Is That Mom

Part 5 of Chapter 3

Chapter 3:

The First Real Lead

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Part 5:

A Mysterious Contact

The night was creeping into the early hours of the morning, but Ethan’s room was still illuminated by the cold, blue light of his computer screen. He had been at it for hours, scouring through obscure forums, reading old articles, and combing through anything that mentioned the clinic. His eyes burned, and his head felt heavy, but the idea of stopping was unthinkable. He was chasing shadows, following every lead no matter how thin, desperately hoping that one of them would point him in the right direction.

As he sat back, massaging his temples to ease the growing headache, his computer pinged with a new email notification. Ethan’s tired eyes darted to the screen, expecting it to be another spam message or some mundane update, but what he saw instead made his heart skip a beat.

The subject line read: “I knew your mother.”

Ethan’s pulse quickened as he clicked on the email, his hands trembling slightly. The message was short—just a single sentence that left more questions than answers. “I knew your mother. If you want to know the truth, you’re looking in the right place.” It was signed off with a single initial: “J.”

He read the email over and over again, trying to make sense of it. Who was “J”? How did they know his mother, and what did they mean by “the right place?” Ethan’s mind raced with possibilities, each one more unsettling than the last. Was this person trying to help him, or was this some kind of twisted game?

He wanted to believe that this was a genuine lead, that someone out there actually had answers. But after weeks of hitting dead ends and chasing false trails, a part of him was reluctant to trust it. For all he knew, it could be a cruel prank. Maybe someone had seen his frantic posts on forums and decided to play along, feeding his desperation. Yet, there was something about the email that felt different. It was too direct, too personal. Whoever “J” was, they knew something, and Ethan had to find out what.

He quickly typed a response, trying to keep his tone neutral even though his hands were shaking. “Who are you? How did you know my mother?” He hesitated before hitting send, his finger hovering over the button as doubt flickered in his mind. But he needed answers, and this might be his only chance. With a deep breath, he clicked send and watched as the message disappeared into the void of the internet.

Minutes felt like hours as he waited for a reply. Ethan’s thoughts spiraled, jumping from one possibility to another. He imagined “J” as an old friend of his mother’s, someone who had been there during her time at the clinic. Maybe they knew why she had been there, or what had happened in the days leading up to her disappearance. Or perhaps “J” was someone from the clinic itself, someone who had worked there and seen things they weren’t supposed to see. But then, a darker thought crept in—what if this person was somehow involved in whatever happened to her?

The sound of another ping jolted him from his thoughts, and he scrambled to check the screen. There it was, a new message from “J.” Ethan’s heart pounded as he opened the email, his eyes scanning the words.

“If you want to know the truth, meet me. I’ll explain everything. Tomorrow night, 9 PM, at the old diner on 7th and Pine. Come alone. —J”

Ethan’s mind spun as he read the message. The old diner on 7th and Pine was a place he knew well—it had been around for decades, a relic of a bygone era that somehow still managed to stay open. The place was quiet, mostly visited by regulars who appreciated its greasy burgers and cheap coffee. It was the kind of place where people could talk without being overheard, which made it the perfect location for a secret meeting. But the insistence on coming alone made Ethan’s skin crawl. It sounded like a cliché out of a movie, and it only added to the sense of foreboding that had settled over him.