Chapter 7 - The Room That Held My Forgotten Past
The video started playing.
For three seconds, nobody spoke.
Because the person sitting inside my old bedroom wasn't a stranger.
It was me.
Not the woman I was now.
The little girl I used to be.
I watched the screen with a strange feeling in my chest.
The room looked exactly how I remembered it.
The blue curtains.
The wooden bookshelf.
The small desk beside the window.
Everything looked normal.
Except for one thing.
The camera angle.
Someone had been recording me.
Someone had been watching my childhood.
Detective Keller paused the video.
"Before we continue, I need everyone to understand something."
Nobody looked away from the screen.
"What?"
He looked at me.
"This camera wasn't installed recently."
My face tightened.
"Then when?"
He hesitated.
"Fourteen years ago."
The room became silent.
Fourteen years.
The same year Claire disappeared.
The same year Sarah said my father started changing.
The same year my memories became unclear.
I looked at Claire.
"You knew about this?"
She shook her head.
"No."
Then she looked at Sarah.
"But I knew he was hiding something."
Sarah lowered her eyes.
"Richard always believed cameras gave him control."
I looked back at the screen.
My younger self was sitting at the desk.
Writing something.
A notebook was open in front of me.
Detective Keller pressed play.
The audio was unclear at first.
Then my younger voice appeared.
"I don't like when Dad gets angry."
My breathing stopped.
Nobody moved.
The little girl on the screen continued writing.
"He says I'm not allowed to tell anyone."
My hands tightened.
I looked at my mother.
She covered her mouth.
Because she remembered.
She knew.
The video continued.
A younger version of my father entered the room.
The little girl immediately closed the notebook.
My father looked at her.
"What are you writing?"
My younger self didn't answer.
He walked closer.
"Give it to me."
The camera shook slightly.
Then the little girl whispered:
"No."
I froze.
Because I didn't remember being brave.
I remembered being afraid.
But there I was.
Standing against him.
Even as a child.
My father reached for the notebook.
Then the video suddenly cut.
The screen went black.
Everyone stared.
"That's it?"
Detective Keller looked at the file.
"No."
He checked the computer.
"The recording was edited."
"By who?"
Nobody answered.
Then Claire spoke.
"Richard."
I looked at her.
"How do you know?"
She looked at the screen.
"Because he always removed the moments where people fought back."
Those words stayed with me.
My father didn't just hide the truth.
He edited it.
He controlled the story.
He decided what people were allowed to see.
Detective Keller opened another file.
"This one was hidden deeper."
The title appeared.
"DO NOT OPEN."
Sarah immediately stood.
"No."
Everyone looked at her.
"Why?"
She stared at the screen.
"Because that's the file he was most afraid of."
Detective Keller clicked.
The video loaded.
This time, there was no bedroom.
No hallway.
No family.
Only my father's office.
A younger Richard Hale sat behind his desk.
He looked calm.
Almost peaceful.
Then someone entered.
A woman.
I didn't recognize her.
But my father did.
His expression changed.
"You're not supposed to be here."
The woman placed a folder on the desk.
"You know exactly why I'm here."
My father stood.
"You should have stayed gone."
The woman smiled.
"I tried."
The video zoomed closer.
The woman's face became clearer.
My mother suddenly gasped.
"No."
I turned toward her.
"You know her?"
My mother looked terrified.
"Her name was Maria."
Detective Keller looked confused.
"Who is Maria?"
My mother didn't answer.
Sarah did.
"Someone your father destroyed."
I stared at the screen.
The woman opened the folder.
Inside were documents.
Photos.
Records.
Then she said something that made everyone freeze.
"I know what you did to your daughter."
My father leaned forward.
"Careful."
The woman didn't move.
"You can't erase everyone, Richard."
Then my father said something quietly.
Something that made my entire body go cold.
"I already erased Claire."
The room went silent.
Claire looked away.
I looked at her.
My voice was barely audible.
"What did he do?"
Claire didn't answer.
Because she was crying.
Not loudly.
Quietly.
Like someone who had been waiting years for someone to finally ask.
Detective Keller stopped the video.
"We need to know who Maria is."
Sarah nodded.
"She was the first person who tried to expose him."
"Where is she now?"
Nobody answered.
Then Sarah looked at me.
"She disappeared."
I felt sick.
"Because of my father?"
Sarah nodded.
"Your father had a pattern."
"What pattern?"
She looked at the screen.
"He destroyed anyone who knew too much."
The room became quiet again.
Then my phone, which had been sitting on the table, suddenly turned on.
Everyone looked at it.
I hadn't touched it.
A notification appeared.
Unknown number.
One message.
My heart started racing.
Detective Keller picked it up.
"Don't open it."
But I already knew.
I needed to know.
I opened the message.
There was only one sentence.
"Your father didn't attack you because you were leaving."
I stared at the screen.
Another message appeared.
"Your father attacked you because you were about to find out who you really are."
Nobody spoke.
Then a photo loaded.
An old hospital document.
My name was written at the top.
But underneath my name was another name.
A name I had never seen before.
Claire stepped closer.
Her face turned pale.
Because she recognized it.
"What?"
She whispered.
"That's impossible."
Detective Keller looked at her.
"What is it?"
Claire stared at the document.
Then she looked at me.
"The person listed as your emergency contact..."
She stopped.
Her voice shaking.
"...was never your father."
I looked at the screen.
May you like
The name slowly became clear.
And it was the name of the person my family had spent fourteen years pretending never existed...
