Chapter 8: The Memory Buried in Fire
Cole stared at the photograph.
His hands went numb.
The image was impossible.
Wrong.
A child stood beside the old farmhouse.
A small boy with messy hair.
A small boy wearing the silver wolf pendant.
A small boy who looked exactly like him.
But the words written on the back of the photograph were worse.
You remember now.
But you still don’t know who you killed.
Cole slowly turned around.
Everyone was watching him.
Everyone except Richard.
Richard was watching the person outside.
And that terrified Cole more than anything.
Because Richard Maddox had spent the entire night acting like he controlled every move.
But now?
Now he looked like a man waiting for something terrible to happen.
“Who is outside?”” Cole asked.
Nobody answered.
His voice rose.
“Who is outside?””
Richard finally spoke.
“You need to leave.””
Cole looked at him.
“You don’t get to tell me what to do.””
“Cole.””
“No.””
He held up the photograph.
“Explain this.””
Richard stared at the picture.
His face changed.
Not surprise.
Recognition.
“You weren’t supposed to see that.””
Cole laughed quietly.
“Funny.””
He stepped closer.
“Everyone keeps saying that.””
His eyes moved between them.
“My whole life has been people deciding what I can handle.””
He pointed at the photograph.
“I want the truth.””
His mother looked at him.
“Cole…”
“No.””
His voice cracked.
“Not another secret.””
The person outside knocked on the window.
Everyone jumped.
Then a voice came through the glass.
“Cole.””
He knew that voice.
But he couldn’t place it.
It sounded familiar.
Too familiar.
Richard moved toward the door.
“No.””
Cole stopped him.
“You know who that is.””
Richard didn’t answer.
That was enough.
Cole opened the door before anyone could stop him.
Cold rain hit his face.
A woman stood outside.
Older.
Soaked.
Holding the photograph.
Cole stared.
Because he knew her.
Not personally.
But from somewhere.
“You.””
The woman looked at him.
Her eyes filled with tears.
“Yes.””
Cole frowned.
“Who are you?””
She swallowed.
“My name is Anna.””
Richard’s face went pale.
“Anna.””
The woman looked at him.
“Richard.””
The hatred between them was immediate.
Cole noticed.
“You know each other.””
Anna laughed bitterly.
“That’s an understatement.””
Richard stepped outside.
“You shouldn’t be here.””
“Neither should you.””
The rain fell harder.
Cole looked between them.
“Someone explain.””
Anna looked at him.
“I knew your father.””
“So did everyone apparently.””
Her expression softened.
“I knew Daniel before any of this happened.””
“Who are you?””
She looked at the pendant around his neck.
“I was there the night it happened.””
Cole felt his stomach tighten.
The night.
Everyone kept talking about the night.
The night he couldn’t remember.
“What happened?””
Anna looked at his mother.
Then Lena.
Then Richard.
“You really didn’t tell him.””
Nobody answered.
Anna nodded sadly.
“I thought so.””
Cole stepped forward.
“Tell me.””
She looked at him.
“The photograph is real.””
“I know.””
“No.””
Her voice lowered.
“You don’t.””
She pointed at the image.
“That was taken minutes before everything burned.””
Cole looked at the picture again.
The boy.
The farmhouse.
His father.
“Why was I there?””
Anna’s eyes filled.
“Because Daniel brought you there.””
Cole froze.
“My father?””
“Yes.””
“Why?””
“Because he knew he might not come back.””
The words were heavy.
Cole looked at his mother.
“Is that true?””
She nodded slowly.
“Your father wanted one last chance to explain everything.””
“Then why don’t I remember?””
Anna looked toward Richard.
“Because someone made sure you wouldn’t.””
Richard’s voice became sharp.
“Enough.””
Anna ignored him.
“Richard wasn’t the only person there that night.””
Cole looked at her.
“Who else?””
Anna hesitated.
Then said:
“Me.””
The diner went silent.
Cole studied her face.
“Why?””
“Because I was helping Daniel.””
“Helping him with what?””
“The evidence.””
Cole’s jaw tightened.
“The files.””
“Yes.””
“Where are they?””
Anna looked at the farmhouse road.
“Still there.””
Richard stepped forward.
“No.””
Cole turned.
“Why don’t you want me to go there?””
Richard’s eyes met his.
“Because you won’t like what you find.””
“That’s not an answer.””
“It’s the only one you need.””
Cole walked toward him.
“You spent twelve years hiding from me.””
Richard said nothing.
“You let me believe my mother was dead.””
Silence.
“You let me believe Lena abandoned me.””
Silence.
“You let me believe my father was a simple farmer.””
Cole’s voice broke.
“He was fighting monsters.””
Richard looked away.
“And now you’re scared because I’m finally seeing them.””
Richard’s face hardened.
“You think this is a story where you find the bad people and everything becomes simple.””
He stepped closer.
“It isn’t.””
“Then what is it?””
Richard looked at him.
“It’s the story of what happens when good people make one terrible choice.””
Cole stared.
“What choice?””
Richard didn’t answer.
Anna did.
“Your mother made it.””
Everyone turned.
Mary closed her eyes.
“Anna.””
Cole felt his chest tighten.
“What choice?””
Anna looked at him.
“The night of the fire, your mother tried to kill Richard.””
Cole went still.
His mother whispered:
“I was trying to stop him.””
“From what?””
Anna looked down.
“From taking you.””
The words shocked him.
“Taking me?””
Richard laughed bitterly.
“Your mother always leaves out the part where she almost destroyed everything.””
Mary looked at him.
“You took my child.””
“I was trying to protect him.””
“You were trying to own him.””
Cole stepped between them.
“Stop.””
Both went quiet.
He looked at his mother.
“What happened?””
Mary’s face crumbled.
“I found out Richard was your biological father.””
Cole already knew.
But hearing it still hurt.
“I found out what he was involved in.””
She continued.
“I wanted to leave.””
“And?””
“He wouldn’t let me.””
Richard’s expression changed.
“Because you didn’t understand the danger.””
Mary looked at him.
“You were the danger.””
Cole looked at Anna.
“What happened at the farmhouse?””
Anna answered softly.
“You found the gun.””
Cole froze.
Again.
The gun.
The missing memory.
“You remember.””
He shook his head.
“No.””
“Yes.””
“I don’t.””
Anna stepped closer.
“You were hiding under the stairs.””
The words hit.
A flash.
Darkness.
Dust.
A small hand covering his mouth.
His father whispering.
Stay quiet.
Don’t move.
Cole grabbed his head.
Another flash.
A gunshot.
A scream.
Someone falling.
Not Richard.
Someone else.
A woman.
Cole stumbled.
Lena caught him.
“What did you see?””
He looked at her.
“I don’t know.””
Anna’s eyes widened.
“You do.””
“No.””
“You do.””
She pointed at him.
“You just buried it again.””
Cole breathed heavily.
Then another memory came.
His father.
Blood on his shirt.
Holding the silver wolf pendant.
Giving it to him.
“Cole…”
A whisper.
A warning.
A promise.
“Don’t let them find the door.””
Cole opened his eyes.
“The door.””
Everyone froze.
“What door?”” Mary asked.
Cole looked at the photograph.
The farmhouse.
The underground room.
The locked entrance.
“I remember.””
His voice was barely audible.
“I remember the door.””
Richard stepped back.
“What do you remember?””
Cole looked at him.
“You weren’t the one my father was fighting.””
Richard’s face changed.
“Cole.””
“You were afraid of someone.””
Silence.
Cole turned toward the farmhouse.
“The whole time, everyone thought the secret was under the farm.””
He looked at the photograph.
“But it wasn’t.””
Anna whispered:
“What are you saying?””
Cole’s eyes moved to the old picture.
To the boy standing beside Daniel.
To the second shadow behind the farmhouse.
The shadow nobody noticed.
“The secret was who my father was hiding from.””
A phone rang.
Everyone froze.
The sound came from Anna’s pocket.
She looked at the screen.
Her face turned white.
“What?””
Cole stepped closer.
“What is it?””
She slowly turned the phone around.
A message appeared.
From Daniel Maddox’s old number.
A number that had been disconnected for twelve years.
*Bring Cole to the farmhouse. Alone.*
Cole stared.
“That’s impossible.””
Anna whispered:
“No.””
She looked toward the dark road.
“It isn’t.””
“Why?””
Her voice trembled.
“Because I received the same message twelve years ago.””
A pause.
“And the person who sent it…”
May you like
She looked at Cole.
“…was your father.””
