The Name Emily
Lily barely slept that night.
The envelope was hidden beneath her pillow, but even knowing it was there made her uneasy.
ASK ABOUT EMILY.
Those three words wouldn’t leave her mind.
Who was Emily?
And why had someone gone to such lengths to make sure Lily knew her name?
By morning, Lily had made a decision.
She was going to find out.
She slipped the address from the envelope into her pocket and headed downstairs.
Her mother was already in the kitchen.
“Good morning,” Lily said.
Her mother looked up and smiled. “You look tired.”
“I didn’t sleep well.”
“Why?”
Lily hesitated.
This was her chance.
She could ask about Emily.
But instead, she poured herself some water.
“Nothing. Just school.”
Her mother’s expression softened.
“You’ve been worrying too much lately.”
Lily looked at her carefully.
“Mom?”
“Yes?”
“Do you know someone named Emily?”
The glass in her mother’s hand stopped moving.
For a second, neither of them spoke.
Then her mother placed the glass on the table.
“Why would you ask me that?”
“So you do know her.”
“I didn’t say that.”
“You didn’t have to.”
Her mother’s face changed.
The warmth disappeared from her eyes.
“Lily, there are some things you don’t need to know.”
“That’s what you’ve always said.”
“Because I’m trying to protect you.”
“From what?”
Her mother looked away.
“Please don’t ask me about Emily again.”
Lily stared at her.
That wasn’t an answer.
It was confirmation.
Her mother knew exactly who Emily was.
Before Lily could ask another question, her mother picked up her bag.
“I have to go.”
“Mom—”
“Please.”
The front door closed.
Lily stood alone in the kitchen.
She had never seen her mother that frightened before.
—
At school, Lily couldn’t concentrate.
She kept thinking about the address.
She finally decided to tell Amara.
During lunch, they sat beneath their usual tree.
“I found something last night,” Lily said.
Amara immediately became serious.
“What?”
Lily pulled out the photograph.
Amara stared at it.
“Who’s that woman?”
“I don’t know.”
“And the little girl?”
Lily swallowed.
“Me.”
Amara’s eyes widened.
“What?”
“I think that’s me.”
For a moment, Amara said nothing.
Then Lily showed her the writing on the back.
For Lily. When the time is right, she deserves to know the truth.
Amara slowly looked up.
“Who wrote that?”
“I don’t know.”
“And Emily?”
Lily nodded.
“My mother knows her.”
Amara leaned closer.
“Then we need to find out who she is.”
Lily shook her head.
“There’s more.”
She handed her the address.
“Someone left this outside my house.”
Amara read the message.
Go there alone if you want the truth.
Her expression changed.
“No.”
“What?”
“You shouldn’t go alone.”
“But the message said—”
“I don’t care what it said.”
Amara folded the paper.
“If someone is threatening you, we’re not playing by their rules.”
Lily smiled slightly.
This was why she trusted Amara.
She wasn’t afraid to say what Lily was too scared to admit.
—
After school, they went to the school library.
They searched through old newspapers, school records and yearbooks.
For almost an hour, they found nothing.
Then Amara suddenly stopped.
“Wait.”
She pulled an old yearbook from the shelf.
The cover read:
Kingsbridge Academy — Ten Years Ago.
They flipped through the pages.
Students.
Teachers.
Graduation photographs.
Nothing.
Until they reached the final section.
School Events Committee.
There was a photograph of students standing outside St. Mary’s Home.
Lily’s heart stopped.
There she was.
The same woman from the photograph.
And standing beside her was another girl.
A girl with the same eyes as Lily.
But the caption beneath the photograph made her blood run cold.
Emily Cole — Student Volunteer.
Lily stared at the page.
Cole.
Her mother’s surname.
The room suddenly felt silent.
“Lily…”
Amara pointed at the bottom of the page.
There was another name.
Sarah Cole — Volunteer Coordinator.
Lily’s mother.
Lily stepped away from the table.
“No.”
Her voice trembled.
“My mother said she didn’t know Emily.”
Amara didn’t answer.
Lily looked at the photograph again.
The two girls were standing close together.
Emily was smiling.
Lily’s mother was smiling too.
They clearly knew each other.
And there was something else.
Written in faded ink beneath Emily’s name were four words:
Missing since that summer.
Lily’s breathing became shallow.
“Missing?”
Amara nodded.
“Apparently.”
Lily stared at the page.
Suddenly, the mysterious messages made sense.
The photograph.
The old children’s home.
Her mother’s reaction.
Someone wanted her to find Emily.
But why?
And where had Emily gone?
Lily quickly took a picture of the page with her phone.
“We need to go to that address,” she said.
Amara looked at her.
“Together?”
Lily nodded.
“Together.”
Neither of them noticed the figure standing outside the library door.
The person watched them for several seconds before quietly walking away.
—
That evening, Lily returned home.
Her mother wasn’t there.
She went upstairs and opened her bedroom door.
Something was sitting on her bed.
Another envelope.
Lily froze.
She slowly walked toward it.
Her name was written on the front.
She opened it.
Inside was a photograph.
It showed Emily.
But this time, Emily wasn’t standing outside St. Mary’s Home.
She was standing beside someone else.
Lily recognized the person immediately.
Her mother.
On the back of the photograph were five words:
She never left the family.
Lily’s hands began to shake.
Then her phone vibrated.
Another unknown number.
Another message.
You are closer than you think.
Lily stared at the screen.
A second message appeared.
Ask your mother who Emily really is.
She looked toward the bedroom door.
For the first time, Lily wondered if the person she needed to fear wasn’t outside her house.
Maybe the secret had been inside her home all along.
END OF EPISODE 3
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