![\"May](\"https:\/\/scontent-msp1-1.xx.fbcdn.net\/v\/t39.30808-6\/786755547_122110267137429357_1805388878265958997_n.jpg?stp=dst-jpg_tt6&cstp=mx1529x2048&ctp=p526x296&_nc_cat=106&ccb=1-7&_nc_sid=127cfc&_nc_ohc=7d4shi8mIacQ7kNvwESVlyW&_nc_oc=AdpZFO7wga2bhiuKZ03rgKdExQ4h-U2HDbYqOf7Yii6Tk1G_jbWavG1q2ZQLra8t9Ac&_nc_zt=23&_nc_ht=scontent-msp1-1.xx&_nc_gid=XxgZA8s-AQRFFgKg52ze_Q&_nc_ss=792a8&oh=00_AQFxsfTkzkPT9dW84vqsp8j_EKfy5F0jiX3ZtSB-drpsFw&oe=6A94A053\")
<\/p>\nHe looked toward the bedroom window. \u201cThat\u2019s what I\u2019ve been trying to remember.\u201d A car engine started outside. We all froze. I rushed to the window. A dark sedan was parked across the street. Its windows were tinted. The engine was running. Then the car pulled away. Chloe whispered, \u201cThey know.\u201d I turned. \u201cWho?\u201d She looked at Brad. \u201cYour husband isn\u2019t the only person who has been losing his memory.\u201d I stared at her. \u201cWhat does that mean?\u201d She opened the brown envelope again. There was one final photograph inside. She handed it to me. I looked down. It was a picture of me. Sleeping. In this bedroom. Taken from the corner near the closet. My blood ran cold. \u201cWhen was this taken?\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Chloe shook her head. \u201cWe don\u2019t know.\u201d I looked at the photograph again. There was a timestamp printed across the bottom. 2:13 a.m. \u2014 October 14. I knew that date. It was the night Brad had told me he was working late. The night I had slept alone. The night I thought I had finally stopped loving him. I turned the photograph over. There were four words written on the back. She remembers everything. My hands began to shake. \u201cWho wrote this?\u201d Brad stared at the handwriting. Then he whispered: \u201cI did.\u201d I looked at him. \u201cYou?\u201d He nodded. \u201cI don\u2019t remember writing it.\u201d Suddenly the bedroom door slammed shut. The black phone vibrated in my hand. A new message appeared. No number. No name. Just six words. Ask Chloe what happened that night. I slowly turned toward her. She was crying. \u201cChloe?\u201d She didn\u2019t answer. \u201cWhat happened?\u201d She wiped her eyes. \u201cI wasn\u2019t going to tell you.\u201d \u201cTell me now.\u201d<\/p>\n
She looked at Brad.<\/p>\n
Then at me.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe night of the accident\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n
Her voice broke.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was in the car.\u201d<\/p>\n
Brad stepped backward.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou told me you weren\u2019t there.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI lied.\u201d<\/p>\n
I felt my chest tighten.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n
Chloe looked at me.<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause you were there too.\u201d<\/p>\n
The room went silent.<\/p>\n
I shook my head.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou were sitting in the back seat.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t remember.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou were unconscious.\u201d<\/p>\n
Brad whispered, \u201cThat\u2019s impossible.\u201d<\/p>\n
Chloe looked at him.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou weren\u2019t driving alone, Brad.\u201d<\/p>\n
I stared at both of them.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat happened?\u201d<\/p>\n
Chloe took a breath.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe car didn\u2019t crash because Brad lost control.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThen why?\u201d<\/p>\n
She looked toward the bedroom window.<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause someone was following us.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWho?\u201d<\/p>\n
She hesitated.<\/p>\n
Then she said the name.<\/p>\n
And the moment I heard it, I understood why Brad had been so afraid.<\/p>\n
Because it was the name of someone who had been dead for eight years.<\/p>\n
My father.<\/p>\n
And the phone in my hand began ringing again.<\/p>\n
I was halfway up the stairs when Chloe grabbed my wrist.<\/p>\n
\u201cEmily, don\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n
Her fingers were cold.<\/p>\n
I pulled away.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf that phone is in my bedroom, I have a right to know why.\u201d<\/p>\n
Brad remained at the bottom of the stairs.<\/p>\n
He didn\u2019t try to stop me.<\/p>\n
That frightened me more than if he had.<\/p>\n
I reached the bedroom door.<\/p>\n
The ringing had stopped.<\/p>\n
For three seconds, there was complete silence.<\/p>\n
Then the phone rang again.<\/p>\n
One sharp vibration.<\/p>\n
Then another.<\/p>\n
I pushed the door open.<\/p>\n
Our bedroom looked exactly as I had left it that morning.<\/p>\n
His side of the bed was untouched.<\/p>\n
My book was still on the nightstand.<\/p>\n
The curtains were half open.<\/p>\n
Nothing looked wrong.<\/p>\n
Except for the phone.<\/p>\n
It was sitting beneath Brad\u2019s pillow.<\/p>\n
A small black phone I had never seen before.<\/p>\n
I picked it up.<\/p>\n
No wallpaper.<\/p>\n
No case.<\/p>\n
No contacts.<\/p>\n
Just one notification.<\/p>\n
1 new voicemail.<\/p>\n
My thumb hovered over the screen.<\/p>\n
Then I pressed play.<\/p>\n
At first, there was only static.<\/p>\n
Then my own voice filled the room.<\/p>\n
\u201cBrad, if you\u2019re listening to this, something has gone very wrong.\u201d<\/p>\n
I nearly dropped the phone.<\/p>\n
Chloe appeared behind me.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat is it?\u201d<\/p>\n
I raised a hand.<\/p>\n
My recorded voice continued.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t know if you\u2019ll remember making this recording. That\u2019s the problem.\u201d<\/p>\n
I looked at Brad.<\/p>\n
He was standing in the doorway now.<\/p>\n
His face had gone completely pale.<\/p>\n
The recording continued.<\/p>\n
\u201cDo not trust anyone who tells you the accident was your fault.\u201d<\/p>\n
My heart stopped.<\/p>\n
Accident?<\/p>\n
What accident?<\/p>\n
The message continued.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd whatever happens, don\u2019t let them take you back to the clinic.\u201d<\/p>\n
The recording ended.<\/p>\n
Nobody moved.<\/p>\n
I turned toward Brad.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat clinic?\u201d<\/p>\n
He stared at the phone.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t know.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou said you don\u2019t remember what you did to me.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThen why does my voice know about a clinic?\u201d<\/p>\n
He shook his head.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t know.\u201d<\/p>\n
Chloe stepped closer.<\/p>\n
\u201cPlay it again.\u201d<\/p>\n
I did.<\/p>\n
The same voice.<\/p>\n
My voice.<\/p>\n
The same warning.<\/p>\n
But this time, I noticed something I had missed.<\/p>\n
At the very end, beneath the static, there was another sound.<\/p>\n
A door closing.<\/p>\n
Then a man\u2019s voice.<\/p>\n
Very faint.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe\u2019s awake.\u201d<\/p>\n
Chloe\u2019s eyes widened.<\/p>\n
\u201cDid you hear that?\u201d<\/p>\n
I nodded.<\/p>\n
Brad suddenly grabbed the phone.<\/p>\n
\u201cGive me that.\u201d<\/p>\n
I pulled it away.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI need to destroy it.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause whoever recorded that knew where we lived.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat doesn\u2019t answer my question.\u201d<\/p>\n
Brad looked at me.<\/p>\n
For the first time that morning, I saw genuine panic in his eyes.<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause that voice isn\u2019t from today.\u201d<\/p>\n
I stared at him.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat recording\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n
He swallowed.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was made before the accident.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat accident?\u201d<\/p>\n
He didn\u2019t answer.<\/p>\n
I stepped closer.<\/p>\n
\u201cBrad, what accident?\u201d<\/p>\n
He looked at Chloe.<\/p>\n
She shook her head.<\/p>\n
\u201cTell her.\u201d<\/p>\n
He closed his eyes.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen I was driving home six months ago, I crashed.\u201d<\/p>\n
I felt the room become strangely distant.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou told me you slipped on the stairs.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI know.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou told me you hit your head.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI did.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou said you didn\u2019t remember the accident.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI didn\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThen how do you know you crashed?\u201d<\/p>\n
He opened his eyes.<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause the police told me.\u201d<\/p>\n
I looked at Chloe.<\/p>\n
She nodded slowly.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut the police report says there was no other vehicle,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
I turned back to Brad.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat does that mean?\u201d<\/p>\n
He didn\u2019t respond.<\/p>\n
Chloe did.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt means his car left the road by itself.\u201d<\/p>\n
My stomach tightened.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe don\u2019t know.\u201d<\/p>\n
I looked at the phone again.<\/p>\n
The recording.<\/p>\n
The clinic.<\/p>\n
The accident.<\/p>\n
The hidden phone.<\/p>\n
The prescription bottle.<\/p>\n
None of it made sense.<\/p>\n
Then I noticed something else.<\/p>\n
A tiny red light was blinking on the phone.<\/p>\n
Recording.<\/p>\n
Someone was recording us now.<\/p>\n
I held it up.<\/p>\n
\u201cWho is listening?\u201d<\/p>\n
Brad\u2019s face changed.<\/p>\n
\u201cPut it down.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cEmily, put it down.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause if they\u2019re listening, they know we\u2019re talking about them.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWho?\u201d<\/p>\n
He looked toward the bedroom window.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s what I\u2019ve been trying to remember.\u201d<\/p>\n
A car engine started outside.<\/p>\n
We all froze.<\/p>\n
I rushed to the window.<\/p>\n
A dark sedan was parked across the street.<\/p>\n
Its windows were tinted.<\/p>\n
The engine was running.<\/p>\n
Then the car pulled away.<\/p>\n
Chloe whispered, \u201cThey know.\u201d<\/p>\n
I turned.<\/p>\n
\u201cWho?\u201d<\/p>\n
She looked at Brad.<\/p>\n
\u201cYour husband isn\u2019t the only person who has been losing his memory.\u201d<\/p>\n
I stared at her.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat does that mean?\u201d<\/p>\n
She opened the brown envelope again.<\/p>\n
There was one final photograph inside.<\/p>\n
She handed it to me.<\/p>\n
I looked down.<\/p>\n
It was a picture of me.<\/p>\n
Sleeping.<\/p>\n
In this bedroom.<\/p>\n
Taken from the corner near the closet.<\/p>\n
My blood ran cold.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen was this taken?\u201d<\/p>\n
Chloe shook her head.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe don\u2019t know.\u201d<\/p>\n
I looked at the photograph again.<\/p>\n
There was a timestamp printed across the bottom.<\/p>\n
2:13 a.m. \u2014 October 14.<\/p>\n
I knew that date.<\/p>\n
It was the night Brad had told me he was working late.<\/p>\n
The night I had slept alone.<\/p>\n
The night I thought I had finally stopped loving him.<\/p>\n
I turned the photograph over.<\/p>\n
There were four words written on the back.<\/p>\n
She remembers everything.<\/p>\n
My hands began to shake.<\/p>\n
\u201cWho wrote this?\u201d<\/p>\n
Brad stared at the handwriting.<\/p>\n
Then he whispered:<\/p>\n
\u201cI did.\u201d<\/p>\n
I looked at him.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou?\u201d<\/p>\n
He nodded.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t remember writing it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Suddenly the bedroom door slammed shut.<\/p>\n
The black phone vibrated in my hand.<\/p>\n
A new message appeared.<\/p>\n
No number.<\/p>\n
No name.<\/p>\n
Just six words.<\/p>\n
Ask Chloe what happened that night.<\/p>\n
I slowly turned toward her.<\/p>\n
She was crying.<\/p>\n
\u201cChloe?\u201d<\/p>\n
She didn\u2019t answer.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat happened?\u201d<\/p>\n
She wiped her eyes.<\/p>\n
\u201cI wasn\u2019t going to tell you.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cTell me now.\u201d<\/p>\n
She looked at Brad.<\/p>\n
Then at me.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe night of the accident\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n
Her voice broke.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was in the car.\u201d<\/p>\n
Brad stepped backward.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou told me you weren\u2019t there.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI lied.\u201d<\/p>\n
I felt my chest tighten.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n
Chloe looked at me.<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause you were there too.\u201d<\/p>\n
The room went silent.<\/p>\n
I shook my head.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou were sitting in the back seat.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t remember.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou were unconscious.\u201d<\/p>\n
Brad whispered, \u201cThat\u2019s impossible.\u201d<\/p>\n
Chloe looked at him.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou weren\u2019t driving alone, Brad.\u201d<\/p>\n
I stared at both of them.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat happened?\u201d<\/p>\n
Chloe took a breath.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe car didn\u2019t crash because Brad lost control.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThen why?\u201d<\/p>\n
She looked toward the bedroom window.<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause someone was following us.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWho?\u201d<\/p>\n
She hesitated.<\/p>\n
Then she said the name.<\/p>\n
And the moment I heard it, I understood why Brad had been so afraid.<\/p>\n
Because it was the name of someone who had been dead for eight years.<\/p>\n
My father.<\/p>\n
And the phone in my hand began ringing again.<\/p>\n
My father\u2019s name hung in the room like a ghost.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s impossible,\u201d I whispered.<\/p>\n
Chloe shook her head.<\/p>\n
\u201cI know what you\u2019re thinking.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMy father has been dead for eight years.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI know.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThen why did you say his name?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause that\u2019s what Brad believed too.\u201d<\/p>\n
I turned toward my husband.<\/p>\n
He was staring at the floor.<\/p>\n
\u201cBrad?\u201d<\/p>\n
He finally looked at me.<\/p>\n
\u201cI thought your father was following us.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause I saw his car.\u201d<\/p>\n
My heart pounded.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy father\u2019s car?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe old green sedan.\u201d<\/p>\n
I remembered it immediately.<\/p>\n
My father had owned that car until the week before he died.<\/p>\n
Chloe stepped closer.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s where everything went wrong. The person following you wasn\u2019t your father.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWho was it?\u201d<\/p>\n
She looked at Brad.<\/p>\n
\u201cHis brother.\u201d<\/p>\n
I stared at her.<\/p>\n
\u201cBrad doesn\u2019t have a brother.\u201d<\/p>\n
Brad closed his eyes.<\/p>\n
\u201cI did.\u201d<\/p>\n
The room went silent.<\/p>\n
He sat on the edge of the bed.<\/p>\n
\u201cHis name was Daniel.\u201d<\/p>\n
I had never heard that name.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy have you never told me?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause Daniel died when we were teenagers.\u201d<\/p>\n
Chloe placed another photograph on the bed.<\/p>\n
Two boys stood beside the green sedan.<\/p>\n
One was Brad.<\/p>\n
The other was a man I had never seen.<\/p>\n
But something about his face made my stomach tighten.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe didn\u2019t die,\u201d Chloe said.<\/p>\n
Brad looked at her.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s what we were told.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo,\u201d she whispered. \u201cHe disappeared.\u201d<\/p>\n
I looked between them.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd he came back?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSix months ago.\u201d<\/p>\n
Everything suddenly connected.<\/p>\n
The accident.<\/p>\n
The secret phone.<\/p>\n
The clinic.<\/p>\n
The photographs.<\/p>\n
The messages.<\/p>\n
The fear.<\/p>\n
Someone had been watching us.<\/p>\n
But why?<\/p>\n
Chloe finally told me the truth.<\/p>\n
Daniel had discovered that their father had secretly maintained a second family. When Brad\u2019s father died, Daniel returned looking for documents proving he had been cheated out of an inheritance.<\/p>\n
Brad had found the documents first.<\/p>\n
Daniel wanted them.<\/p>\n
The night of the accident, Daniel followed Brad\u2019s car.<\/p>\n
I had been there because Brad had finally decided to tell me everything.<\/p>\n
But before he could, another car forced us off the road.<\/p>\n
I had hit my head.<\/p>\n
Brad had suffered a serious concussion.<\/p>\n
Chloe had been in the car because Brad had asked her to bring the documents.<\/p>\n
And afterward, Daniel disappeared.<\/p>\n
But he hadn\u2019t disappeared for good.<\/p>\n
He had been watching.<\/p>\n
Waiting.<\/p>\n
Trying to frighten Brad into giving him the documents.<\/p>\n
The mysterious phone had been planted to make us believe someone was inside the house.<\/p>\n
The photographs were meant to make me doubt my own memory.<\/p>\n
And the pharmacy bottle?<\/p>\n
He looked toward the bedroom window. \u201cThat\u2019s what I\u2019ve been trying to remember.\u201d A car engine started outside. We all froze. I rushed to the window. A dark sedan was … <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3333,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23,21,22,1,5,20],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5166","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-aita","category-daily-article","category-reddit-stories","category-story","category-story-daily","category-viral-story"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nextstoryus.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5166","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nextstoryus.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nextstoryus.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nextstoryus.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nextstoryus.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5166"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/nextstoryus.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5166\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5169,"href":"https:\/\/nextstoryus.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5166\/revisions\/5169"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nextstoryus.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/3333"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nextstoryus.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5166"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nextstoryus.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5166"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nextstoryus.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5166"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}