What Was Left Behind

Chapter 6: The Threads Begin to Unravel

Maia stood frozen in the studio, the weight of Tessa's words crashing down around her like a tidal wave. Camilla had been investigating her father. The father who had buried himself in his work at the psychiatric facility. The father whose name had appeared again and again in the twisted notes she had uncovered. And now, Camilla was gone, swallowed by the secrets she had unearthed.

Tessa sat in front of her, trembling, her eyes red from tears. The words she had spoken clung to the air like poison: "She was scared someone was following her." The same words Camilla had whispered in passing before she disappeared. Someone had been watching her. Maia had brushed it off as paranoia back then, but now, it felt like the missing piece in a puzzle she didn't know how to solve.

She took a slow breath, her mind racing to catch up. "Tessa, you have to tell me everything you know. What was Camilla looking into? What exactly did she find out about my father?"

Tessa hesitated, biting her lip as her gaze flickered to the portrait of Camilla still resting on the easel. She looked small and fragile now, like she was holding something back.

"She didn't tell me much," Tessa admitted, her voice cracking. "Just bits and pieces. But I know she was focused on those trials at the psychiatric facility... the ones your father was a part of. She thought they were connected to the disappearances."

Maia's stomach churned. The trials. Her father's clinical trials at the facility had been a constant shadow in her investigation. The memory manipulation experiments, the cover-ups—pieces of a dark history that had gone unnoticed for years. She had suspected they were involved in the disappearances, but hearing it confirmed sent a cold shiver down her spine.

"She mentioned something about patients," Tessa continued. "People who were involved in the trials. I think she was trying to track them down... to talk to them, but she didn't get far before—before she disappeared."

The realization hit Maia hard. Camilla had been digging into her father's work—uncovering the truth about the experiments—and someone had taken her to stop her from getting too close. The pieces of the puzzle were finally falling into place, but the picture they painted was darker than Maia had anticipated.

She turned toward the door, her pulse quickening. "Do you know where she was going? Did she mention any names? Any of the patients she was trying to find?"

Tessa shook her head, her eyes wide with fear. "No. She was being careful. She didn't trust anyone. She was scared... scared that someone was going to come for her."

Maia swallowed hard. She had been so focused on finding Camilla that she hadn't fully considered the risk to herself. But now, it was becoming clear that whatever had happened to Camilla could happen to her, too. If she kept digging, she could be next.

But she couldn't stop now. She was too close to the truth.

"I need to go," Maia said, grabbing her bag and turning toward the door. "If you remember anything else, anything at all, let me know."

Tessa nodded weakly, still sitting frozen in the chair. As Maia left the studio, the cold air hit her face, and she breathed it in deeply, trying to steady herself. Her heart raced as the gravity of the situation settled over her. Camilla had gotten too close to the truth about the trials, about the disappearances, and now Maia was walking the same path.

Her phone buzzed in her pocket, and she pulled it out, half-expecting to see her mother's name on the screen. But it wasn't her mother—it was Levi.

"Where are you? We need to talk."

The message felt like an anchor, pulling her back to reality. She had been so caught up in her own investigation that she had almost forgotten about Levi—the journalist with his own reasons for digging into the town's secrets. He had lost his sister in a mysterious accident, one he believed was connected to the same conspiracy that had swallowed Camilla. They had agreed to work together, but the deeper Maia dug, the more isolated she felt.

Maia hesitated, her mind torn between rushing to meet Levi and diving deeper into her father's past. She had the pieces, but none of them fit together yet. Levi might be able to help her connect the dots, but part of her wasn't ready to share everything. Not yet.

Still, Levi had been relentless in his pursuit of the truth, and he had a way of seeing things she missed. She needed him. Whether she wanted to admit it or not, Levi had become an important part of this investigation, and right now, she needed someone she could trust.

"I'm on campus," she texted back. "Meet me at the café in 20 minutes."

The reply came almost instantly: "On my way."

Maia's fingers trembled slightly as she put her phone back in her pocket. She glanced one last time at the arts building, her heart heavy with the knowledge of what she'd learned. Tessa's confession had shifted everything. Camilla hadn't just been a victim—she had been a target. And now, Maia was following in her footsteps, edging closer to a darkness that threatened to pull her under.

Twenty minutes later, Maia sat at a corner table in the café, her coffee untouched in front of her. Her mind raced with the information she had gathered, the weight of it pressing down on her like a storm cloud hanging just above her. The place was buzzing with students, the noise of laughter and conversation filling the air, but Maia felt disconnected from it all. Her world had narrowed to the mystery of Camilla's disappearance, and it seemed to swallow everything else.

The bell above the café door chimed, and Maia looked up to see Levi enter, his eyes scanning the room until they landed on her. He was dressed in his usual dark jacket, his expression calm but focused. He had a quiet intensity about him, something Maia had noticed from the start. He wasn't just chasing a story—this was personal for him.

He walked over to her table and sat down across from her without a word, his eyes studying her closely. "You look like you've seen a ghost," he said, his voice low, though not without concern.

Maia let out a slow breath, trying to steady her thoughts. "I just found out something... something I didn't expect."

Levi raised an eyebrow. "About Camilla?"

"About my father," she said quietly, her voice barely above a whisper. She glanced around the café, making sure no one was listening before continuing. "She was investigating him. His work at the psychiatric facility. She found out about the trials, about what he and the others were doing to the patients there."

Levi leaned forward, his expression darkening. "What kind of trials?"

"Memory manipulation," Maia said, her throat tightening as the words came out. "They were testing ways to erase memories, implant false ones. And Camilla... she was trying to uncover the truth about it."

Levi's eyes widened slightly, his voice filled with disbelief. "Your father was involved in that?"

Maia nodded, her pulse quickening. "She found out something she wasn't supposed to. She was getting too close, and that's why... that's why someone took her."

Levi sat back, processing her words. His face was a mixture of shock and grim determination. "If Camilla found out about this, then whoever's behind these disappearances won't stop. They can't afford to let the truth come out."

"I know," Maia whispered, her heart pounding in her chest. "And I think I'm next."

The weight of those words settled between them, a cold reality they couldn't escape. Maia was too close now, just as Camilla had been. The deeper they dug, the more dangerous it became.

Levi's jaw tightened, and he leaned forward, his voice low and serious. "Then we have to be smart about this. No more acting on instinct. We need to be careful. If your father's work is involved, this goes deeper than we thought."

Maia nodded, though the fear gnawed at her. "I'm not stopping," she said, her voice firm. "I can't stop. We have to figure out what happened to Camilla."

Levi met her gaze, his green eyes hard with determination. "We will," he said quietly. "But we do it together."

For the first time, Maia felt a flicker of something close to hope. She wasn't alone in this anymore. Levi was by her side, and together, they were going to uncover the truth—no matter how dark it was.

But deep down, Maia knew that the truth was far more dangerous than either of them had anticipated.

And the closer they got to it, the more they risked losing everything.