Desperation drove him back to the library the next morning. He didn't go through the front. He used the delivery bay, slipping in behind a crate of periodicals. He knew the blind spots of the security cameras; he had mapped them out himself during a boring summer shift.
The thief stepped closer. You remember the memories you memorized from the real Elias’s journals. You did such a good job hiding the body that you actually started to believe the lie. But you got lazy, Arthur. You stopped being 'Elias' and started just being a shadow. Identity Thief
He went to the nearest ATM, three blocks away, his breath coming in shallow hitches. He shoved his debit card into the slot. He typed his PIN with trembling fingers. The screen didn’t show his balance. It simply flickered once and swallowed the card. A message appeared in stark, white letters: Account Closed. Please contact your local branch. Desperation drove him back to the library the next morning
I’m sorry, sir, the young man said, not looking up from his tablet. Residents only. I live here, Elias said, his voice thin. 4B. Elias Thorne. He knew the blind spots of the security
The sound of sirens began to swell in the distance, cutting through the muffled quiet of the library. Elias looked at his hands. They were shaking. He tried to remember his mother’s face, but all he could see was a blurred photograph he’d found in a box years ago. He tried to remember his first day at the library, but it felt like a scene from a movie he’d watched too many times.
Elias backed toward the window. He looked at the man who was currently living his life, wearing his clothes, and possessing his name. He realized he couldn't fight for a life he had stolen, because there was no "Elias" left to save.
The thief stood up. He walked to the door and locked it. You were Arthur Vance, he said quietly. A drifter. A man with a record for petty theft and a history of disappearing. You stole the identity of a quiet archivist named Elias Thorne five years ago. Did you really think you were the first person to have this idea?