Mrs. Cole stood in the doorway, holding the box of matches.
Nobody moved.
Then she smiled.
It was the first time I'd seen her smile without pretending.
“You should have left when I told you to.”
Ethan stepped in front of me.
“Don't come any closer.”
Mrs. Cole laughed softly.
“You still think you can protect her?”
I looked at Ethan.
“Protect me from what?”
He didn't answer.
Mrs. Cole did.
“From the truth.”
She dropped the matches on the floor.
Then she walked away.
I turned to Ethan.
“Tell me everything.”
He looked exhausted.
“Seven years ago, Lena discovered that Mrs. Cole was stealing money from students who lived here.”
“And?”
“She found proof.”
I looked at the metal box.
“The things in here?”
He nodded.
“She planned to expose her.”
“What happened?”
“Mrs. Cole found out.”
My stomach tightened.
“That night, Lena was in Room 17.”
I suddenly saw it.
A flash.
Lena crying.
Me standing in front of her.
A door closing.
Then smoke.
I grabbed my head.
“Maya?”
“I remember something.”
Ethan moved closer.
“Don't force it.”
But another memory came.
Lena was inside the room.
I was outside.
She was shouting.
“Maya, open the door!”
I gasped.
“I locked her in.”
Ethan's face changed.
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“You were angry.”
“At her?”
“At what she had discovered.”
I shook my head.
“No. That's not right.”
Another memory came.
Lena holding my hand.
Her voice trembling.
“If we tell anyone, they'll come after us.”
Then another voice.
A woman's voice.
Mrs. Cole.
“You girls should have minded your business.”
I stepped backwards.
“She started the fire.”
Ethan nodded.
“She wanted to destroy the evidence.”
“What happened to Lena?”
“We thought she died.”
I stared at him.
“You thought?”
Ethan looked away.
“We never found her body.”
My heart began pounding.
Then I heard a sound behind me.
A quiet laugh.
I turned.
Lena was standing in the hallway.
Alive.
She looked at me.
Not Ethan.
Me.
“You remember now.”
I couldn't speak.
She walked towards us.
Ethan stepped back.
“You shouldn't have come back.”
Lena ignored him.
She stopped in front of me.
“You locked the door.”
Tears filled my eyes.
“I didn't know what she was going to do.”
“You knew enough.”
“I was scared.”
“So was I.”
Her voice softened.
For a moment, neither of us spoke.
Then she reached into her pocket and handed me a small key.
“This was hidden before the fire.”
I stared at it.
“What does it open?”
“Something you left behind.”
I looked at Ethan.
He looked terrified.
“What?” I asked.
Lena's eyes filled with tears.
“The door you locked that night wasn't the only thing you locked.”
She turned and walked away.
I looked down at the key.
There was a number engraved on it.
17.
Then I heard Ethan whisper behind me.
“Maya…”
I turned.
“What?”
His face had gone pale.
“That key doesn't open Room 17.”
“Then what does it open?”
He looked towards the stairs.
“The room where they found you after the fire.”
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