PART FOUR

Jason stared at the photograph on his phone. Elena sat in a dark room, her hands tied behind her back. She looked terrified, but she was alive. That was all that mattered to him at the moment.

He zoomed in, focusing on the woman sitting beside her. Her face was turned away, but something about her felt familiar.

His phone vibrated.

Do you remember her?

Who is she? He replied.

The reply came almost instantly.

You already know.

Jason stared at the photograph again until his eyes caught a small scar near the woman’s eyebrow. A memory flashed through his mind.

Rain. A dark road. A little girl crying alone.

He remembered getting out of his father’s car and seeing her She had looked straight at him, fear filling her eyes.

Please don’t let him take me.

Jason’s phone vibrated again.

You saw her that night. Ask your father.

His face hardened. His father had been dead for years.

Unless someone else knew.

He called an old friend of his father.

“I need you to tell me everything you know about my father.”

There was a pause. “Why?”

“Someone sent me a photograph of Elena.”

The silence changed.

“She’s alive?”

“Yes. But that’s not why I’m calling. Someone told me to remember the night I saw a little girl.”

The man went quiet.

“You know something.”

“I don’t know what you mean.”

“Who was the girl?”

After a long silence, he finally answered.

“Maya.”

Jason froze.

“Maya?”

“Stop looking into this, Jason.”

“Is she alive?”

The call ended.

Maya.

The name brought back memories of Elena mentioning her years ago. Now everything felt connected.

Jason searched his old messages with Elena but found nothing. Then he remembered the wooden box she had always kept hidden. He found it at the back of a shelf and opened it with an old key.

Inside were photographs, letters, and a newspaper clipping.

The photograph stopped him cold.

Elena. Maya. And Jason’s father.

On the back, four words were written:

The night everything changed.

The newspaper headline read:

LOCAL GIRL REPORTED MISSING.

Jason stared at the photograph beneath it. The same little girl. The same scar.

Maya.

Then he saw his father’s name in the article.

His father had known her.

He had been involved.

Meanwhile, Elena stared at Maya. “You sent Jason the photograph?”

“No.”

“Then who did?”

Maya’s expression tightened. “Someone else is involved.”

Before Elena could respond, the door opened.

A man stepped inside.

Elena went pale.

“You…”

He smiled.

“It’s been a long time.”

Maya looked between them. “You know him?”

Elena couldn’t speak.

The man looked at her calmly. “Jason will remember everything soon.”

Later, Jason’s phone rang.

“You finally found the box,” the caller said.

“What happened that night? What did my father do to Maya?”

“You’re asking the wrong question.”

“Then what should I ask?”

A pause.

“Ask yourself why Elena was there.”

The call ended.

Then a message appeared.

Come alone.

Another followed.

Or Elena dies.

Jason looked at the photograph in his hand thinking Maybe finding Elena had never been the real purpose maybe they had never wanted him to find her they wanted him to remember.