Chapter 14 - The Photograph From Tomorrow
Nobody spoke.
The photograph should not have existed.
The date printed on the back was impossible.
Yesterday.
The woman standing beside Nora was Claire's biological mother.
She looked exactly as Claire imagined she might have looked.
Tired.
Gentle.
Afraid.
And beside her stood Graves.
But the Graves in the photograph looked younger.
Much younger.
Claire looked at the colonel.
“You said you had never seen this.”
“I haven't.”
“Then explain it.”
“I can't.”
Richard examined the photograph.
“This isn't an old photograph.”
Graves nodded.
“The film quality is modern.”
Ryan took it.
“There are coordinates written here.”
Claire looked.
They pointed to a remote military facility.
Richard immediately recognized the location.
“That's where Nightglass began.”
Claire stared.
“We're going there.”
Graves shook his head.
“No.”
“Why?”
“Because if that photograph is real, someone wants us to go there.”
Claire looked at him.
“Maybe that's exactly what they want.”
“Claire.”
She stepped closer.
“You told me everyone who wore this mark was dead.”
“Yes.”
“You were wrong.”
“Yes.”
“You told me Nora was dead.”
“Yes.”
“You were wrong again.”
Graves said nothing.
Claire's voice hardened.
“So I'm done believing what you tell me.”
Graves looked at her.
“Good.”
Claire frowned.
He continued.
“Because if you want to survive this, you need to stop trusting everyone.”
He handed her the black key.
“Even me.”
They drove through the night.
The facility was buried beneath an abandoned training range.
The entrance required three separate codes.
Richard knew the first.
Graves knew the second.
Claire's tattoo provided the third.
When she placed her forearm against the scanner, the door opened.
A cold wind moved through the underground corridor.
The walls were covered with photographs.
Claire walked slowly.
Six children.
Their childhood.
Their escape.
Their disappearance.
Their supposed deaths.
Then she stopped.
A photograph showed Claire at age seven.
Standing beside Nora.
Claire touched the glass.
She remembered.
Not everything.
But enough.
A room.
A fire.
Nora holding her hand.
A woman screaming.
And a man saying:
“Take Claire.”
Claire stepped backward.
Ryan caught her.
“What did you remember?”
Claire looked at him.
“Someone took me away from Nora.”
“Who?”
Claire shook her head.
“I don't know.”
They reached the final chamber.
Inside was a large metal table.
On it sat six sealed files.
Five were marked CLOSED.
The sixth was marked ACTIVE.
Claire approached.
The name on the file was not Claire Whitaker.
It was Nora Vale.
She opened it.
Inside was a recent medical photograph.
Nora was alive.
Older.
Standing in a hospital room.
And beside her stood Patricia.
Claire stared.
Her mother was holding Nora's hand.
A handwritten note was attached.
DO NOT LET CLAIRE KNOW THE TRUTH UNTIL SHE REMEMBERS WHO SHE REALLY IS.
Claire's hands trembled.
“What truth?”
A voice answered from behind her.
“My truth.”
May you like
Claire turned.
Patricia stood in the doorway.
