The Names That Follow Me

The streets of Belize City were already waking up, vendors setting up their stalls, the scent of fried plantains and fresh bread mixing with the salt-heavy air. The morning sun cut long shadows across the cracked pavement, painting the world in gold and shadow.

Jessica moved through the crowd without urgency. Fast enough to put distance between herself and the house, slow enough not to look like she was running. She had ditched her phone at a market stall. Paid in cash for a new burner.

She always had a contingency plan for situations like this. At the moment, she needed two things. First she needed a place to stop moving. Second, she needed Olivia.

She ducked into a quiet café. This would satisfy the first need for now. Choosing a back table near the exit, she sat down and pulled out the burner phone and called Olivia.

Olivia answered on the second ring. “Are you calling me from a number I have to burn after this?”

Jessica smirked slightly, despite everything. “Yeah.”

A pause. Then, “What happened?”

Jessica exhaled, rubbing a hand over her jaw. With a hint of panic in her voice, she answered, “I woke up erased.”

Olivia swore under her breath. “OK, Tell me everything.”

Jessica kept her voice even. “Got a call before dawn. No ID, voice scrambled. Told me to run. Checked my accounts, everything’s frozen. My aliases are burned. It’s like I don’t exist anymore.”

Olivia’s tone was already shifting, moving into journalist mode. “Government-level or private?”

“Feels like both.”

Jessica let that sit for a second. Because that was the part that bothered her the most. Governments erased people. Intelligence agencies hunted them. But this? This felt coordinated. Like someone had pulled every thread at once.

Olivia didn’t like it either. “Give me an hour.”

Jessica tilted her head slightly. “That’s fast, even for you.”

A pause. Then, “Jessica, I was already looking into something.”

Jessica frowned. “What?”

Another hesitation. Then Olivia said it. “Someone’s been running your name.”

Who Else Is Looking for Her? Jessica’s grip tightened on the phone. “Explain.”

Olivia’s voice was careful. “A few days ago, I started noticing it. Someone’s been pulling old databases, private security firms, intelligence archives, even university records. They’re looking for you.”

Jessica exhaled through her nose. “Who?”

“I don’t know yet. But whoever it is, they’re not looking for ‘Jessica Sanchez.’”

Jessica’s pulse slowed. “Then who?”

Olivia paused for a beat, then “They’re looking for all of you.” She took a short breath before saying, “Every name you’ve ever used.”

* * *

Jessica pressed her fingers against her temple. This was different. Vanguard, Dominion, the people who had tried to control her before, they had always been focused on the present. On who she was now. But this? This was a search through history. Like someone was trying to reconstruct her past. All of it.

And then there was a flicker behind her eyes. A flash of something buried. Jessica closed her eyes for half a second.Her senses were overwhelmed by the smell of stone and parchment and the sound of pages turning. There was a voice, low, careful, whispering.

“It is written.”

Jessica inhaled sharply, eyes snapping open. The voice felt familiar. Not in tone, but in weight. It was like something that had been waiting for her to wake up.

The café came back into focus.Her hands were gripping the table. She let out a slow breath, forcing herself back under control. It didn’t feel like a dream. It felt like a memory, except it wasn’t hers.

* * *

She adjusted her grip on the phone. “Where are you?”

“Mexico City. But I can be wherever you need me.”

Jessica shook her head. “No. I’ll come to you.”

Olivia didn’t argue. Which meant she knew how bad this was. Jessica glanced toward the exit, already mapping the next steps. It was simple, she needed a new identity, a new route, and to get to Olivia.

She forced her mind away from the memory. From the whisper that wasn’t hers. For now, she had to focus on something else. Something more pressing. Something Olivia hadn’t asked yet, but Jessica knew she would. Why did someone burn her past now? And more importantly, what were they afraid she would remember?