Chapter 12: The Man in the Photograph
I stared at the image.
My brain refused to understand it.
The photograph showed Elena inside the hospital.
Standing in the hallway.
Talking to a man.
A man wearing a black leather vest.
A man with my face.
My build.
My clothes.
But it wasn’t me.
I looked closer.
The picture was old.
Not from today.
The timestamp was fifteen years earlier.
The same night Elena disappeared.
My hands went cold.
Marcus watched my reaction.
“You remember him?””
I looked up.
“Who is that?””
Marcus smiled.
“That’s the question you should have asked fifteen years ago.””
My anger returned.
“Stop playing games.””
He looked at the photo.
“That man convinced Elena to leave.””
I stared.
“No.””
Marcus tilted his head.
“You still trust memories too much.””
I looked at Raymond.
His face was pale.
“You know something.””
He didn’t answer.
That was enough.
I turned.
“Raymond.””
He looked away.
“Tell me.””
He sighed.
“The night Elena disappeared…”
I waited.
“You weren’t the only one who went to see her.””
My chest tightened.
“What?””
Raymond swallowed.
“Someone wearing your vest showed up.””
My mind raced.
“That’s impossible.””
“I know.””
“Then who was it?””
Nobody answered.
The silence was unbearable.
Marcus stepped closer.
“You spent fifteen years blaming Elena.””
His voice lowered.
“But the person who separated you wasn’t her.””
I looked at the photograph again.
The man.
My clothes.
My identity.
Someone had pretended to be me.
Someone had destroyed my life using my own face.
I felt sick.
“Who was he?””
Marcus smiled.
“You’re finally asking the right question.””
I grabbed his jacket.
“Who?””
He looked at my hand.
Then back at me.
“The man who knew you better than anyone.””
My grip loosened.
No.
My mind rejected the possibility.
There was only one person who knew my clothes.
My habits.
My movements.
One person who could imitate me.
Thomas.
I turned.
Thomas was gone.
The space where he had been standing was empty.
Raymond noticed.
“Where did he go?””
My heart dropped.
I looked at Marcus.
“You planned this.””
Marcus shook his head.
“No.””
For once, he sounded serious.
“Thomas was never working for me.””
I frowned.
“Then who?””
Marcus looked toward the darkness.
“Someone worse.””
A siren sounded in the distance.
The hospital.
My stomach tightened.
Elena.
Maya.
I ran.
I didn’t care about Marcus.
I didn’t care about answers.
I cared about them.
When I reached the hospital, the entrance was chaos.
Security guards moved quickly.
The nurse saw me.
“Mr. Bear!””
“Where’s Elena?””
Her face changed.
“She left.””
My heart stopped.
“What?””
“She said she needed to find you.””
“No.””
The nurse looked terrified.
“She took Maya.””
The world went silent.
I grabbed the counter.
“When?””
“Five minutes ago.””
Five minutes.
That was all it took.
I looked outside.
My motorcycle was still there.
But beside it was something new.
A piece of blue chalk.
And a note.
Written in a child’s handwriting.
I picked it up.
My hands shook.
It said:
*Daddy, Mommy said I have to trust you.*
I couldn’t breathe.
Daddy.
A word I never thought I would hear.
A word I missed fifteen years of.
Then underneath it was another sentence.
Not from Maya.
From Elena.
*Bear, if you’re reading this, I finally found the courage to tell you where the truth is.*
I turned the paper over.
There was one final line.
One location.
One place.
A place I knew.
A place where everything started.
The old warehouse.
Where I first discovered Marcus’s secrets.
Raymond looked over my shoulder.
His face changed.
“No.””
I looked at him.
“What?””
He stared at the address.
“That place was destroyed.””
I folded the note.
“Apparently not.””
My phone rang.
Unknown number.
I answered.
No one spoke.
Then I heard Elena’s voice.
Quiet.
Terrified.
“Bear.””
I closed my eyes.
“I’m coming.””
A pause.
Then she whispered:
“Don’t come alone.””
The call ended.
And a second later, another voice played through the phone.
Marcus.
“Because this time…”
May you like
A pause.
“…you’re not the one being rescued.””
