Debbie Williams had stopped sleeping properly two weeks ago.Not the kind of "I stayed up too late scrolling" tired. This was the hollow-eyed, bone-deep exhaustion that came from staring at walls and asking the same question over and over again:Where is Ann?
Her apartment smelled like cold coffee and panic. Papers covered her dining table,maps, printed screenshots, handwritten notes, a timeline of Ann's last day written in red pen.
"Monday, Lunch order. Emperor Diner," Debbie muttered to herself. "Car Highway Right turn."Always the right turn.She jabbed the map again with her pen. "And then nothing.
"The police had already used that word.Nothing.No camera footage past the turn. No witnesses. No body. No credit card use. No phone activity. Ann Jones had vanished like she'd stepped out of reality.Debbie shoved her jacket on and grabbed her keys.She wasn't waiting anymore.
The road to Emperor Diner looked innocent in daylight.
Trees.
Sun.
A breeze that smelled faintly of salt from the distant beach.Debbie parked where the officers had marked the last camera frame. She stepped out of her car and stood there, staring down the stretch of asphalt."This is where you disappeared," she whispered.She walked slowly, scanning the road edges.
Grass.
Tire marks long faded.
A broken camera pole leaned crookedly near the turn.She crouched near the base.Something metallic caught her eye.A small black fragment.Plastic casing. Smooth edges. Not natural debris.
Debbie picked it up.It felt… expensive.Not road trash.She slipped it into her pocket.Her phone rang.Unknown number.She hesitated, then answered. "Hello?""Miss Williams?" a man's voice said."Yes?""This is Detective Ross. We received your message about checking the diner road personally."
Debbie swallowed.
"I found something.""Stay where you are.""I'm not moving."She lied.At the police station, the fragment sat in an evidence bag between them.Ross frowned. "This doesn't belong to traffic equipment.""So what is it?""Possibly part of a sensor casing."Debbie's chest tightened.
"A sensor… like a camera?""More like… something higher tech."Debbie leaned forward. "So someone was watching that road."Ross hesitated."Off the record?" he said quietly. "There are blind spots all over that lane. That's… unusual for a state route."Debbie's mouth went dry. "So it's perfect for making someone disappear."
Ross looked at her for a long time. "You shouldn't be digging this deep.""She's my friend."He sighed. "Then be careful."
That night, Debbie searched.Not just Google. Not just social media.Dark forums. Medical patents. Government research grants.She found something.A defunct biomedical corporation.Veyron BioDynamics.Most of its projects were classified. But one leaked document caught her eye.
Near-death cognition analysis.
Human response mapping under fatal stress.
Location: undisclosed.
Her fingers trembled as she scrolled.A logo appeared on one page.A black circle with a silver vertical line through it.Debbie stared at it.She had seen it before.On the fragment she found.Her stomach dropped.
Back inside the facility, Ann woke up with blood in her mouth.Not from an experiment.From biting herself in her sleep.The nightmare had been of Johnny again—screaming in dirt.Her wristband glowed faintly.She sat up slowly, heart racing."ATHENA," she whispered."Good morning, Participant Ann Jones. Heart rate elevated. Cortisol detected.""Stop monitoring my dreams."
"Dreams are neurological data."Ann swung her legs over the bed. "Then I hope you choke on them."Silence.She walked into the hallway and nearly collided with a stretcher.
A body lay on it.Covered.She recognized the shoes.Johnny's.Her breath caught.Two medical staff pushed him past her without meeting her eyes.
"Is he alive?" she asked.
No one answered.
ATHENA did.
"Participant Miller experienced neurological collapse following prolonged stress simulation. Status: reassigned.
"Ann's voice shook. "Reassigned where?""To memory research."She didn't know what that meant.But she knew it was worse.
Dominic watched the outside world from his office window.City lights below. Music faint from the street.A man stood beside him holding a tablet. "Police activity near Route 9."Dominic smiled. "And?","A woman. Friend of Subject Ann."Dominic's eyes narrowed slightly. "Name.""Debbie Williams."Dominic rolled the name across his tongue."Let her look," he said.The man hesitated. "Sir?""Curiosity sharpens grief," Dominic replied calmly. "And grief… creates leverage."He turned back to the window."They always come closer," he said softly. "Even when they shouldn't."
Debbie stood outside her apartment later that night, keys in hand, when she noticed the car.
Black.
Parked across the street.
Engine off.
Too clean.
She froze.
A man stepped out.
Tall.
Black coat. Hands in pockets.He smiled."Debbie Williams," he said.Her heart slammed into her ribs. "Who are you?""Someone who admires persistence."She took a step back. "Are you with the police?"He laughed quietly. "No.""Then stay away from me."He didn't move closer."That road you visited today?" he said. "Not safe."
Debbie's stomach dropped. "You followed me.""I watch many things."She clenched her fists. "Where is Ann?"He tilted his head. "Alive."Tears sprang to her eyes. "Where?""Not where you can reach her.""Then why tell me?""Because hope is useful," he said softly. "And because you'll keep looking.""Why?"His smile widened slightly. "Because people like you make good stories."He stepped back toward his car.Debbie shouted, "What do you want from me?!"He paused."Patience," he said.Then he drove away.---Inside the facility, Ann sat in the cafeteria, staring at Johnny's empty seat.Lena sat beside her, skin still healing, eyes dim. "They took him, didn't they?"Ann nodded."They take everyone eventually," Lena whispered.Ann's fingers curled into fists."No," she said quietly.Lena looked at her."Not everyone," Ann repeated.Recognizing her own lie.But believing it anyway.---Outside, Debbie sat on her bed clutching her phone, shaking.Alive.That word echoed in her head.Ann was alive.Somewhere.And someone didn't want her found.Which meant…She wasn't meant to disappear.She was meant to be hidden.Debbie wiped her eyes and opened her laptop again.She typed:Veyron BioDynamics missing personsMore names appeared.More vanished turns.More broken families.Debbie whispered, "I'm coming for you, Ann."
And far away, beneath white walls and watching eyes Ann said the same thing in reverse.
"Don't forget me".