Chapter 10 - The MemoryClara began experiencing flashes.
A hallway.
A locked door.
Her father's voice.
Don't tell anyone.
A red notebook.
A woman screaming.
Then darkness.
She woke in a safe house with a splitting headache.
Daniel sat nearby.
"You've been unconscious for eight hours."
"Adrian?"
"Alive."
"Victoria?"
"Gone."
Clara sat up.
"I remember something."
Daniel watched her.
"What?"
"The accident."
She closed her eyes.
"It wasn't an accident."
Daniel remained silent.
"I was there the night my father died."
"Yes."
"I saw Victoria."
Daniel nodded.
"But someone else was there."
She opened her eyes.
"Me."
Daniel frowned.
"Clara..."
"I wasn't just a witness."
She stood.
"I helped."
Daniel stared.
"No."
"I remember."
She walked toward the mirror.
"I gave my father a folder."
Inside her memory, the scene returned.
Her father opened it.
His face changed.
He looked terrified.
Then he said:
"You were never supposed to know."
Young Clara answered:
"I already know."
The memory ended.
She turned to Daniel.
"What did I know?"
Daniel didn't answer.
Clara narrowed her eyes.
"What aren't you telling me?"
He looked away.
"Daniel."
He finally spoke.
"Your father discovered something about your mother."
Clara's heart stopped.
"My mother?"
"She wasn't who you thought."
"What does that mean?"
"She was part of Black Meridian."
Clara stepped backward.
"No."
"She left when you were young."
"She died."
Daniel shook his head.
"That's what you were told."
Clara stared at him.
"My mother is alive?"
Daniel nodded.
"And she's been watching you for years."
A phone rang.
This time, it was an unknown number.
Clara answered.
A woman's voice spoke.
"Hello, sweetheart."
Clara's world stopped.
She knew that voice.
Not from memory.
From childhood.
A lullaby.
A whisper.
A voice that had disappeared when she was six.
"Mom?"
Silence.
Then:
"You're finally remembering."
Clara's eyes filled with tears.
"Where are you?"
"Close."
"Why did you leave?"
"Because your father wanted me dead."
Clara's hands shook.
"That's not true."
"He lied to you."
"Where are you?"
"Come to the old Bennett estate."
"When?"
"Tonight."
The line went dead.
Daniel looked at Clara.
"We shouldn't go."
Clara picked up her coat.
"I'm going."
"Why?"
She looked at him.
"Because my mother just told me the one thing everyone else has been too afraid to say."
"What?"
Clara stared into the darkness outside.
"My father wasn't the hero."
May you like
She paused.
"He was the one who started Black Meridian."
