Chapter 7: The Child Beneath the Mansion
The crying came again.
Soft.
Weak.
But unmistakably real.
A newborn was crying beneath the floor.
Ethan stared at the wooden boards beneath his feet.
For six years, he had lived in this mansion.
Six years of walking these hallways.
Six years of sleeping beneath the same roof.
And somewhere beneath him, someone had been hiding a child.
"Daddy," Sophie whispered.
"Do you hear that?"
Ethan nodded.
Lily was staring at the floor too.
"Mommy told me never to go down there."
Ethan looked at her.
"Who told you?"
"Mommy."
"When?"
"Before she disappeared."
A loud crash came from downstairs.
The men had entered the mansion.
Michael pulled out a handgun.
"We have maybe thirty seconds."
Ethan pointed at the floor.
"The baby."
"We can't stay."
"That's my child."
Michael stared at him.
"You don't know that."
"I know someone is down there."
Another gunshot echoed through the hallway.
Celeste flinched.
Michael grabbed the edge of the bookshelf and pulled.
A section of the floor shifted.
A hidden staircase appeared.
Cold air rushed upward.
The crying became louder.
Ethan didn't hesitate.
He grabbed Sophie and Lily's hands.
"Stay with me."
They descended.
Michael followed.
Celeste came last.
The staircase seemed to go down forever.
The walls were concrete.
Old.
Damp.
Covered in faded numbers.
Ethan ran his hand across one.
Another.
Then another.
His stomach tightened.
These weren't dates.
They were years.
Children had been brought here year after year.
At the bottom was a steel door.
Michael entered a code.
The lock clicked.
The door opened.
Ethan stepped inside.
His entire body went cold.
The underground room was enormous.
Rows of empty cribs lined the walls.
Medical equipment sat beneath plastic sheets.
There were old monitors.
Empty medicine cabinets.
Stacks of files.
And on the far side of the room...
one crib was still occupied.
A newborn was crying inside it.
Ethan ran toward the child.
He stopped.
A tiny baby lay beneath a white blanket.
A hospital bracelet wrapped around its wrist.
Ethan reached down.
The baby stopped crying.
Its tiny fingers closed around his.
Ethan's eyes filled with tears.
"Who are you?"
Michael approached slowly.
He looked at the bracelet.
His expression changed.
"Ethan."
"What?"
"Don't touch it."
Ethan looked at him.
"Why?"
Michael pointed.
The bracelet didn't contain a name.
Only a number.
"What does that mean?"
Michael's face had gone pale.
"It's a designation."
"For what?"
"The seventh child."
Ethan looked around the room.
There were six empty cribs.
Each had a number.
He stared at the baby.
"Where are the others?"
Michael didn't answer.
Ethan's voice became louder.
"Where are the other children?"
Celeste whispered:
"Some were adopted."
Ethan turned.
"Some?"
She looked away.
"What happened to the rest?"
Celeste's silence was answer enough.
Ethan felt sick.
"You knew about this."
"I knew there was a facility."
"You knew children were kept here?"
Celeste shook her head.
"Not all of them."
"How many?"
"I don't know."
Ethan stepped toward her.
"You're lying."
Celeste began crying.
"I was involved with Meridian."
Michael interrupted.
"Celeste."
"No."
She wiped her face.
"He deserves the truth."
She looked at Ethan.
"I joined them because they promised to protect Emily."
Ethan stared.
"From what?"
"From your father."
"My father was dead."
"That didn't matter."
Celeste pointed toward the files.
"Meridian didn't die with him."
Ethan picked up one of the folders.
The first page contained a name.
Emily Carter.
His hands trembled.
Underneath it:
PREGNANCY SURVEILLANCE.
He opened the file.
There were dozens of pages.
Medical appointments.
Blood tests.
Ultrasounds.
DNA samples.
Then he found something that made his heart stop.
A handwritten note.
SUBJECT EXPECTING TWINS.
Ethan turned the page.
SUBJECT MAY CARRY THIRD EMBRYONIC MARKER.
He stared.
"What is this?"
Michael took the file.
His eyes widened.
"That's why."
"Why what?"
"Why your father kept Emily under surveillance."
Ethan's voice shook.
"Explain."
Michael pointed at the report.
"Emily wasn't carrying two babies."
Ethan looked toward the crib.
"Then what?"
Michael whispered:
"She was carrying three."
Silence.
Sophie looked at the baby.
"Is that our brother?"
Ethan froze.
Lily stepped closer.
"Mommy said we had a brother."
Ethan looked at her.
"When?"
"Before she disappeared."
Lily pointed at the baby.
"She said he was the one they wanted."
Ethan stared at the newborn.
A terrible thought formed.
"Then why is he still here?"
Michael didn't answer.
Ethan opened another file.
This one was marked:
TRIPLET 03.
The pages had been ripped out.
Only one photograph remained.
Emily was sitting in a hospital bed.
She looked exhausted.
She was holding a newborn.
Another baby lay beside her.
And a third was being carried away by a nurse.
Ethan zoomed in.
The nurse's face was visible.
He knew her.
It was the woman who had cared for Emily during her final weeks.
Ethan's heart pounded.
"Where is she now?"
Michael looked at the photograph.
"Dead."
"How?"
"Car accident."
Ethan looked at the baby.
Then at the files.
Then at the empty cribs.
"Someone is killing everyone who knows about these children."
Michael nodded.
"Yes."
Suddenly the lights flickered.
The baby began crying again.
A monitor beside the crib turned on by itself.
A green line appeared.
Then words.
PATIENT 07: ACTIVE.
Ethan stared.
Below it:
GENETIC MATCH: 99.98%.
He looked at the result.
"Match with who?"
The machine printed a small sheet of paper.
Ethan grabbed it.
The result was listed underneath.
PATERNAL MATCH:
ETHAN CARTER.
Ethan couldn't breathe.
The baby was his.
His son.
The child everyone had been hiding.
But then another line appeared.
MATERNAL MATCH:
EMILY CARTER.
Ethan's eyes filled with tears.
Emily had given birth to three children.
Three.
And only two had been raised as hers.
A sound came from the doorway.
Everyone turned.
A woman stood there.
She was holding a flashlight.
Her face was hidden beneath a hood.
Ethan raised his weapon.
"Who are you?"
The woman slowly lowered the hood.
Ethan froze.
It was the nurse from the photograph.
The woman who was supposedly dead.
Michael whispered:
"That's impossible."
The woman looked at Ethan.
Then at the baby.
"You finally found him."
Ethan raised the gun higher.
"Where is my wife?"
The woman shook her head.
"I don't know."
"You're lying."
"I haven't seen Emily in six years."
"Then how do you know about my son?"
The nurse's eyes filled with tears.
"Because I delivered him."
Ethan stared.
"You were there?"
She nodded.
"I delivered all three."
Ethan's voice cracked.
"What happened that night?"
The nurse looked toward Celeste.
"Ask her."
Celeste stepped backward.
"No."
The nurse pointed at her.
"She was there."
Ethan slowly turned.
"Celeste?"
Celeste's face collapsed.
"I didn't know what they were going to do."
The nurse's voice hardened.
"You knew enough."
Ethan moved toward Celeste.
"What happened?"
Celeste began shaking.
"Your father ordered the doctors to take the third baby."
"Why?"
"Because he believed the child carried the gene."
"And Emily?"
"They threatened her."
"With what?"
Celeste looked at the floor.
"They told her they'd kill all three children."
Ethan's jaw tightened.
"Who gave the order?"
Celeste hesitated.
Then she whispered:
"Your mother."
The room went silent.
Ethan stared at her.
"My mother?"
Celeste nodded.
"She was alive that night."
"Where is she now?"
Before Celeste could answer, the nurse suddenly looked toward the ceiling.
Her expression changed.
"Run."
Michael raised his gun.
"What's wrong?"
The nurse whispered:
"They found the entrance."
A series of heavy footsteps echoed above them.
Then a voice came through the ventilation system.
Calm.
Familiar.
Ethan recognized it immediately.
His mother's voice.
"Ethan."
He froze.
The voice continued.
"Put the baby down."
Ethan tightened his arms around his son.
"Mom?"
A soft laugh echoed through the underground chamber.
"You've always been such a difficult child."
Ethan stared at the ceiling.
"Where are you?"
"Above you."
A pause.
"With your wife."
Ethan's heart stopped.
Emily was alive.
And his mother had her.
Then his mother's final words came through the speakers.
"Come upstairs, Ethan."
"There's something you need to see."
The lights went out.
May you like
And when they came back on...
the newborn was gone from Ethan's arms.
