My hands trembled.
The envelope felt heavier than it should have.
Open When We Reunite.
My handwriting.
My name.
My words.
And yet...
I had absolutely no memory of writing it.
"Open it," Vanessa whispered.
I looked at Lucas.
He nodded.
Slowly, I broke the seal.
The paper inside was old and fragile.
The ink had faded.
But the words were still there.
Every single one.
Written by a child.
Written by me.
I began to read aloud.
---
"If you're reading this, then we found each other again."
"Lucas says people forget things when they're scared."
"Ethan says we should hide this letter where nobody will find it."
"But I think someone will."
"Because secrets don't stay buried forever."
---
My voice caught in my throat.
Ethan looked stunned.
Lucas closed his eyes.
As though hearing those words again hurt.
I continued.
---
"Today we saw something we weren't supposed to see."
"A man was pushed into the lake."
"He wasn't moving after."
"The grown-ups were shouting."
"One of them saw us."
"He looked very angry."
---
The paper shook in my hands.
A memory flashed.
A man turning.
Seeing three children hiding.
His eyes.
Cold.
Terrifying.
I gasped.
The image disappeared.
Then I looked back at the letter.
Only one paragraph remained.
The final paragraph.
The most important one.
I read it.
And immediately wished I hadn't.
---
"If we forget, remember this:"
"The bad man wasn't Mr. Carter."
"The bad man wasn't Ethan's dad."
"The bad man wasn't Vanessa's grandma."
"The bad man was Richard."
"And he knows where Lucas lives."
---
Silence.
Nobody spoke.
Nobody could.
Because that letter had been written **before Lucas disappeared.
Before the cover-up.
Before the lies.
Before twenty years of fear.
A child had identified the killer.
And that child was me.
Then Lucas whispered something.
Something that made my blood run cold.
"He found the letter."
"What?" I asked.
"He found it."
Lucas's face had gone pale.
"Years ago."
My stomach dropped.
"How do you know?"
Lucas pointed to the final line.
A line none of us had noticed.
A sentence written in different ink.
Added later.
Added by someone else.
My heart nearly stopped.
I leaned closer.
And read it.
"I know you remember now, Maya."
The forest suddenly felt too quiet.
Too still.
Too empty.
Because beneath that message...
It was today's date.
Someone had added it recently.
Very recently.
Which meant only one thing.
Richard Blackwood wasn't dead.
He wasn't gone.
He wasn't hiding.
He knew we were here.
And he was watching us.
Right now.
Then a branch snapped somewhere in the woods.
Everyone froze.
Another snap.
Closer this time.
Then a voice emerged from the trees.
Old.
Calm.
Dangerous.
And very, very familiar.
"Hello, children."

Should the next chapter reveal Richard Blackwood immediately?
A. YES
B. Keep the suspense going