THE LAST PROMISE PART THREE - THE THING I FORGOT

PART THREE — THE THING I FORGOT I didn't sleep that night. Because there was one problem. I remembered the accident. At least, I thought I did. Twelve years earlier, when I was eighteen, I'd been involved in a car crash. My parents told me I was lucky to survive. I spent weeks in the hospital. After that, life continued. Simple. Ordinary. Until Elena. But the photograph changed everything. I called my mother. She answered immediately. “Daniel?” “Mom, I need you to tell me the truth.” Silence. “What happened to me twelve years ago?” Another silence. Then she said something I'll never forget. “Who told you?” “Just answer me.” She started crying. And that was when I knew. There had always been something missing. She finally told me. The crash hadn't been an accident. I had been driving with another person. A girl. A girl whose body was never found. Elena. I couldn't breathe. “What happened?” “We don't know.” “Then why didn't you tell me?” “Because you couldn't remember.” “What happened to my memory?” “You suffered a head injury.” I sat there in silence. Then my mother said: “Daniel, there's something else.” “What?” “Elena wasn't the only person in that car.” “Who else?” She hesitated. “Her brother.” I froze. The man who had called me. The man who knew where she was. The man who had been watching everything. I drove back to the house by the sea. This time I searched every room. Behind a loose wooden panel, I found a small metal box. Inside was a cassette tape. Yes. A cassette. There was an old recorder beside it. I pressed play. Static. Then Elena's voice. “If you're listening to this, Daniel, something has gone wrong.” My heart stopped. “I know you don't remember me.” A pause. “But I remember you.” I closed my eyes. Her voice continued. “You were the only person who tried to save me that night.” Another pause. “You were also the reason my brother thought I was dead.” I opened my eyes. “What?” The tape crackled. “I didn't disappear because I stopped loving you.” A pause. “I disappeared because someone has been trying to kill us for twelve years.” Then the recording ended. I sat there for a long time. Then I heard footsteps downstairs. Someone was inside the house. I grabbed the nearest thing I could find and moved toward the staircase. A figure appeared. It was the old man from my house. He looked at me. Then he smiled. “Your mother shouldn't have told you.” I stepped backward. “Who are you?” He reached into his coat. “I was there the night of the crash.” He pulled out a photograph. “And I know who caused it.” Before I could move, he said: “It was your father.”

The Last Promise

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