Chapter 4 - The Voice Behind The Lie
"Lena."
The voice on the phone said my name again.
I stopped breathing.
It wasn't loud.
It wasn't threatening.
That was what made it worse.
The voice sounded calm.
Familiar.
Like someone who knew me well enough to know exactly how scared I would be.
Sebastian held the phone near his ear while watching my reaction.
"Who is this?"
No answer.
Only silence.
Then the voice spoke.
"You still remember Mia."
My hands became cold.
Sebastian's eyes narrowed.
"Where are you?"
A quiet laugh came through the phone.
Not amusement.
Something darker.
"You always ask the wrong questions, Sebastian."
The room froze.
Nobody spoke.
Because whoever was calling knew Sebastian.
Not just his name.
His personality.
His way of thinking.
The person on the other end knew exactly how he would react.
Then the voice continued.
"The question you should ask is why Lena was the only one Mia trusted."
I looked at Sebastian.
I didn't understand.
"I wasn't the only one."
The voice answered immediately.
"You were."
The call ended.
Sebastian lowered the phone slowly.
For several seconds, nobody moved.
Then Emma whispered:
"They know."
Sebastian looked at her.
"Yes."
She looked frightened.
"They know she remembers."
I turned toward them.
"What am I supposed to remember?"
Neither of them answered.
That was becoming the most terrifying part.
Everyone around me knew pieces of my life that I didn't.
Sebastian picked up the photograph from the table.
The one with Mia.
The one with my face circled.
"Lena, three months ago, Mia discovered something inside Bellhaven."
"What?"
"A file."
My heart started beating faster.
"What kind of file?"
Sebastian looked at the key sitting beside the photograph.
"We don't know."
Emma stepped closer.
"But Mia knew someone was hiding something."
I shook my head.
"Mia never told me about a file."
"She told you something."
I looked at Sebastian.
"No."
But my voice betrayed me.
Because suddenly I remembered.
The last conversation I had with Mia.
It happened in the kitchen after midnight.
She was crying.
I had asked what was wrong.
She looked toward the security cameras and whispered:
"Lena, if someone asks you about the old storage room, tell them you don't know anything."
I had laughed nervously.
I thought she was being dramatic.
I thought she was scared because she had been working too many late shifts.
But then she grabbed my wrist.
Hard.
She looked directly into my eyes.
"Promise me."
I had promised.
And then the next day...
She disappeared.
I sat down slowly.
"I remember something."
Sebastian immediately looked at me.
"What?"
I swallowed.
"Mia mentioned a storage room."
The expression on Sebastian's face changed.
Not surprise.
Recognition.
"You know where it is?"
I shook my head.
"No. She never told me."
Emma looked at Sebastian.
"The old storage room."
He nodded.
"The one that was sealed after the renovation."
My eyes moved between them.
"Why?"
Sebastian didn't answer.
Because he didn't need to.
The silence told me enough.
Something had happened there.
Something everyone wanted buried.
"I want to see it."
Sebastian looked at me.
"No."
The answer came too quickly.
I stared at him.
"No?"
"You don't understand what you're involved in."
I almost laughed.
"Someone has been following me. Someone sent pictures of me. Someone threatened me. I think I understand enough."
Sebastian stayed quiet.
I stood up.
"I am tired of everyone protecting me by keeping me in the dark."
For a moment, nobody spoke.
Then Sebastian walked toward me.
His voice was lower.
"I've spent years learning how dangerous people can be."
"And?"
"And people like that don't warn you unless they want something."
I looked at the package.
The key.
The photograph.
The messages.
"They want me afraid."
Sebastian shook his head.
"No."
He looked at me seriously.
"They want you to remember."
Those words stayed in my mind.
Because he was right.
The person behind everything wasn't trying to hide the past.
They were trying to bring it back.
That night, Sebastian didn't let me go home alone.
I wanted to argue.
But after everything that happened, I knew arguing wouldn't change his mind.
His security team followed us to a private building across the city.
I didn't ask where we were going.
I already knew.
Bellhaven had an old underground storage area beneath the original building.
A place employees never entered.
A place nobody talked about.
The elevator stopped at the lowest level.
The doors opened.
The hallway was dark.
Cold.
The kind of place that made you feel like you had stepped into a memory someone wanted erased.
Sebastian walked ahead.
Emma followed behind us.
"You've been here before," I said.
Sebastian didn't look back.
"Yes."
"When?"
A pause.
"After Mia disappeared."
I stopped.
"You searched for her."
He looked at me.
"Yes."
"Why?"
His answer was quiet.
"Because I knew someone was lying."
The hallway ended at a metal door.
Old.
Rusting.
A security lock hung from the handle.
Sebastian took out the silver key from the package.
It fit perfectly.
My stomach turned.
The person who sent the key knew this door existed.
They wanted us here.
Sebastian unlocked it.
The door opened slowly.
Inside was a small room.
Dust covered everything.
Old boxes.
Broken equipment.
A forgotten computer.
Emma walked inside and immediately froze.
"What?"
Sebastian looked at her.
She pointed toward the wall.
There was something written there.
Not painted.
Scratched.
By hand.
A name.
MIA.
Underneath it were numbers.
A date.
The day she disappeared.
I moved closer.
Then I saw something beside the writing.
A small piece of paper taped to the wall.
My name was written on it.
LENA.
My heart stopped.
I reached toward it.
But Sebastian grabbed my hand.
"Don't."
I looked at him.
"Why?"
His eyes were fixed on the paper.
Because underneath my name were four more words.
Four words that changed everything.
"She was there too."
The old computer suddenly turned on.
The screen flickered.
Everyone froze.
Nobody had touched it.
A video file appeared automatically.
The title was simple.
"Mia's Last Message."
Sebastian stepped closer.
Emma covered her mouth.
I stared at the screen.
Because I knew before pressing play...
Mia had made that video for someone.
And somehow...
She had made it for me.
Sebastian reached for the keyboard.
The video opened.
A woman's face appeared.
Mia.
Alive.
Terrified.
Looking directly into the camera.
May you like
Then she whispered:
"Lena... if you are watching this, it means they already found you."
