Jay's POV
I couldn't stop staring at the photograph.
Even after the stranger lowered it, the image remained burned into my mind. Stein's face was right there. Clear enough to see. Clear enough to prove he had existed.
Yet none of us remembered him.
The realization was becoming harder to ignore.
Because forgetting a name was one thing.
Forgetting a face was another.
I looked around the auditorium again. Everyone seemed just as unsettled as I was. Some were staring at the photograph. Others were lost in thought. Nobody looked comfortable anymore.
The stranger carefully placed the picture on top of the folder.
"Now do you understand?" he asked quietly.
No.
I didn't.
If anything, I understood less than before.
Every answer seemed to create another question.
Every clue only made the mystery deeper.
The stranger took a slow breath before looking toward the back of the room.
My eyes followed his.
And landed on David.
A strange feeling settled in my stomach.
Because David wasn't looking at the photograph.
He wasn't looking at the stranger.
He was staring at the floor.
Like he already knew what was coming next.
And somehow...
that scared me more than the photograph ever could.