Writers 
The first time Maya saw the girl, she thought she was looking at herself.
It was 6:43 p.m., and the school was almost empty.
Maya had stayed behind to finish an assignment when she noticed someone standing at the end of the corridor.
A girl.
Same height.
Same dark hoodie.
Same messy hair.
Even the same silver necklace.
Maya blinked.
The girl disappeared.
“Okay…” Maya whispered. “That was creepy.”
She packed her books and hurried outside.
The next morning, she found a photograph inside her locker.
It was old and slightly burned around the edges.
There were three girls standing in front of the school.
Maya recognized herself immediately.
But she had never seen the other two.
On the back, someone had written:
YOU WERE FOUR.
Maya stared at the words.
She had always been told she was an only child.
She took the photograph to her best friend, Nia.
Nia's expression changed the moment she saw it.
“Where did you get this?”
“My locker.”
Nia looked around nervously.
“Maya, we need to leave.”
“Why?”
“Because whoever put this there knows something.”
Before Maya could respond, the school's old bell rang.
Once.
Twice.
Then a third time.
But the school bell hadn't worked for years.
Everyone in the hallway stopped.
A teacher came running from the administration block.
“Who rang that?”
Nobody answered.
Then the lights went out.
When they came back on, the photograph was gone.
That evening, Maya confronted her mother.
“Was I ever in this school before?”
Her mother went completely still.
“Maya…”
“Was I?”
Silence.
Then her mother sat down.
“There was an accident.”
Maya's heart began beating faster.
“What accident?”
“You were seven. Your father was driving. You, your sister and your cousin were in the car.”
“My sister?”
Her mother covered her face.
“Her name was Lila.”
Maya stared at her.
“What happened to her?”
“She disappeared after the accident.”
“Disappeared?”
“We searched for years.”
Maya's voice dropped.
“Why didn't you ever tell me?”
“Because you stopped remembering her.”
Maya felt cold.
That night, she searched through every old box in the house.
At the bottom of one was a small video camera.
There was only one recording.
She pressed play.
A younger Maya appeared on the screen, laughing beside three girls.
Lila.
Nia.
And another girl.
Maya leaned closer.
The fourth girl turned toward the camera.
Maya stopped breathing.
It was the girl she'd seen at school.
Then the younger Maya on the recording said something that made her blood run cold.
“If anything happens, we'll meet under the old clock.”
The video ended.
The old clock stood behind the abandoned science building.
Maya went there the next morning with Nia.
“You shouldn't be here,” Nia whispered.
“You knew about Lila.”
Nia looked away.
“I knew there was a girl. I didn't know she was your sister.”
“You're lying.”
Nia finally sighed.
“I knew.”
Before Maya could question her, footsteps echoed behind them.
The girl from the corridor stepped out of the shadows.
Maya froze.
She looked exactly like the girl in the video.
“Lila?”
The girl smiled sadly.
“Finally.”
Maya couldn't move.
“You're alive.”
“I've been alive this whole time.”
“Why did everyone say you disappeared?”
“Because they wanted me to disappear.”
“Who?”
Lila looked toward the school.
“The people who caused the accident.”
She explained everything.
Years ago, their father had discovered that the school was secretly using students' information to cover up a major fraud scheme. He had threatened to expose them.
The accident wasn't an accident.
Someone had tried to silence him.
Lila survived but was taken away by a relative who was terrified of the people involved.
She had spent years gathering proof.
Then she discovered that Maya had returned to the same school where everything began.
“So you were watching me?”
“I was trying to protect you.”
Maya shook her head.
“You could've just told me!”
“I tried.”
Lila pointed toward the old clock.
“That's where I left the first photograph.”
Maya looked at it.
There was a tiny compartment beneath the clock.
Inside was a flash drive.
Evidence.
Names.
Documents.
Recordings.
Everything.
Then footsteps approached.
Someone was coming.
Lila grabbed Maya's hand.
“Run.”
They escaped through the back gate and went straight to the police.
For weeks, the investigation continued.
Several adults were arrested, including people connected to the school.
The truth about the accident finally came out.
Maya's mother apologized for keeping everything from her.
And Lila came home.
But one question remained.
Who had been leaving Maya the photographs?
One afternoon, Maya opened her locker.
There was one final note.
No photograph.
Just six words.
YOU WERE NEVER THE FOURTH GIRL.
Maya stared at it.
She turned the note over.
Nothing.
Then she noticed something written faintly underneath.
A name.
NIA.
Maya slowly looked across the hallway.
Nia was standing there.
Watching her.
And smiling.
The End.
