The cabin felt smaller now—
as if the walls had shifted closer the moment Ash realized what he was holding.
The photograph trembled between his fingers.
Palo watched him carefully.
"Ash… breathe."
But Ash couldn't.
Not properly.
The air felt too thin, too sharp.
He stared at the image again:
His mother smiling softly.
Two boys at her side.
Ash—
and another him.
But the date…
the date changed everything.
Palo stepped closer.
"You said the copy was created after this photo was taken."
Ash nodded, voice unsteady.
"Yes."
"So… one of these two boys is the real, original you."
Ash swallowed hard.
"But which one?"
Palo hesitated.
"You mean… you're not sure if you are the original?"
Ash didn't answer.
The silence did it for him.
---
The Box of Secrets
Palo knelt beside him and lifted the remaining contents of the metal box.
Documents—
yellowed, fragile, filled with diagrams and handwritten notes.
A small drive—
labeled with the same word: ELARA.
And beneath it all—
A folded letter.
Palo picked it up carefully.
"It has your name on it."
Ash looked up sharply.
"My name?"
Palo nodded and handed it to him.
Ash unfolded the paper with shaking hands.
The handwriting—
he recognized it instantly.
His mother's.
He felt his chest ache.
Palo stepped back quietly to give him space.
Ash began to read.
---
The Letter
"Ash,
If you're reading this, then the time I feared has come."
Ash's hands tightened around the page.
"You were never meant to discover the truth alone. You were never meant to question who you are. But I knew the day would come when the shadows around you grew too loud to ignore."
Palo watched Ash's expression change—
confusion, fear, then something sharper.
"The project that created the others was called ELARA. But you… you were not part of it."
Ash's breath hitched.
"You were the constant. The template. The one they modeled everything else after."
Palo froze.
"Ash, you were the first. The child born naturally. Not made."
Ash felt the world tilt.
His ears rang.
Palo whispered, "So you are the original—"
But Ash kept reading.
"They tried to recreate you. Again and again. They failed more times than they succeeded. I tried to stop them. I stole you away before the real work began."
Ash's vision blurred.
He blinked hard.
"But I could not stop them completely. Without you, they continued the project. They tried to build someone who could replace you. Someone controllable. Someone enhanced. Someone perfect."
Palo took a step forward, panic growing.
"Ash—let me see—"
But Ash continued, voice thin.
"And when they succeeded… they no longer needed the others."
Palo swallowed.
"What does that mean?"
Ash didn't answer.
He kept reading.
"The one they perfected—the one who survived all the tests—he is the one you must avoid. He will seek you. He cannot exist while you do."
The room froze.
Palo felt his heartbeat in his throat.
"Ash… she means the copy. The one we saw in the house."
Ash didn't speak.
He didn't move.
He only read the final lines.
"Do not try to fight him. Do not try to reason with him. He believes you took the life meant for him. If he finds you… he will not hesitate."
Ash lowered the letter slowly.
The cabin was so quiet he could hear his own pulse.
Palo whispered,
"Ash…? Say something."
Ash closed his eyes.
"I wasn't the replacement."
Palo shook his head.
"Of course not—"
"No," Ash whispered, voice shaking.
"I was the threat."
---
The Weight of Identity
Palo rushed to him.
"Ash, listen—this doesn't mean you're in danger right now. It doesn't mean he knows where you are."
Ash didn't answer.
He stared at the floor.
"If I'm the original… then why do I feel like the copy?"
Palo grabbed his shoulders gently.
"Because they made you feel that way. They controlled your memories. They kept you in the dark on purpose. But your mother—she saved you."
Ash shook his head weakly.
"She couldn't save herself."
Palo's voice softened.
"But she saved the part of her she loved most."
Ash finally looked at him.
His eyes weren't angry.
They weren't panicked.
They were hollow.
"I don't know who I am anymore."
Palo held his gaze firmly.
"You're Ash. The one standing here. The one who survived. That's who."
Ash opened his mouth to answer—
But something outside the cabin made them both freeze.
A soft crunch.
A footstep.
Palo's eyes widened.
"Ash… someone's out there."
Ash's heartbeat stopped.
Another step.
Closer.
Palo whispered, "Hide the box—now."
Ash shoved the documents and photo back inside, slammed the lid shut, and pushed it under the trapdoor.
The cabin went silent.
Another step.
Right outside.
Ash whispered,
"He found us."
Palo shook his head desperately.
"We don't know that—"
A shadow moved past the window.
Slow.
Deliberate.
Then—
A voice.
Cold.
Smooth.
Too familiar.
"I knew you'd come here, Ash."
Palo's blood ran cold.
Ash's hands curled into fists.
The voice spoke again.
"You and I… we have unfinished business."
---