Evette settles on her bed and locks the door, carefully placing the files on her bed. As she moves the papers, a CD falls out and clinks against the floor. Her heart skips a beat. She hesitates but then walks over to the small shelf under the TV, where her old CD player sits. She grabs it, places the CD inside, and presses play.
The sound of a birthday celebration fills the room. At first, Evette thinks she's hearing herself in the recording. But as she listens more closely, she realizes it's not her voice at all, it's someone else. Someone with strikingly similar features.
Margret.
Evette's eyes widen as she realizes how much she looks like Margret, though their eye colors are different. Then, the recording shifts, and Evette hears Emerson's voice. He enters, sounding confident, wearing a suit. A few seconds later, a second voice joins, casual and laid-back. It's Elliot, Emerson's twin, dressed in a polo shirt that's half-unbuttoned.
Evette freezes. Emerson has a twin?
Evette watches the recording in disbelief. As the scene continues, Margret disappears from the frame for a moment. She reappears holding a plain chocolate cake, the kind you'd find at any simple celebration. Two candles are stuck in the cake—one shaped like a "2" and the other like a "0."
"Happy birthday, babe," Emerson's voice rings out from the recording, and Evette watches in shock as he leans in and kisses Margret.
Evette realizes it's an old recording, and it's Margret's birthday. She's turning twenty in the video.
The recording finishes, and the CD pops out of the player with a soft click.
Evette's eyes linger on the scattered files for a moment, her mind still reeling from the recording. Slowly, she reaches for one of the files, her fingers trembling slightly as she flips it open. As she opens the manila folder, a small piece of paper slips out and drifts gently onto the bed. She freezes, watching it fall.
Curious, she picks up the note and unfolds it. The paper is worn, almost fragile, as though it's been handled many times before. The words written on it are sharp and direct:
If you found this, you must have been looking for it.
Her pulse quickens as her eyes move down the note, where two addresses are scrawled beneath it, one in Philadelphia and the other in Pennsylvania. Each address is written in a messy but clear hand, and Evette can't help but feel a strange sense of urgency wash over her as she stares at them.
Evette's mind races as she stares at the two addresses. A sense of unease twists in her stomach, but she pushes it aside. I'll visit them during my winter break, she thinks to herself. Philadelphia is about eight hours away from Pennsylvania, and since the second address is in Pennsylvania itself, it's only about two hours from her university. That gives her enough time to make the trip. She glances at the calendar on her phone, mentally calculating, and feels a strange anticipation building within her. This is her chance to uncover more—maybe even answers.
Evette's phone vibrates, pulling her attention away from the files. She glances down at the screen, seeing a message from the same unknown number. The message reads: History is about to repeat itself. A chill runs down her spine as she reads it. Her mind goes blank for a moment, her thoughts racing. She can't shake the feeling that something's off, but she pushes it aside for now.
She ignores the message and, instead, scrolls back up, her eyes stopping at the first message from the number: You look just like her. Run.
Evette's breath hitches in her throat as she pauses, the realization hitting her like a ton of bricks. She had forgotten about this message, but now it felt more significant than ever. Without thinking, she replays the CD recording, the one that had been playing when she first discovered it. As the familiar voices fill the room again, her heart races. She watches the scene unfold once more—Margret's face staring back at her from the screen.
It hits her like a jolt of electricity. She looks just like me.