Jenna stopped believing in coincidences.
Or at least, she tried not to.
She returned to her notebook.
She wrote everything down.
THE PHOTOGRAPH IS REAL.
ELIAS EXISTED.
THE HOUSE WAS A RESEARCH FACILITY.
03:17 KEEPS APPEARING.
Then she stopped.
Underneath, she wrote:
WHAT I THINK:
She stared at the blank space.
She didn't know anymore.
That afternoon, she returned to the photography shop.
The old man wasn't there.
A younger woman stood behind the counter.
Jenna showed her the photograph.
The woman's expression changed.
"You shouldn't have this."
"You know Elias?"
The woman hesitated.
"Yes."
"What happened to him?"
"He wasn't supposed to survive."
Jenna frowned.
"Survive what?"
The woman looked frightened.
"You should stop looking."
"Why?"
"People who look for Elias don't always remember why they started."
Before Jenna could ask anything else, the woman walked into the back room.
Jenna waited.
She never came back.
At school, Jenna went to the library.
She searched again.
This time she found an old article.
PRIVATE RESEARCH FACILITY SHUT DOWN AFTER INCIDENT.
The research involved memory, sleep patterns and neurological responses.
One student was listed as missing.
Elias Vale.
Jenna's hands began to shake.
That evening, she searched her mother's old belongings.
Inside a box, she found a photograph.
Her parents were standing outside the house.
They looked much younger.
And beside them stood Elias.
On the back was a handwritten sentence:
Before the first memory.
Jenna confronted her mother.
"Why were you here?"
Her mother stared at the photograph.
Then she started crying.
"We were told to move here."
"Who told you?"
Her mother didn't answer.
The lights suddenly went out.
A voice came from upstairs.
"Mom?"
Jenna froze.
It sounded exactly like her.
Her mother grabbed her hand.
"If you hear your own voice…"
She whispered:
"…don't answer it."