Chapter 5: The Voice From the Past
Mason stared at the name on the screen.
*Mom.*
For eight years, that word had existed only in memories.
A faded photograph.
A voice he barely remembered.
The smell of lavender from a sweater she used to wear.
The way she hummed while cooking.
The way she used to tap twice on his bedroom door before entering.
Two taps.
Always two.
A habit from when he was little.
A habit that suddenly felt impossible.
His thumb hovered over the screen.
Nobody spoke.
Not Clara.
Not Ethan.
Not even Lily.
Because everyone understood.
This was not just a phone call.
This was a door.
And Mason had spent years believing that door was locked forever.
The phone stopped ringing.
The screen went dark.
Mason’s chest tightened.
“No.””
He pressed the button.
Nothing.
“No, no, no.””
He started tapping the screen.
Calling back.
Trying again.
But the number was hidden.
Unknown.
Gone.
Like a ghost.
“Mason,” Clara said softly.
He looked at her.
“What if that was really her?””
Nobody answered.
Because that was the question everyone was afraid of.
Lily stepped closer.
“Was it Mom?””
Mason looked at his sister.
She was holding the old photograph from the counter.
Their mother’s face.
A face Lily barely knew.
Mason swallowed.
“I don’t know.””
Lily’s eyes filled.
“But you said she left.””
The words were quiet.
Not angry.
Just confused.
Mason felt something break inside him.
Because he had told Lily that.
He had repeated it so many times that eventually it became easier to believe.
“She did,” he whispered.
Clara shook her head.
“No.””
Mason looked at her.
“Stop.””
The word came out harder than he intended.
Clara stopped.
“I’m tired of everyone changing my life every five minutes.””
His voice rose.
“First my dad is dead. Then he’s alive. Then he’s not.
Then my mom didn’t leave. Then she’s somewhere waiting.””
He grabbed his backpack.
“Do you understand what that feels like?””
Clara didn’t answer.
“You all knew.””
He pointed at the adults around him.
“You knew there was something wrong.””
Ethan looked down.
“You knew my parents weren’t who I thought they were.””
Silence.
“And you let me believe I was abandoned.””
Clara’s eyes filled with regret.
“Mason…”
“No.””
He shook his head.
“I don’t want apologies.””
The bakery door opened.
Cold air rushed inside.
Everyone turned.
An older customer walked out, completely unaware of the storm happening behind him.
Mason looked outside.
The street was busy.
Cars passing.
People walking.
The world continuing.
How could everything keep moving when his entire life had changed?
“Where is she?”” Mason asked.
Clara looked at him.
“I don’t know.””
“You’re lying.””
“I’m not.””
“You knew my dad.””
“Yes.””
“You knew my mom.””
“Yes.””
“You had a letter.””
“Yes.””
“Then you know something.””
Clara looked away.
That was the answer.
Mason stepped closer.
“Tell me.””
Clara whispered:
“I know where she was last seen.””
Ethan immediately looked at her.
“Clara.””
“She deserves the truth.””
“You don’t know what that truth will do.””
Mason turned toward Ethan.
“Why are you afraid of me knowing?””
Ethan didn’t answer.
“Everyone keeps acting like I’m holding something dangerous.””
Mason looked down at the photograph.
“But I don’t even know what it is.””
Ethan slowly sat down.
“When your father worked at Blackwood House, he wasn’t just investigating Richard.””
“Then who?””
Ethan looked at the photograph.
“People who had power.””
“What kind of power?””
“The kind that makes people disappear.””
Mason felt a chill.
“Like my mom?””
Nobody responded.
That was enough.
Mason looked at Clara.
“Where was she last seen?””
Clara hesitated.
Then reached into her bag.
She pulled out a small notebook.
The cover was damaged.
The edges were burned.
Mason recognized it immediately.
His father’s handwriting was on the front.
Daniel Carter.
His name.
Clara opened it carefully.
“Your father kept records.””
“Of what?””
“Everything.””
She turned several pages.
Names.
Dates.
Locations.
Notes written in a rushed hand.
Mason recognized some words.
Richard Vale.
Blackwood House.
Accident.
Elena.
His mother.
Then Clara stopped.
Her finger rested on one page.
“This is the last entry.””
Mason leaned closer.
The writing was messy.
Like Daniel had been writing while scared.
**November 14. Elena found the evidence. She knows the truth now.
We have to leave tonight. If anything happens to us, Mason and Lily must never be taken to Blackwood.**
Mason’s breathing slowed.
“Blackwood.””
He looked up.
“That place.””
Clara nodded.
“Yes.””
“Why would they take us there?””
Clara closed the notebook.
“Because Blackwood House wasn’t just where your father worked.””
“Then what was it?””
Before Clara answered, the bakery lights flickered.
Once.
Twice.
Then went out.
A few customers gasped.
The room fell into darkness.
For a second, Mason could only hear breathing.
Then a sound came from outside.
A car door closing.
Ethan immediately stood.
“Everyone move away from the windows.””
Mason froze.
“What?””
“Now.””
The urgency in Ethan’s voice made him obey.
Clara grabbed Lily’s hand.
They moved behind the counter.
Mason looked through the dark glass.
A figure stood outside.
Not Richard.
Someone else.
A woman.
Mason’s heart stopped.
Even from a distance, he recognized the shape.
The way she stood.
The way she held herself.
Something inside him knew before his mind accepted it.
“Mom?””
The woman stepped closer to the window.
Then the streetlight above her flickered on.
Mason saw her face.
Older.
Tired.
Different.
But the same eyes.
The same eyes he remembered looking at him when he was three years old and afraid of thunderstorms.
His mother.
Elena Carter.
Alive.
She lifted her hand.
Placed it against the glass.
Mason took one step forward.
“Mom…”
Then Elena shook her head.
Not a greeting.
A warning.
Her lips moved.
He couldn’t hear her.
But he understood one thing.
She wasn’t telling him to come closer.
She was telling him to run.
Suddenly, a loud crash came from the back of the bakery.
Ethan turned.
“Someone’s inside.””
Clara’s face went pale.
“No.””
Mason looked at her.
“What?””
She whispered:
“They found us.””
The back door slammed open.
A man stepped out of the darkness.
Mason recognized him immediately.
Not Richard.
Someone younger.
Someone who had been waiting.
The man looked directly at Mason.
Then smiled.
“Daniel’s son.””
Mason froze.
The man lifted a small device in his hand.
A recording began to play.
A familiar voice filled the bakery.
His father’s voice.
“Mason, if you’re hearing this…”
Everyone went still.
Daniel continued.
“…it means I failed to keep you away from the truth.””
Mason stared at the stranger.
The recording crackled.
“And it means the person standing in front of you is the one who betrayed us.””
The stranger’s smile disappeared.
May you like
Because Daniel’s next words were clear.
“Do not trust Ethan Cole.””
