LOGINThe apartment seemed to hold its breath.Nobody spoke after Adrian's words. Quinn could hear the faint hum of the refrigerator in the kitchen, the distant sound of rainwater dripping from the balcony railing, and her own pulse beating steadily in her ears.The woman outside shifted slightly."Hello?" she called again, sounding uncertain now. "I really don't want to keep knocking if I've got the wrong place."Adrian remained frozen. Quinn had seen witnesses panic before. She had seen suspects panic. She had even seen hardened detectives panic.This was different, this looked like someone confronting a ghost. Damian noticed it too. His gaze stayed fixed on Adrian while his body subtly positioned itself closer to Quinn, a habit he seemed to have developed without realizing it."You're sure?" Quinn asked quietly."I'd know that voice anywhere." Adrian muttered.The answer did not make Quinn feel better.Because according to everything Adrian had told them, the girl from graduation night w
"What if that's the person who moved the body?"Nobody spoke for several seconds... The question seemed to settle over the room like a storm cloud. Quinn looked down at the photograph again: The torn corner, the missing face and the one person nobody could identify.The one person somehow connected to Victor, Adrian, Mark, and apparently a body that had vanished into thin air."That's impossible," Ethan said finally.Adrian looked at him."Why?""Because you're talking about one person moving a body during a storm while dozens of students were nearby.""Nobody was nearby," Adrian replied immediately. "The power outage sent everyone inside."Damian crossed his arms."Actually, that's the first thing tonight that makes sense." Everyone looked toward him.Damian walked over to the photograph and picked it up carefully. "If somebody wanted to hide a death, a power outage would be the perfect opportunity."He pointed toward the torn section. "And whoever removed this face knew exactly what
"Why are there photographs of you from graduation night standing next to the body?"Mark's words echoed through Quinn's head. For a second, nobody in the room spoke."What body?" Quinn asked immediately. But the line had already gone silent."Mark?" she said sharply. "Mark?" The call disconnected.Damian was already on his feet. "What happened?"Quinn lowered the phone slowly. "The camera."Adrian looked up instantly. "The disposable camera?"Quinn nodded. "Mark developed it."Nobody liked the expression on her face."And?""He said there are photographs of me standing next to the body."The room exploded with questions."What body?""That's impossible.""What photographs?"But Quinn wasn't listening anymore, because Adrian was staring at her and suddenly he looked pale."Adrian." His eyes lifted."You saw a body behind the gym." He nodded."And now there's a photograph." Another nod.Quinn took a slow breath. "Continue."The room quieted immediately. Adrian looked down at his hands..
The room remained silent after Adrian's last words. Outside, rain continued falling against the windows while thunder rolled somewhere far away. Quinn couldn't stop staring at him."If Mark wasn't dead..." she said slowly, "then who was?"Adrian looked away."I don't know.""You expect us to believe that?" Quinn asked."I'm telling the truth."Damian watched him carefully. The problem was Adrian looked sincere, terrified, even, which somehow made everything worse. Elena folded her arms. "Start from the beginning."Adrian sighed heavily, then he leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes for a moment."When I heard them arguing, I followed the voices."The apartment faded away, and suddenly Adrian was eighteen again. Graduation night had been loud, students crowded every hallway, music blasted from the gym speakers.Teachers pretended they still had authority while everybody ignored them. Adrian remembered seeing Quinn earlier that evening. She had been standing near Elena and Rhea o
Quinn stared at the photograph for several long seconds and the people in it. "Victor Blackwood, Adrian and... Mark?! My boss?! THE FUCK?!The three men stood together near a stage decorated with white flowers, all of them younger, smiling at something outside the frame.Her pulse quickened. "Elena, I'm asking Adrian directly. Please don't stop me.""Obviously not. I'll join you." Elena added."That's my friend." Quinn proudly patted her back and they both rushed back to the dining room."You never told me you knew Mark." Quinn looked staright at Adrian.The voice made him look up from across the room. Everyone else immediately sensed the shift. Ethan stopped mid-conversation. Even Damian straightened slightly from where he had been leaning against the doorway.Quinn stepped forward and placed the photograph on the table. Adrian's expression changed the second he saw it."Where did you get this?""Answer my question first."The room fell silent. Adrian exhaled slowly before pulling ou
“Why can’t I remember anything clearly...?” Quinn whispered.Nobody answered immediately.The rain outside filled the silence instead, soft against the windows while the low music continued somewhere in the apartment. Elena looked down at her wine glass like she regretted bringing any of this up at all.Then Damian’s hand brushed lightly against Quinn’s knee beneath the table. Quinn hated how much the touch steadied her lately.“You were under a lot of stress back then,” Elena said quietly after a moment. “After graduation everything happened so fast. You left the city almost immediately, your mom was dealing with everything at home, and you...” She hesitated slightly. “You stopped talking to almost everyone.”Quinn frowned faintly. “That still doesn’t explain missing memories.”“Actually,” Damian spoke calmly beside her, “it kind of does.”Everyone looked toward him.He leaned back slightly in his chair, his expression softer now that he had shifted into profiler mode again. “Trauma
By the time Quinn and Damian finally walked into the dining room, Elena had changed into an oversized sweater and Ethan was setting plates onto the table while quiet music played somewhere in the background.The apartment almost looked normal now, too normal for a place that had crime scene tape out
A second later, the lights flickered back on.Both of them blinked against the sudden brightness while rain continued crashing loudly outside the apartment windows.Damian let out a breath. “Okay. Storm. Cool. I was mentally preparing for a serial killer standing behind the shower curtain.”Quinn l
Quinn stared at Damian for exactly one second before immediately turning around.“Oh my God.”“Why are you screaming?” Damian shouted back over the water. “I’m the one showering!”“I didn’t know you were in here!”“You walked directly into the bathroom!”Quinn covered her eyes dramatically even th
Elena had barely placed the camera onto the table when the apartment door suddenly opened again.Everyone turned immediately.A man stepped inside looking visibly out of breath, rainwater still clinging to the shoulders of his dark coat while one side of his shirt hung slightly torn near the sleeve







