Chapter 15 - Fire consumed the walls.Rafe ran.
Isabella grabbed his hand.
"Move!"
They sprinted through the burning corridor.
Behind them, explosions shook the building.
The alarms screamed.
Smoke filled the air.
Rafe could hear voices in his head.
Gabriel.
Victor.
Daniel.
Thomas.
All fighting for space.
All demanding control.
He fell against a wall.
Isabella grabbed his face.
"Listen to me."
"I can't."
"Yes, you can."
"They're inside me."
"I know."
"They're taking over."
"No."
She pressed her forehead against his.
"They're afraid."
Rafe stared.
"Of what?"
"Of you."
She pulled back.
"Because you're the first person they couldn't program."
Rafe closed his eyes.
The voices screamed.
Then something changed.
He remembered the rain.
The old woman.
The broken shoe.
The warm water.
A towel beneath trembling legs.
He remembered why he had knelt.
Not because someone ordered him.
Not because a memory told him to.
Because someone was hurting.
And he couldn't walk away.
That was Rafe.
Not Elias.
Not Noah.
Not Victor.
Not Gabriel.
Rafe.
He opened his eyes.
The voices became quiet.
Isabella smiled through tears.
"There you are."
He stood.
"Where's Lena?"
"Waiting outside."
"And Mara?"
"Alive."
"Anna?"
"She survived."
Rafe looked toward the burning corridor.
"Victor?"
Isabella shook her head.
"He's gone."
Rafe frowned.
"He escaped."
"Yes."
"Then this isn't over."
"No."
The roof collapsed behind them.
They escaped into the rain.
For a few seconds, Rafe simply stood there breathing.
Then Lena ran toward him.
She threw her arms around him.
Rafe hesitated.
Then hugged her.
His sister.
His real sister.
Or perhaps something more complicated.
It didn't matter anymore.
She was family.
Anna emerged behind her.
She looked at Rafe.
"I'm sorry."
He nodded.
"I know."
She started crying.
Rafe walked toward her.
Then knelt.
The same way he had knelt beside her in the rain.
Anna looked down.
"Why do you keep doing that?"
Rafe smiled.
"Because some people need someone to come down to their level."
She reached toward his face.
Her fingers touched the old scar beside his eye.
"That's your father's scar."
Rafe paused.
"No."
He gently moved her hand.
"It's mine now."
Then a police cruiser pulled up.
The same officer from the pharmacy stepped out.
He looked at Rafe.
Then at the ruined estate.
Then at the people behind him.
"We need statements."
Rafe nodded.
"You'll get them."
The officer glanced at the fire.
"Who started this?"
Rafe looked back at the burning building.
"For the first time..."
He smiled faintly.
"I don't know."
The officer laughed.
"That's a strange answer from you."
Rafe turned away.
Behind the ambulance, Lena noticed something on the ground.
A small black envelope.
She picked it up.
There was no name.
Only one sentence.
She opened it.
Inside was a photograph.
Four babies.
Rafe.
Lena.
Mara.
And Noah.
But something was wrong.
The photograph was dated two years before Rafe was born.
Lena's face went pale.
"Rafe."
He turned.
"What?"
She handed him the picture.
His eyes narrowed.
On the back was another message.
YOUR MEMORIES ARE NOT THE FIRST THING THEY STOLE.
Rafe stared at the words.
Then heard a familiar voice behind him.
"Rafe."
He turned.
Anna was standing there.
But her eyes were terrified.
She whispered:
"I remember now."
"What?"
She looked at the photograph.
"There weren't four babies."
Rafe's heart stopped.
"How many?"
Anna's lips trembled.
"Five."
Silence.
"Where's the fifth?"
Anna looked toward the city skyline.
"That's the child they were most afraid of."
Rafe stared.
"Who?"
Anna didn't answer.
Her phone began ringing.
Unknown number.
She answered.
A man's voice came through.
"Tell Elias the game is over."
Anna's face went white.
Then the caller said:
"And tell him..."
A pause.
"...his real mother is still waiting for him."
The line went dead.
Rafe looked at Anna.
"Who was that?"
She slowly lowered the phone.
"I don't know."
Then, from the darkness beyond the burning estate, a motorcycle engine started.
One roar.
Then another.
Rafe turned toward the sound.
A black biker emerged through the smoke.
Same leather vest.
Same tattoos.
Same scar.
Same face.
Rafe stared.
The other man removed his helmet.
And smiled.
"You spent twenty-two years trying to remember who you were."
He stepped into the firelight.
"Now it's my turn to forget you."
Rafe slowly stepped forward.
And for the first time in his life, he wasn't afraid of the answer.
He was ready for the war.
The engine roared.
The other biker smiled.
Then he whispered the name Rafe had spent his whole life trying to forget.
May you like
"Elias."
TO BE CONTINUED...
