Shadows of the Past
For a long moment, Emily could only hear the sound of her own pulse echoing in her ears.
Her mother wasn’t who she claimed to be?
The café around them blurred. The clinking cups, the distant chatter, the passing footsteps — all dissolved into a heavy, suffocating silence.
“Adrian…” Emily whispered, “explain. Please.”
Adrian hesitated, his eyes flickering with conflict. Not doubt — conflict. As if he were choosing between truth… and danger.
“Not here,” he said finally. “We’re too exposed.”
Emily swallowed. “Exposed… to who?”
He ran a hand through his hair, looking over his shoulder as though expecting the hooded man to reappear. “People who’ve been watching both of us. For a long time.”
Her stomach twisted. “Why me? I haven’t done anything—”
“It’s not about what you’ve done,” Adrian cut in softly. “It’s about who you are.”
Emily felt cold all over. “You’re scaring me.”
He exhaled slowly, visibly restraining himself from grabbing her hands — maybe to comfort her, maybe to anchor himself. But he kept a respectful distance.
“Emily, I’ll tell you everything. But not here. Walk with me?”
She nodded, barely aware of her own voice. “Okay.”
They left the café, walking down the quieter side of the town.
The autumn air smelled of wood smoke and fallen leaves. Emily hugged her jacket tightly, every step feeling heavier.
Adrian walked beside her, not touching, but close enough that she felt the tension radiating from him.
“Start at the beginning,” she said finally.
“My mother… what does she have to do with any of this?”
Adrian took a long breath.
“Your mother,” he said, “was once involved in something she didn’t want her children to know. Something dangerous.”
Emily frowned. “Like what? Crime? Some organization?”
He shook his head. “Not crime. Something… deeper. Something academic, but with consequences. She was part of a research group. They worked on decoding old records, old disappearances. Hidden histories. Things that powerful people wanted to bury.”
Emily stopped walking. “My mother? She’s—she’s a school librarian. She’s never been part of anything like that.”
“She used to be Elizabeth Hale.”
Emily blinked.
“What?”
Adrian’s voice softened. “Your mother changed her name. She changed everything. She left the research world overnight. Disappeared. Started a new life far from the old one.”
Emily’s chest tightened painfully.
No.
This was wrong. Impossible.
“My mother is not Elizabeth Hale.”
Adrian looked at her with sorrow, not argument.
“She is. Or she was.”
Emily shook her head, stepping back.
“No. My mother never lied to us about who she is. She raised us alone. She took care of us. She—”
Her voice cracked.
Adrian stepped closer, not touching her, but grounding her with his presence.
“I’m not saying she wasn’t a good mother,” he said softly. “But she was hiding something — because that something put all of you in danger.”
Emily wrapped her arms around herself.
“Danger from who?”
Adrian glanced around again, scanning their surroundings. When he spoke, his voice dropped lower.
“A society called The Archivists.”
Emily frowned. “That sounds… academic.”
“It is. And it isn’t. They handle historical records the public was never meant to see — records of disappearances, strange deaths, people erased from history. Your mother was one of their brightest researchers. She uncovered something she wasn’t meant to. And she ran.”
Emily’s mind spun.
“This sounds unbelievable.”
“I know,” Adrian said gently. “But it’s the truth.”
Emily looked at him, searching for a crack in his sincerity. There was none.
But…
“How do you know all this?” she whispered. “How are you connected?”
Adrian exhaled, as if bracing himself.
“Because my father was part of the same group.”
“What?”
“He was one of the lead researchers. He worked directly with your mother. Until the night he disappeared.”
Emily’s breath hitched.
“Disappeared?” she repeated slowly.
“Yes.”
Adrian’s voice tightened with emotion he couldn’t hide.
“He vanished. No trace. No body. No explanation.”
Emily suddenly felt the weight of his loneliness — the grief he carried like a shadow.
“I’m sorry,” she whispered.
He swallowed hard, nodding once. “I came back here to find out what happened to him. I found records… fragments… mentions of your mother. And then I found the old photograph of the research team.”
Emily blinked.
“The photograph? In my attic box?”
“Yes.”
He paused.
“That box… it wasn’t hidden by accident. Someone hid it so you would eventually find it. Someone wanted you to know the truth. Maybe your mother. Maybe someone else.”
Emily pressed her fingers to her forehead.
Everything felt too big, too unreal.
“So you came here because of my mother,” she said slowly.
“In the beginning… yes.”
Adrian’s voice softened.
“But then I met you. And now this is no longer just research, Emily. It’s more than that.”
Her heart thudded.
Before she could respond, Adrian’s expression sharpened — instantly shifting from vulnerable to alert.
“Emily,” he whispered, “don’t turn around.”
Her breath froze.
“Why?” she whispered back.
“There’s someone behind us. Watching.”
Emily felt every muscle tense.
“Is it the man from the café?”
“No,” Adrian murmured. “Someone else.”
They were near a narrow lane between buildings — quiet, shadowed.
Adrian gently touched her elbow. “Come with me.”
They walked calmly, as if nothing was wrong, turning into the narrow lane.
The moment they were out of sight, Adrian leaned close.
“Run,” he whispered.
Emily’s heart lurched.
“What—”
“Just run,” he repeated urgently. “I’ll follow.”
But she didn’t move.
She looked into his eyes, trembling. “Adrian… don’t leave me.”
His eyes softened with a mixture of fierce protectiveness and something deeper — something he didn’t voice.
“I won’t,” he said. “Ever.”
Footsteps approached — slow, deliberate.
Emily’s pulse hammered in her ears.
“Stay behind me,” Adrian whispered, stepping slightly in front of her.
The footsteps grew louder.
Closer.
And then — the figure appeared.
Not the hooded man.
Not someone she recognized.
A woman.
Tall. Sharp eyes. Dressed in a long dark coat. She paused at the mouth of the alley, studying them with unsettling precision.
“Adrian Hale,” the woman said calmly. “You were warned.”
Emily’s blood ran cold.
Adrian stiffened. “Stay out of this.”
“I can’t,” the woman replied. “The Archivists don’t want her involved. And you’ve dragged her in too far already.”
Emily felt her stomach twist.
“The Archivists? They’re real?”
The woman ignored her, eyes fixed on Adrian.
“This is your last chance. Stop searching. Leave the girl out of it. Or you won’t be the only one who loses someone.”
Emily’s breath caught.
Adrian’s voice dropped to a dangerous whisper.
“If you hurt her, I swear—”
“You won’t be able to stop us,” the woman interrupted smoothly.
Then she turned and walked away.
Just like that.
Emily leaned into the wall, knees weak.
Adrian moved to her instantly. “Emily—”
“I need to go home,” she whispered. “I need— I need time.”
He looked pained but nodded.
“I’ll walk you.”
She didn’t refuse.
For the first time, she wasn’t sure if she was safe with Adrian…
Or only safe because of him.