Chapter 6 - The Sister Who Was Never Gone
I couldn't move.
I couldn't speak.
I just stood there staring at the woman in front of me.
Because my mind was trying to reject what my eyes were seeing.
The woman standing in the doorway was older than the person I remembered.
Her hair was shorter.
Her face had changed.
But those eyes...
I knew those eyes.
"Claire..."
Her name left my mouth like a whisper.
The woman looked at me.
Tears immediately filled her eyes.
"Emma."
I felt the room disappear.
For years, everyone had told me the same thing.
Claire was gone.
My older sister had disappeared when we were young.
A missing person report.
A closed investigation.
A family wound that never healed.
At least that was what I believed.
I looked at Wesley.
Then at Sarah.
Then back at Claire.
"You're alive."
My voice barely worked.
Claire nodded slowly.
"Yes."
I stepped backward.
"No."
She looked hurt.
"Emma..."
"No."
I shook my head.
"That's impossible."
Wesley moved closer.
"Emma, please."
I turned toward him.
"You knew?"
His silence answered.
My chest tightened.
"You knew my sister was alive?"
Wesley looked down.
"I was trying to protect you."
I laughed.
A broken, empty laugh.
"Everyone keeps saying that."
I looked around the office.
"Everyone is protecting me."
I pointed at Claire.
"Except nobody thought I deserved the truth."
Claire stepped into the room.
The door closed behind her.
"I wanted to tell you."
"When?"
She stopped.
I already knew the answer.
"Six years ago?"
Her expression changed.
That was enough.
I felt betrayed all over again.
"Six years."
I repeated the words.
"The same time all of this started."
Claire looked at Wesley.
"He told you about the files?"
I froze.
"What files?"
Wesley closed his eyes.
"Claire."
She looked back at me.
"Emma..."
"No."
I raised my hand.
"Don't."
My voice shook.
"I don't want another person telling me they were trying to save me."
Nobody spoke.
The silence was unbearable.
I looked at my sister.
"The last thing I remember is you leaving."
Claire lowered her eyes.
"I know."
"You said you were going to meet someone."
"I did."
"Then you never came home."
Her eyes filled with tears.
"Because I couldn't."
"Why?"
She looked at Wesley.
Then Sarah.
Then back at me.
"Because someone wanted me gone."
A cold feeling moved through me.
"Who?"
Claire didn't answer immediately.
Instead, she walked toward the desk.
She picked up the old folder.
The one with my name.
Then she opened it.
Inside were photographs.
Documents.
Medical reports.
And one picture that made my heart stop.
It was me.
Six years ago.
Sitting in a hospital room.
Wearing a patient gown.
I looked exhausted.
Confused.
Afraid.
But I was smiling.
Standing beside me was Claire.
And Wesley.
I looked at the photo.
"I don't remember this."
Claire nodded.
"I know."
"What happened?"
Wesley finally spoke.
"You were injured."
I looked at him.
"Injured how?"
He hesitated.
Claire answered.
"Someone tried to kill us."
The words hung in the air.
I stared at her.
"Us?"
Claire nodded.
"You, me, and Sarah."
My eyes moved toward Sarah.
"Why?"
Sarah looked away.
"Because we found something."
"What?"
Nobody answered.
I slammed the folder onto the desk.
"Enough."
My voice echoed.
"I am tired of pieces."
I looked at all of them.
"I want the whole truth."
Claire took a deep breath.
Then she said:
"St. Alden wasn't just a hospital."
I frowned.
"What does that mean?"
"Six years ago, there was a program inside this hospital."
Wesley looked uncomfortable.
"A confidential medical research project."
Sarah shook her head.
"Not just research."
She looked at me.
"They were changing records."
I stared.
"Changing what records?"
Claire looked at the files.
"People's identities."
The words felt impossible.
But after everything I had seen...
nothing felt impossible anymore.
"Why?"
Claire looked at me.
"Because some people needed to disappear."
I thought about Evelyn.
The fake wife.
The badge.
The videos.
The envelopes.
The hidden files.
"Was Evelyn part of this?"
Sarah nodded.
"She was one of the first people who tried to expose it."
"Then why did she pretend to be my husband's wife?"
Claire looked at Wesley.
"Because she needed access."
"To what?"
Nobody answered.
And then I realized.
"To my file."
Wesley looked at me.
I stepped closer.
"The file with my name."
He didn't deny it.
"What is inside?"
He looked exhausted.
"Your memory."
The room became silent.
I felt my heartbeat slow.
"My what?"
"Six years ago, after the accident, you lost part of your memory."
I stared at him.
"I had an accident?"
He nodded.
"But not the kind you think."
My hands started shaking.
"What happened?"
Wesley looked at Claire.
She nodded.
And then he said:
"You weren't injured because you were in the wrong place."
A pause.
"You were injured because you found something."
The room felt colder.
"What did I find?"
Wesley walked to the computer.
He opened another file.
A video appeared.
The date was six years earlier.
The title:
"EMMA'S FINAL STATEMENT."
My stomach dropped.
"Final?"
Nobody answered.
The video started.
I saw myself.
Six years younger.
Sitting in this exact office.
Talking into a camera.
My own voice came through the speakers.
"If someone is watching this..."
I covered my mouth.
Because I didn't remember recording it.
My younger self looked directly into the camera.
"I need you to understand something."
The video paused.
A system notification appeared.
FILE CORRUPTED.
Wesley frowned.
"No."
He clicked again.
Nothing happened.
Then the screen changed.
A new message appeared.
Not from the computer.
From an unknown sender.
The same person who had been watching us.
The message contained one sentence.
"Emma, if you want to know what you forgot, come to the place where it started."
Below it was an address.
I recognized it immediately.
My old family home.
The place where Claire disappeared.
The place I had not visited in twelve years.
I looked at Claire.
"Why would they send me there?"
Her face changed.
Because she knew something.
Something she had been hiding.
"Claire."
She didn't answer.
"Why that place?"
Claire slowly looked toward the window.
Then whispered:
"Because that's where we buried the truth."
My phone suddenly vibrated.
A new message appeared.
A photo.
Taken seconds ago.
Inside the old house.
The image showed a room.
A room I recognized.
My childhood bedroom.
And written on the wall was one sentence:
"YOU NEVER FORGOT HER."
I looked at Claire.
"Who is her?"
Claire's face turned completely pale.
Then the lights in Wesley's office went out.
A second later, the old hospital intercom turned on.
A woman's voice echoed through the empty hallway.
"Emma..."
Everyone froze.
Because that voice wasn't from the phone.
It wasn't from the video.
May you like
It was coming from inside the hospital.
And Claire whispered the name of the person we thought had been gone for twelve years...
