Chapter 11: The Father Ethan Never Knew
Ethan stared at the photograph.
The man beside Emily looked so much like him that for a moment Ethan wondered whether he was looking at a reflection.
Same gray eyes.
Same sharp jaw.
Same crooked smile.
Even the small scar above the right eyebrow.
The only difference was the age.
The man looked about thirty.
Ethan's father stood behind him, silent.
"Who is he?"
Robert didn't answer.
Ethan stepped closer.
"I asked you a question."
Still nothing.
Michael looked at Robert.
"You have to tell him."
Robert closed his eyes.
"The man's name is Adrian Vale."
Ethan repeated it slowly.
"Adrian Vale."
"Yes."
"Who was he?"
Robert looked at the photograph.
"Your father's closest friend."
Ethan frowned.
"My father?"
"Before Meridian."
Robert's voice became strained.
"Adrian was a genetic researcher. Brilliant. Ambitious. And dangerously convinced that our family's genetic condition could be weaponized."
Ethan looked at the photograph again.
"And Emily?"
"Emily worked with him."
Ethan's stomach tightened.
"So she knew him before me."
"Years before."
"How long?"
Robert hesitated.
"She was twenty-one."
Ethan stared at him.
"That's when the photograph was taken."
Robert nodded.
"And the baby?"
Robert's eyes moved toward Ethan.
"You."
The room went silent.
Ethan's fingers tightened around the photograph.
"You're telling me Emily had me before she met me?"
"No."
Robert shook his head.
"The photograph is not from twenty years ago."
Ethan looked at the date.
The date had been altered.
Someone had written over the original numbers.
Michael stepped closer.
"It's fake."
Ethan looked at him.
"Why?"
"To make you believe Adrian was your father."
Ethan's eyes narrowed.
"Wasn't he?"
Michael hesitated.
"No."
Robert finally spoke.
"Adrian died before you were born."
Ethan exhaled.
"Then why does he look like me?"
Robert didn't answer.
A loud explosion shook the building.
Everyone ducked.
Glass shattered somewhere behind them.
Michael shouted:
"Move!"
They rushed through the emergency exit.
The mansion's underground facility was collapsing behind them.
Ethan carried the baby while Sophie and Lily ran beside him.
Emily was still missing.
Ethan couldn't stop thinking about her final message.
Your father.
Which one?
They reached the surface.
Cold night air hit Ethan's face.
The mansion stood in darkness behind them.
Smoke rose from the underground entrance.
Police sirens could be heard in the distance.
Ethan turned toward Robert.
"Where is Emily?"
Robert looked toward the woods.
"She was taken."
"By whom?"
"Someone I hoped I'd never see again."
Ethan stepped closer.
"Adrian?"
Robert shook his head.
"No."
"Then who?"
Robert looked at Michael.
"Your mother."
Ethan's expression hardened.
"Margaret?"
"Yes."
"She took Emily."
Robert nodded.
"And she took something else."
Ethan looked at the baby.
"What?"
"His blood."
Ethan's grip tightened around his son.
"What does she need it for?"
Robert's face became grim.
"Your mother is dying."
Emily had already told him.
But there was more.
"She has been using experimental treatments for years."
Robert continued.
"They're no longer working."
Ethan stared at him.
"And my son's DNA can cure her?"
"Possibly."
"Possibly?"
"Nothing is guaranteed."
Ethan's anger erupted.
"So she's willing to kill my son for a possibility?"
Robert looked away.
"She believes the risk is acceptable."
Ethan stepped forward.
"If she touches him..."
His voice dropped.
"I will find her."
Michael interrupted.
"We need to go."
"Where?"
"The old Carter house."
Ethan looked at him.
"Emily mentioned it."
Michael nodded.
"That's where Margaret took her."
Robert shook his head.
"Not anymore."
Ethan turned.
"What do you mean?"
"Your mother doesn't stay anywhere for long."
"Then where would she go?"
Robert looked toward the road.
"The place where Meridian began."
Ethan waited.
"Where?"
Robert said one word.
"Blackwater."
Ethan frowned.
"What is Blackwater?"
Michael answered.
"An abandoned research facility."
"Where?"
"Three hours north."
Robert shook his head.
"Less than two."
Ethan looked at his father.
"Then let's go."
Robert stared at him.
"You can't."
"Why?"
"Because Blackwater is where Adrian died."
Ethan's stomach tightened.
"You said he died before I was born."
"He did."
"Then why would Margaret go there?"
Robert's expression darkened.
"Because that's where she keeps the original records."
"About Meridian?"
"About you."
Ethan stared.
"Everything they've done to me."
Robert nodded.
"Everything."
They reached the car.
Ethan placed the baby in the back seat.
Sophie climbed in beside him.
Lily followed.
Michael got behind the wheel.
Robert sat in the passenger seat.
Ethan looked at him.
"I have one question."
Robert turned.
"Ask."
"Why did you erase my memories?"
Robert's face tightened.
"Because you remembered Adrian."
"That's not an answer."
"You were seventeen."
Robert paused.
"You found a file."
"What file?"
"Your birth records."
Ethan's eyes narrowed.
"What did it say?"
Robert looked out the window.
"It said your mother wasn't Margaret."
Ethan froze.
"What?"
Robert swallowed.
"Margaret raised you."
"But she wasn't your biological mother?"
"No."
Ethan's heart began pounding.
"Then who was?"
Robert stared straight ahead.
"Emily."
Ethan felt the world disappear.
"What?"
Michael turned around.
"Ethan..."
Robert continued.
"Emily was your biological mother."
Silence.
Ethan couldn't breathe.
"That's impossible."
"It isn't."
"But Emily was my wife."
"She was also your mother."
Ethan stared at Robert.
"No."
Robert looked at him.
"Your family changed your identity when you were a child."
"Why?"
"Because Adrian wanted you."
Ethan shook his head.
"What did he want from me?"
Robert's voice became barely audible.
"Your blood."
Ethan looked at his sleeping baby.
His son.
Then at Sophie.
Then Lily.
Everything suddenly felt grotesque.
"Emily knew?"
"She always knew."
"That's why she watched me."
"Yes."
"That's why she was afraid."
"Yes."
Ethan closed his eyes.
His entire life had been built on false identities.
Then a phone rang.
Everyone froze.
It was Ethan's phone.
Unknown number.
He answered.
No one spoke.
Then Emily's voice.
"Ethan."
He sat upright.
"Where are you?"
"I don't know."
"Are you hurt?"
"No."
"Where is Mom?"
A pause.
"She's here."
Ethan's heart raced.
"Put her on."
"I can't."
"Why?"
"Because she isn't alone."
A man's voice suddenly came through.
"Hello, Ethan."
Ethan froze.
He knew that voice.
The voice from the speakers.
The voice behind Meridian.
"Who are you?"
The man laughed.
"You've been asking that for years."
Ethan looked at Robert.
His father had gone completely pale.
"Tell me your name."
The man answered.
"Adrian."
Ethan's blood froze.
"Adrian Vale?"
A pause.
"That's the name they gave me."
Ethan's hands began shaking.
Robert whispered:
"That's impossible."
Adrian laughed.
"Robert."
Ethan looked at his father.
"You know he's alive."
Robert didn't answer.
Adrian continued.
"You erased Ethan's memories."
"You lied about his mother."
"You lied about me."
"And now you're going to lie again."
Ethan's voice hardened.
"Where is Emily?"
"With me."
"Let her go."
"Come to Blackwater."
Ethan froze.
"Why?"
"Because there is something you need to see."
"What?"
Adrian laughed softly.
"The first child."
Ethan's blood ran cold.
"What first child?"
"The one your father told you never existed."
Robert suddenly shouted:
"Don't go!"
The call ended.
Ethan stared at his phone.
Michael looked at him.
"Adrian wants you at Blackwater."
Robert shook his head.
"It's a trap."
Ethan looked at him.
"Everything is a trap."
He opened the car door.
Michael grabbed his arm.
"Where are you going?"
"To get my wife."
"And then?"
Ethan looked back at the three children.
"To find out who I really am."
They drove into the night.
Two hours later, the road disappeared into dense forest.
A rusted sign emerged from the darkness.
BLACKWATER RESEARCH FACILITY.
The gates were open.
Too open.
Michael slowed the car.
"Nobody has been here in fifteen years."
Ethan stared through the windshield.
A single light was glowing inside the abandoned facility.
Then another.
Then another.
Someone was turning them on.
One by one.
Michael stopped the car.
Ethan stepped outside.
The wind was silent.
No insects.
No birds.
Nothing.
Then the facility's main doors opened.
A man stood inside.
Ethan couldn't see his face.
The man raised one hand.
"Come in."
Ethan moved forward.
Robert grabbed his shoulder.
"Don't."
Ethan looked at him.
"Why?"
Robert's eyes filled with fear.
"Because I know that voice."
Ethan froze.
"Whose voice?"
Robert whispered:
"Your real father."
The man stepped into the light.
Ethan stared.
He saw the same gray eyes.
The same jaw.
The same scar.
But this time there was no photograph.
No old recording.
No altered date.
The man was alive.
And he looked directly at Ethan.
Then he smiled.
"Hello, son."
Behind him, Emily appeared.
Her wrists were bound.
Beside her stood Margaret.
And between them was the newborn.
Margaret lifted the baby.
"Choose carefully, Ethan."
She smiled.
"Your mother."
She pointed toward Emily.
"Your father."
She pointed toward Adrian.
"Or your son."
May you like
Then the doors slammed shut behind Ethan.
And the entire Blackwater facility came alive.
