her apartment, Amara was getting Ethan ready for school.
He adjusted his tiny backpack.
"Mummy?"
"Yes?"
"If Daddy remembers us..."
"Can he come to my school sports day?"
Amara smiled sadly.
"I hope so."
He grinned.
"I'll win a medal for him."
Before she could answer, her phone rang.
Unknown Number.
She hesitated.
Then answered.
"Hello?"
No response.
Only breathing.
Slow.
Deliberate.
"Who's this?"
The breathing continued.
Then a distorted voice whispered,
"You were warned."
The call disconnected.
Amara's hand began shaking.
Ethan noticed.
"Mummy?"
She forced another smile.
"Nothing, sweetheart."
But fear had already settled deep inside her.
Someone wasn't just watching anymore.
They were getting closer.
At Blackwood Mansion...
Damien couldn't stop staring at the wedding photograph.
His assistant returned.
"Sir..."
"What now?"
"We found something else."
Daniel handed him another envelope.
"This was recovered from storage."
Damien opened it.
Inside...
Was a gold wedding band.
Engraved on the inside were the words:
Forever begins with us.
The moment Damien touched the ring...
A violent pain exploded inside his head.
He stumbled backwards.
His vision blurred.
This time, the memory stayed longer.
He saw Amara laughing as she chased him through a garden filled with white roses.
She turned toward him.
"I love you."
He heard himself answer.
"And I'll love you until my last breath."
The memory shattered.
Damien gasped for air.
One question echoed through his mind.
If none of this was real...
Why did it feel like the happiest day of his life?
Damien's memories are becoming stronger, while the mysterious enemy has stopped hiding and has begun contacting Amara directly. Before the day ends, one of them will discover a secret that was never meant to be uncovered.
- Writer
