Chapter 7: The Memory I Buried
Evelyn Shaw’s words followed me long after she left.
Not because I believed her.
Because a small part of me was afraid she was right.
*Why did Lena trust you if you were the reason she was in danger?*
It was the kind of question designed to break someone.
A question without an easy answer.
A question that forced you to open doors you had spent years locking shut.
I hated that she knew exactly where to hurt me.
But what I hated more was that she wasn’t completely wrong.
There was something I had forgotten.
Something about that night.
Something I had buried so deeply that even I avoided looking for it.
Tiana noticed the silence before we reached my cell.
“You’re remembering something.””
I kept walking.
“No.””
“You are.””
“I said no.””
She stopped in the hallway.
“Marla.””
I stopped too.
The prison around us moved like normal.
Guards walking.
Doors opening.
Voices echoing.
But everything felt distant.
“She got inside your head,” Tiana said.
I turned.
“She knew something.””
“Everyone knows something.””
“Not like that.””
I looked away.
Because Tiana was right.
Evelyn Shaw hadn’t threatened me.
She hadn’t yelled.
She hadn’t tried to intimidate me.
She had simply asked a question.
And somehow that was worse.
Tiana stepped closer.
“What happened the night Lena died?””
I didn’t answer.
Not because I didn’t want to.
Because I wasn’t sure I could.
The memory was broken.
Pieces.
Sounds.
Images.
A door opening.
Rain against glass.
Lena’s voice.
Grant’s face.
But every time I tried to put it together, something stopped me.
Like my own mind was protecting me.
Finally, I said:
“I don’t remember everything.””
Tiana nodded slowly.
“Good.””
I looked at her.
“Good?””
“Yes.””
“Why?””
“Because if you remembered everything perfectly after three years of trauma, I’d be more worried.””
I almost smiled.
“You always find a way to make bad news sound reasonable.””
“It’s a skill.””
I looked down.
“There was a moment before I entered that room.””
“What moment?””
“I heard Lena arguing.””
“With Grant?””
“Yes.””
“What did she say?””
I closed my eyes.
The memory came back.
A voice.
Angry.
Afraid.
“You promised you would leave her alone.””
Lena.
Then Grant.
“You don’t understand who you’re dealing with.””
I opened my eyes.
Tiana watched me.
“What else?””
“I don’t know.””
“Try.””
I hated that word.
Try.
Like remembering was a door I could simply open.
I pressed my fingers against my temple.
“There was another voice.””
Tiana became still.
“Whose?””
“I don’t know.””
“Man or woman?””
I searched my memory.
“A woman.””
Tiana’s expression changed.
“What did she say?””
I swallowed.
“She said…”
The words came slowly.
“‘Marla cannot know.’”
Silence.
Tiana looked at me.
“That changes things.””
I laughed bitterly.
“Everything changes things.””
“No.””
She shook her head.
“This means you weren’t supposed to witness what happened.””
I stared at her.
“I walked in by accident.””
“Maybe.””
She paused.
“Or maybe you were meant to.””
The idea made my skin crawl.
Before I could answer, the prison alarm sounded.
Not the emergency alarm.
Something else.
A warning.
The lights turned yellow.
A voice came over the speaker.
“All inmates remain in place. Staff report immediately.””
Tiana looked up.
“That’s not normal.””
“No.””
I knew every sound in Blackridge.
Every alarm.
Every announcement.
And that one meant only one thing.
Something had happened that they didn’t want inmates to know about.
Five minutes later, Officer Carter appeared.
His face was pale.
“Marla.””
“What?””
“Come with me.””
I looked at Tiana.
She followed.
Carter didn’t stop her.
That told me enough.
Something was wrong.
We reached the administration wing.
The warden stood outside his office.
Two guards were inside.
And on the desk was a file.
Open.
Waiting.
I recognized it immediately.
My file.
“What happened?””
Nobody answered.
The warden looked at me.
“Someone accessed restricted records.””
“Mine?””
He nodded.
Tiana stepped closer.
“Who?””
The warden looked uncomfortable.
“Evelyn Shaw.””
My stomach tightened.
“She read my file?””
“No.””
He looked at the papers.
“She changed it.””
I walked to the desk.
“What did she change?””
The warden didn’t answer.
I picked up the document.
The page listed my history.
My offenses.
My behavior reports.
But there was something different.
A new entry.
One I had never seen.
*Incident: Unauthorized assault resulting in inmate injury.*
Date:
Three years ago.
Lena’s death.
I looked at the warden.
“That wasn’t there before.””
“No.””
“Who added it?””
The warden looked away.
I already knew.
Evelyn Shaw.
“She’s rewriting history.””
Tiana picked up the page.
“Why?””
The warden said quietly:
“Because if she controls the records, she controls what people believe.””
A cold feeling spread through me.
That was what she had done for years.
Not just to me.
To everyone.
She didn’t need to physically control people.
She controlled the story.
The door suddenly opened.
A guard rushed in.
“Sir.””
The warden turned.
“What?””
“We found something in the evidence room.””
“What?””
The guard looked at me.
“Another notebook.””
My heart stopped.
“Whose?””
The guard swallowed.
“Lena Parker’s.””
Nobody moved.
“That’s impossible,” I said.
The warden frowned.
“Why?””
“Because I just found her notebook.””
Tiana looked at me.
“Then this one is something else.””
We followed the guard.
The evidence room was small.
Rows of locked cabinets.
Boxes of confiscated items.
The guard opened a drawer.
Inside was a notebook.
Older.
Darker.
Different from the one we found.
The warden looked at it.
“Where was this found?””
“In the sealed evidence locker.””
“Who opened it?””
The guard hesitated.
“No one.””
“That’s not possible.””
“I know.””
Tiana picked it up carefully.
There was no name on the cover.
Only one word.
*MARLA.*
My breathing stopped.
Nobody spoke.
Tiana looked at me.
“Open it.””
I didn’t move.
“Marla.””
I reached out.
My fingers touched the cover.
And suddenly, I remembered.
A night three years ago.
Lena grabbing my hand.
Her eyes full of fear.
A notebook pressed into my palm.
“Don’t read this until you know who to trust.””
My younger self had taken it.
I had hidden it.
And then…
I forgot.
Not because I wanted to.
Because someone had made sure I did.
I opened the notebook.
The first page contained only one sentence.
Written in Lena’s handwriting.
*Marla, if you are reading this, then Evelyn Shaw has already convinced you that you are the villain.*
I looked at Tiana.
The next line made my blood run cold.
*But there is something you need to know before you remember the rest.*
I turned the page.
And there it was.
The missing piece.
The thing I had buried for three years.
A confession.
Not from Lena.
From me.
*I lied about what happened that night.*
My hands froze.
Tiana looked at the page.
“What does it say?””
I couldn’t answer.
Because the next sentence was worse.
*I lied because I was protecting the person who saved my life.*
I turned the page.
And beneath it was a name.
A name that made every piece fall apart.
A name I never expected.
The person I had spent three years trying to protect…
May you like
was not Lena.
It was Evelyn Shaw.
