Destiny

Coincidences

After locking the door to her room, Ariana practically ran to the white desk illuminated by a small table lamp. She opened one of the drawers and took out what appeared to be a rolled-up newspaper. She brought it over to me, but when she opened it, we both coughed from the dust that came off the old paper.

I looked at her skeptically, but Ariana approached and showed me the newspaper anyway. On the front page was the name of the newspaper from 1950, "The North Salem," along with some images referencing the good nutrition of the population of a town due to the longevity of its inhabitants, news about a missing child, and the world's most obese woman.

"Tell me something here has to do with the Webers," I said.

Ariana rolled her eyes. "You're so skeptical and impatient, Bianca."

She started flipping through the pages carefully until she reached a section with a huge photograph. This part mentioned the inauguration of a nonprofit health center called Medical Tower, founded by a German family of doctors. Below the information was a photo that took up almost the entire page. In the photo, there was a group of young doctors. There was a lot of information, but most of it was illegible because the ink had run or faded over time.

"Where did you get that newspaper?" I asked.

"My family has lived in Salem forever. My great-uncle Eliot Portland worked at that center from 1950 to 1955, which is how long it stayed open. I found this newspaper among my grandpa's things when he died, two months before Kat's death. I wanted to keep it as a memory of my grandpa, but yesterday I thought of reading it, and everything made sense when I found this."

I looked at the building behind the people in the photo. The picture was in black and white, but from the lushness of the trees, I would say it was taken in the spring. Was there a place like that in Salem?

"Did that center only stay open for five years?" I asked.

"It's one of the mysteries. My parents don't have much information about it. They only know that one night there was an explosion, and no culprits were ever found," Ariana huffed. "I've asked everywhere that might have information, and I haven't found anything."

I looked at the photo again, trying to find something mysterious or different, but it was the opposite.

"What's up with that health center? Why is it relevant?" I asked.

She rolled her eyes. "Bianca!" she pointed sharply at the photo of the doctors. "It's them, the Webers."

I focused on the photo again, where Ariana was pointing exactly. There was a woman with straight black hair, long down to her waist, dressed in the era's style but elegant. Next to the woman was a handsome, tall man, also dressed in the era's style. Their faces, although I couldn't detail them well due to the age of the photo, I did my best.

"It can't be that you're suggesting that couple there are Matthew's parents," I looked at her incredulously, but she continued with her obvious look. "The current parents?"

"And Ibrahim's grandfather also married Rayen's grandmother? Don't be silly, Bianca. Then they would be siblings, not spouses."

She looked at me expectantly. I wanted to believe her, but this was so unnatural that I couldn't understand it.

"Fine, you don't believe me? There," she pointed below the photo, in small letters. "Rayen and Ibrahim Sallow, it says."

I took the newspaper from her and read it myself. And indeed, those were their names, but not their surnames.

"That's not their current surname."

"They could have changed it, Bianca, that's not hard to do here. The surname shouldn't be your biggest concern; it's the same faces and the same names."

I looked at the newspaper again.

"Tell me something," Ariana said. "Have you ever seen Matthew Weber's parents? Your mom always talks about them."

I wasn't surprised that my mom had talked about them to Ariana; she was very taken with the Webers.

The only thing I noticed was that in that era, these supposed Rayen and Ibrahim were very young, which matched what my mom had told me about Rayen, who currently seemed young and beautiful. But if what Ariana said was true, Rayen should be much older now. That didn't make sense.

"Only my mom goes out with them; I've never been interested in meeting them. But if you're saying they are Matthew's biological parents, they should be around 80 years old."

"Exactly," she lifted the newspaper and pointed to the couple. "Do you understand now? They haven't aged at all since then."

I looked at the photo again, and the couple who were supposedly Matthew's parents. Once again, I tried to make sense of Ariana's concern, but it was hard to accept such madness, especially since it could just be a coincidence.

"Where is that center?" I asked, to avoid answering her question.

"I guess it's here in Salem, it should be an abandoned building. That doesn't matter much; I want to know if you now understand what I'm getting at, Bianca."

She looked at me intently.

"It just doesn't make sense."

She sighed and put the newspaper away.

"I won't waste my time explaining something you're not ready for."

"What do you mean?"

"You have to see them yourself to understand me, to believe. Trust me, Bianca. When you see them, you'll be as impressed as I am."