THE NIGHT EVERYONE FORGOT

The Night Everyone Forgot Chapter One: The Photograph Lucy had always hated the attic. It wasn't because it was dark. She was used to the darkness. It was because the attic felt like it was hiding something. The old wooden floor creaked whenever she walked across it, and the tiny window above her let in just enough moonlight to make the piles of dusty boxes look like shadows. Lucy sighed and pulled another box toward her. “Grandma really kept everything,” she muttered. Her grandmother had passed away three days earlier, and Lucy's mother had asked her to help sort through her belongings. Most of the boxes contained ordinary things—old clothes, letters, birthday cards, broken jewelry. Then Lucy found a small wooden box underneath an old blanket. It wasn't locked. Inside was a collection of photographs. Lucy smiled as she looked through them. There was her grandmother as a young woman. There was Lucy's mother as a little girl. There were pictures of birthdays, weddings, holidays... Then she stopped. One photograph made her stomach tighten. It showed six teenagers standing in front of the town's old clock tower. Lucy recognized the place immediately. Everyone in town knew the clock tower. But the date written on the back of the photograph made her blood run cold. October 17th, five years ago. Lucy stared at the six teenagers. She recognized five of them. Daniel. Maya. Thomas. Sarah. And... Lucy frowned. The sixth girl looked strangely familiar. She had dark hair, a small scar above her eyebrow, and the same silver necklace Lucy wore every day. Lucy slowly touched the necklace around her own neck. “No...” she whispered. She turned the photograph over again. Written underneath the date were six names. Daniel. Maya. Thomas. Sarah. Emily. Lucy. Lucy stopped breathing. Her name was there. But that was impossible. Five years ago, Lucy had supposedly been at home with her mother. She was certain of it. Or at least... she thought she was. Suddenly, her phone vibrated. Lucy nearly dropped the photograph. She pulled out her phone. There was a message from an unknown number. You found the photograph. Lucy stared at the screen. Another message appeared. Now remember what happened that night. Her hands began to shake. Then a final message appeared. Before they make you forget again. Lucy looked toward the attic door. For a moment, she heard footsteps downstairs. Slow footsteps. Someone was walking toward the stairs. Lucy quickly shoved the photograph into her pocket and switched off the attic light. She stood completely still. The footsteps stopped. Then someone whispered from the other side of the door. “Lucy?” She recognized the voice. It was her mother. But there was something strange about the way she said Lucy's name. Almost like she was afraid of her. Lucy didn't answer. Her mother tried again. “Lucy... what did you find?” Lucy looked down at the photograph in her trembling hands. And for the first time, she wondered if her mother already knew the truth.