The next morning, Jenna went to the old photography shop.
She had barely slept.
The sign above the shop read:
H. RAHMAN PHOTOGRAPHY — SINCE 1978
An elderly man sat behind the counter.
Jenna placed the photograph in front of him.
"Do you know this place?"
He picked it up.
His expression changed immediately.
"Where did you get this?"
"My house."
He looked at the photograph again.
"That's the old facility."
"Facility?"
He didn't answer her question.
Instead, he pointed at the boy.
"This one."
"Who is he?"
"Elias Vale."
The name made Jenna uncomfortable.
She didn't know why.
"Who was Elias?"
The man leaned back.
"He used to come here with an older man."
"Why?"
"I don't know. They developed strange photographs."
"What kind?"
The old man looked toward the shop window.
"Photographs of things that hadn't happened yet."
Jenna almost laughed.
But the man wasn't joking.
"What happened to Elias?"
"He disappeared."
"When?"
"2005."
Jenna felt cold.
"Where?"
The man looked directly at her.
"From that house."
Jenna took a step backward.
She spent the next several hours searching through old newspaper archives.
Eventually, she found it.
STUDENT ELIAS VALE REPORTED MISSING.
The address was the same as her house.
Another article mentioned that the property had once been used as a private research facility.
Jenna stared at the screen.
Then a memory came.
She was younger.
Much younger.
She was standing beside Elias.
He looked worried.
"You'll forget me," he told her.
"Why?"
"Because that's what they need you to do."
Jenna blinked.
The memory disappeared.
She looked down at the photograph.
The writing had changed.
HE WAS LOOKING FOR YOU.
Her phone vibrated.
Unknown number.
You shouldn't have looked for Elias.
Another message appeared.
He found you first.
Then:
Ask yourself why you remember a boy you've never met.