Chapter 10: The Night She Could Not Remember
The photograph shook in Nia’s hand.
She stared at it.
Then stared again.
Because her mind refused to accept what her eyes were seeing.
There she was.
Standing outside the funeral chapel.
Standing beside Marcus.
The same white coat she wore that winter.
The same scarf around her neck.
The same bracelet Marcus had given her on their first anniversary.
But there was one impossible detail.
She had no memory of that night.
None.
Daniel watched her carefully.
“Nia?””
She didn’t answer.
Her eyes stayed locked on the picture.
“When was this taken?””
Daniel swallowed.
“11:47 P.M.””
“No.””
Her voice was barely audible.
“That’s not possible.””
Terrence stepped closer.
“Why?””
Nia looked up.
“Because I was home.””
Nobody spoke.
The chapel felt colder.
“I was home,” she repeated.
She looked at Daniel.
“You know that.””
Daniel looked away.
That small movement hurt more than any answer.
“Daniel.””
He sighed.
“Nia…”
“Tell me.””
He closed his eyes.
“Marcus asked me to check on you that night.””
Her heart dropped.
“Why?””
“Because he was worried.””
“About me?””
“Yes.””
The answer made no sense.
Marcus was worried about her?
She remembered that night.
Or what she thought was that night.
She remembered being exhausted.
She remembered lying on the couch.
She remembered Marcus saying he had something important to tell her.
Then nothing.
A blank space.
A missing piece.
Detective Brooks stepped closer.
“Show me the picture.””
Daniel handed it over.
The detective studied it carefully.
Her expression changed.
“What?””
Nia noticed.
“What do you see?””
Detective Brooks looked at the timestamp.
“This photo was taken by Marcus.””
Everyone stared.
“How do you know?”” Terrence asked.
The detective pointed.
“Look at the reflection.””
They leaned closer.
In the corner of the image, reflected in a glass door, was a hand holding a phone.
Marcus’s hand.
Nia felt dizzy.
“He took this?””
“Yes.””
“Why would he take a picture of me?””
Nobody answered.
Then Evelyn whispered:
“Because he wanted proof.””
Nia turned.
“Proof of what?””
Evelyn looked broken.
“Of what happened that night.””
The words sent a chill through everyone.
Nia stepped toward her.
“What happened?””
Evelyn hesitated.
Then slowly sat down.
For the first time, the powerful woman looked old.
Tired.
“I need to tell you something.””
Nia waited.
“I lied to you.””
No one moved.
Evelyn looked at Marcus’s coffin.
“The night before he died, Marcus came to my house.””
Nia frowned.
“You said you went to see him.””
“I did.””
“Which one is true?””
Evelyn’s eyes filled with tears.
“Both.””
The room went silent.
“He came to me first. He asked me for help.””
“With what?””
Evelyn looked at the phone.
“With you.””
Nia froze.
“Me?””
“Marcus believed someone was trying to manipulate your memory.””
A cold feeling moved through her.
“What does that mean?””
Evelyn looked at the detective.
Then back at Nia.
“He thought someone was drugging you.””
The words barely registered.
“No.””
“Nia—”
“No.””
She stepped back.
“That’s impossible.””
Daniel looked disturbed.
“Marcus never told me that.””
“Because he didn’t trust anyone,” Evelyn said.
Nia looked at the picture again.
The missing hours.
The forgotten night.
The strange feeling that something inside her memory was locked away.
She pressed her fingers against her temple.
A headache started building.
Then—
A sound.
A faint memory.
A voice.
Marcus.
“Nia, don’t fight it.””
She froze.
“What?””
Everyone looked at her.
She whispered:
“I remember something.””
The chapel went silent.
A flash.
A dark room.
Marcus’s worried face.
His hand holding hers.
His voice.
“You need to forget tonight.””
Nia stumbled backward.
“No…”
Detective Brooks caught her.
“What did you see?””
Nia looked terrified.
“Marcus told me to forget.””
Nobody spoke.
Because that was worse than anything they had discovered.
Marcus wasn’t only leaving clues.
He had erased one.
The phone vibrated.
Everyone looked.
A new message appeared.
*Good. You remembered the first part.*
Nia stared.
Another line appeared.
*Now remember who was in the room with us.*
Her breathing stopped.
Because suddenly…
She did.
A shadow.
A voice.
A person standing behind Marcus.
And then she remembered the last thing she heard before everything went dark.
A woman’s voice.
Whispering:
“She’ll never remember.””
Nia slowly looked up.
May you like
Her face drained.
Because she recognized the voice.
