Chapter 10 - The Ashes of the Past
My breath hitched in my throat.
I stared at the heavy black envelope in my hands.
"My mother died in the car crash twenty-five years ago," I whispered.
Dr. Sterling looked equally confused and terrified.
"The police confirmed it," he said, his voice shaking.
"They never found a body, but there was no way anyone survived."
I carefully tore the seal open.
My hands trembled as I pulled out a single piece of thick stationary.
Inside was a recent photograph.
It was a picture of a woman with dark hair and my exact eyes.
She was standing in front of a charred, ruined foundation.
It was the exact location of the Whitmore house that burned down twelve years ago.
In her hand, she was holding a single, unlit match.
There was a handwritten note clipped to the back of the photo.
I flipped it over and read the elegant handwriting aloud.
"The Whitmores didn't kidnap you, my sweet girl."
"I sold you to them to protect you from what is coming."
"And now, they have found me."
"I am coming back for you."
The paper slipped from my trembling fingers.
Daniel stood up, his face pale as he stared at the photograph.
The happy, peaceful life I had just built suddenly felt like a fragile glass house.
My mother was alive.
And whatever she was running from had finally caught up to us.
The real fire hadn't even started yet.
I looked at the horizon, waiting for the smoke.
May you like
The past never truly burns away.
It just waits for a new spark.
