Chapter 10: The Memories They Stole
Ethan couldn't move.
His father stood ten feet away.
Alive.
Older than the man in the recording, but unmistakably him.
The same gray eyes.
The same narrow scar beneath his chin.
The same watch Ethan remembered from childhood.
For years, Ethan had imagined his father's final moments.
Now the dead man was standing in front of him.
"Dad?"
His father looked at him.
"Ethan."
The word shattered something inside him.
Ethan raised his gun.
"You've been alive."
His father nodded.
"For fifteen years."
"You let me believe you were dead."
"I had to."
"You let me mourn you."
"I know."
"You let me believe Mom was dead."
His father's eyes shifted toward Margaret.
"Your mother made sure you believed that."
Ethan's voice shook.
"And Emily?"
His father looked at the glass chamber.
"She was never supposed to survive."
Emily stared at him.
"You promised."
His father looked at her.
"I kept my promise."
"No."
Emily's voice became bitter.
"You promised Ethan would never know."
His father sighed.
"I failed."
Ethan stepped closer.
"Enough."
His father raised his hands.
"I won't fight you."
"Then tell me the truth."
"I will."
"Everything."
His father nodded.
"Everything."
Behind Ethan, Michael closed the laboratory doors.
Celeste stood beside Sophie and Lily.
Richard was still bleeding from his shoulder.
The baby cried softly inside the chamber.
Ethan pointed toward him.
"First, get my son out."
His father looked at the baby.
Then nodded.
"He's safe."
He entered a command.
The chamber opened.
Ethan immediately lifted the baby into his arms.
The crying stopped.
Ethan held him against his chest.
For the first time, all three of his children were beside him.
Sophie reached out.
"Can I hold him?"
Ethan smiled through tears.
"Not yet."
Lily touched the baby's tiny hand.
The baby grabbed her finger.
She smiled.
Ethan looked at his father.
"Now talk."
His father walked toward the center of the room.
"My name is Robert Carter."
Ethan almost laughed.
"I know."
Robert continued.
"I created Meridian thirty-seven years ago."
"Why?"
"Because I believed our family's disease could be cured."
He pointed toward Margaret.
"Your mother disagreed."
Margaret stared at him.
"I wanted to survive."
"You wanted immortality."
"I wanted to live."
"You were willing to sacrifice children."
Margaret's expression hardened.
"They were already going to die."
Emily shouted:
"That's not true!"
Robert continued.
"Meridian eventually became something I could no longer control."
Ethan looked at the files.
"So you created a monster."
"Yes."
"And then?"
"I tried to destroy it."
Michael spoke.
"That's when they came after you."
Robert nodded.
"They killed everyone close to me."
"Except you."
"I disappeared."
Ethan stared.
"And Michael?"
Robert looked toward his younger son.
"Michael helped me."
Ethan turned.
"You both lied to me."
Michael lowered his eyes.
"We had no choice."
Ethan shook his head.
"Everyone says that."
Robert continued.
"When Michael disappeared eight years ago, it was staged."
"Why?"
"To make Meridian believe he was dead."
Michael stepped forward.
"I infiltrated the organization."
Ethan looked at him.
"You became one of them."
"For a while."
"And Richard?"
Robert looked at Richard.
"Richard was never loyal to Meridian."
Richard gave a tired smile.
"Your father recruited me."
Ethan's eyes narrowed.
"Why?"
"Because I knew Emily."
Ethan looked at his wife.
Richard continued.
"I was assigned to protect her."
"From Meridian?"
"From your mother."
Margaret laughed.
"You fools."
Robert looked at her.
"You've lost."
Margaret's eyes hardened.
"Have I?"
She pointed toward the screens.
"Look."
Ethan turned.
The Meridian archive was still downloading.
But something had changed.
The files were disappearing.
One by one.
Michael rushed to the console.
"Someone is deleting them."
Robert's face changed.
"Impossible."
Michael shook his head.
"Someone has administrator access."
Richard stood.
"Who?"
The screens suddenly displayed one name.
ADMINISTRATOR:
MARGARET CARTER.
Robert looked at his wife.
"You gave yourself access."
Margaret smiled.
"I never needed permission."
She pressed a button.
The entire laboratory began shaking.
Emergency lights turned red.
Ethan grabbed Sophie.
"What is happening?"
Michael shouted:
"She's destroying the facility!"
Robert ran toward the control panel.
"No!"
Margaret's voice echoed through the speakers.
"If I can't control the bloodline..."
A countdown appeared.
00:04:59.
"...then no one will."
Ethan looked at his father.
"How do we stop it?"
Robert stared at the countdown.
"We can't."
"What?"
"The system is designed to destroy itself."
Michael looked toward the exits.
"We need to get everyone out."
Ethan held the baby.
"Let's go."
They rushed toward the corridor.
But Margaret was gone.
So was Celeste.
Ethan stopped.
"Where is Celeste?"
Michael looked around.
"She was behind us."
Then Sophie screamed.
"Mommy!"
Ethan turned.
Emily's glass chamber was empty.
The door was open.
Emily was gone.
A small blood trail led toward another corridor.
Ethan's heart dropped.
"Mom!"
He ran.
The corridor was filled with smoke.
A door slammed ahead.
Ethan reached it.
Locked.
"Emily!"
No answer.
He kicked the door.
Again.
It opened.
Inside was a small room.
Empty.
Except for a phone lying on the floor.
Ethan picked it up.
A video was already playing.
Emily appeared on the screen.
Her face was terrified.
"Ethan, if you're watching this, I couldn't stop them."
"Where are you?"
She looked behind her.
"They took me to the old house."
"What old house?"
"The one where your mother kept the first records."
Ethan froze.
"Where?"
Emily whispered the address.
Ethan knew it.
It was his childhood home.
The house that had supposedly burned down after his father's death.
Emily continued.
"Don't come alone."
"Why?"
"Because Margaret isn't the one you need to fear."
Ethan's expression changed.
"Then who?"
Emily looked directly into the camera.
"Your father."
The video ended.
Ethan slowly turned.
Robert stood behind him.
His face was unreadable.
"You need to listen to me."
Ethan raised his weapon.
"You took Emily."
"No."
"Then where is she?"
"I don't know."
"Liar."
Robert shook his head.
"I didn't take her."
"She said you were the one to fear."
His father's expression changed.
"She finally remembered."
Ethan frowned.
"Remembered what?"
Robert stepped closer.
"Your memories."
Ethan froze.
"What about them?"
"Your mother didn't erase them."
"Then who did?"
Robert looked at him.
"I did."
Ethan stared.
"Why?"
"Because you asked me to."
The words made no sense.
"I asked you?"
Robert nodded.
"You were seventeen."
Ethan's breathing slowed.
"You knew about Meridian?"
"You knew everything."
"Then why don't I remember?"
Robert's voice became quiet.
"Because you volunteered to forget."
Ethan's head began pounding.
Suddenly images flashed through his mind.
A hospital.
A laboratory.
His father shouting.
His mother crying.
A little girl.
Emily.
A baby.
Then blood.
Ethan grabbed his head.
"No..."
Michael rushed toward him.
"Ethan!"
"I remember..."
Another image.
He was seventeen.
Standing in front of his father.
And he was saying:
"Erase it."
Robert nodded.
"You were terrified."
"What did I see?"
Robert hesitated.
"Your mother killed someone."
"Who?"
Robert looked toward Margaret's empty chair.
"Emily's first husband."
Ethan froze.
"What?"
Robert continued.
"Before Emily met you, she was married."
Ethan's mind exploded with confusion.
"That's impossible."
"It happened."
"Why?"
"Because your mother wanted Emily's research."
Ethan stared at the floor.
"And I knew?"
"You witnessed the murder."
Silence.
"That's why your memories were erased."
Ethan's breathing became shallow.
Then another memory surfaced.
Emily standing beside him.
Crying.
And saying:
"Promise me you'll forget."
Ethan looked up.
"Emily asked me?"
Robert nodded.
"Because she was afraid you'd come after your mother."
Ethan stared.
"Then why did she come back?"
Robert's face hardened.
"Because she remembered everything."
A deafening explosion shook the laboratory.
The ceiling cracked.
Dust fell.
Michael shouted:
"We have to move!"
Everyone ran.
Ethan carried the baby.
Sophie held Lily's hand.
They reached the emergency exit.
But just before Ethan stepped outside, he saw something on the wall.
A photograph.
Emily.
Pregnant.
Standing beside a man Ethan had never seen.
The date was twenty years earlier.
Underneath it was a handwritten note.
ETHAN MUST NEVER KNOW WHO HIS REAL FATHER IS.
Ethan stopped.
His heart hammered.
Robert saw the photograph.
His face went pale.
Michael whispered:
"Ethan..."
Ethan slowly turned toward his father.
"Who is that man?"
Robert didn't answer.
Ethan looked again.
The photograph showed Emily holding a newborn.
But the child wasn't Sophie.
It wasn't Lily.
It wasn't the baby.
It was Ethan.
And beside Emily stood a man who looked exactly like Ethan.
Ethan whispered:
"That's not Dad."
Robert closed his eyes.
"No."
"Then who is he?"
Robert finally looked at his son.
"Your biological father."
The building shook again.
And somewhere outside, a woman screamed.
Emily.
Then another voice answered her.
A man's voice.
The same voice Ethan had heard through the speakers.
"Run if you want, Ethan."
"You've been looking for your father."
"But you've never asked the most important question."
May you like
A pause.
"Which one?"
