Perfect.
Here's Chapter Ten of THIRTEEN REASONS WHY — dark, tense, and emotional — where the story starts to truly turn.
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Chapter Ten — The Sketchbook
By the time we got back to my house, the rain had already started.
Soft at first, then sharp — like it knew exactly when to fall.
River paced the living room, hands tangled in his hair.
"Project Seraph," he muttered. "Mind conditioning? Memory trials? That's straight-up science fiction."
"Maybe," I said, staring out the window. "But she didn't look like she was lying."
---
I went to my desk and pulled out the one thing I'd kept locked away since the day Eli disappeared — his sketchbook.
It wasn't just drawings.
It was everything. His thoughts. His fears. His coded messages.
Most of the pages were filled with strange diagrams — spirals, faces with static for eyes, notes written in a language only Eli would invent.
But one page stopped me cold.
A charcoal sketch of a door.
Old, rusted, and marked with the symbol of a winged figure — half angel, half machine.
And below it, written in tiny print:
"SERAPH — Basement Level 3."
---
River leaned over my shoulder. "You think it's real?"
"I don't know. But look —" I flipped the page.
There were thirteen boxes, each labeled with a number and a name.
Some had lines crossing them out — the ones we already knew.
But there, halfway down the list, was Number Seven.
No name. Just a single word:
"Halo."
River frowned. "Halo? What's that, a codename?"
I shook my head slowly. "No. It's a nickname. Eli used to call someone that when we were kids."
"Who?"
I hesitated.
Because the truth was, I already knew.
Halo wasn't just anyone.
It was Aiden Cross — my childhood friend, and the first person who ever made me feel safe.
---
River saw the look on my face. "You know who it is, don't you?"
I nodded faintly. "Yeah. But if what Hannah said is true… then he's not who I think."
"So what do we do?"
I closed the sketchbook. "We find him."
---
The next day, the school felt colder.
Students whispered as I walked past — about Hannah, about the sirens, about me.
Someone had recorded our escape.
Now rumors were spreading that I'd broken into a psych ward.
By lunch, I'd had enough. I slipped out the back gate and found River waiting near the old gym lot, his car idling.
So he had a car and a motorcycle?
"You ready?" he asked.
I nodded.
"Let's go find Number Seven."
---
Aiden lived on the edge of town, near the woods.
His house was half-hidden behind overgrown hedges and an abandoned greenhouse.
When we pulled up, I noticed the curtains twitch — someone was watching.
River parked, scanning the area. "You sure this is a good idea?"
"No," I said, getting out. "But we're out of good ideas."
---
Aiden answered the door almost immediately.
He looked… different.
Older. Sharper. Like the years between us had been carved into his face.
"Zara?" His voice was quiet, disbelieving. "It's really you."
I tried to smile, but it faltered. "I need to ask you something."
His gaze flicked to River, cautious. "Who's he?"
"A friend. We're looking for answers about Eli."
Something in his expression cracked — just for a second.
Then he sighed and stepped aside. "Come in."
---
The inside of the house was clean but strange — walls covered in diagrams, symbols, and photos connected by red string.
My heart sank.
Eli's handwriting was on some of the notes.
"You were working with him," I said quietly.
Aiden's jaw tightened. "Working for him. He trusted me."
"Then why didn't you come forward when he disappeared?"
He hesitated, then said, "Because I was told not to."
River crossed his arms. "By who?"
Aiden looked up, eyes hollow. "By the same people he was investigating. The ones behind Seraph."
---
I stepped closer. "Aiden, please. What is Seraph?"
He turned away, running a hand through his hair. "You wouldn't believe me if I told you."
"Try me."
He faced me again, voice trembling. "It's not just an experiment. It's a network. They study people like us — kids who've experienced trauma, isolation, grief. They test how we react to manipulation, control, loss. We were all part of it, Zara. You, Eli, me… everyone on that list."
I felt my stomach twist. "That's not possible. I'd remember something like that."
He shook his head. "No. You wouldn't."
"Why not?"
He took a shaky breath. "Because they made you forget."
---
For a moment, the world tilted.
Everything around me blurred — the photos, the string, River's voice calling my name.
Forget?
How could I forget something like that?
Aiden's voice came through the haze.
"They erased what they needed to. Memories, emotions, anything that could trace back to Seraph. Eli started remembering — that's why they silenced him."
River's fists clenched. "You're saying they did something to her mind?"
Aiden looked at me with something like regret. "To both of you."
---
I stared at him, pulse hammering.
Then, quietly, I asked the only thing that mattered.
"Why are you telling me this now?"
He looked down at the floor. "Because the list is active again. Someone's restarting the program."