Chapter 12 - Daniel’s finger tightened around the trigger.Emma whispered, “Don’t.”
The old woman smiled.
“She cannot kill me.”
Daniel asked, “Why?”
“Because she is part of me.”
Lily stared at the woman.
“Who are you?”
The old woman’s face softened.
“Your first memory.”
Lily frowned.
Daniel looked at Emma.
“What does that mean?”
Emma said nothing.
The old woman continued.
“Every generation carried me forward.”
Daniel felt sick.
“You possessed them?”
“Not possessed.”
She smiled.
“Transferred.”
She pointed toward the photographs around the nursery.
Each showed the same woman at different ages.
Different faces.
Same eyes.
Daniel understood.
“Evelyn.”
The woman nodded.
“Evelyn was only the latest vessel.”
“And my mother?”
“Another.”
“My father?”
“He resisted.”
Daniel stared.
“Then why did he run the program?”
“Because he thought he could control me.”
The woman laughed.
“He failed.”
The floor shook.
Emma shouted:
“The fire is almost here!”
The old woman looked at Lily.
“Come.”
Lily didn’t move.
“Why?”
“Because you carry all of us.”
Daniel grabbed Lily’s hand.
“She’s not going anywhere.”
The old woman’s smile disappeared.
“Then you will lose her.”
A wall exploded.
Flames poured into the nursery.
Daniel dragged Lily toward the exit.
But the door slammed shut.
Emma fired at the lock.
Nothing.
Victor looked at the old woman.
“How?”
She looked at him.
“You built the cage.”
Victor shook his head.
“I built the system.”
“No.”
She stepped closer.
“You built my body.”
Victor dropped his weapon.
Daniel looked at him.
“What does she mean?”
Victor whispered:
“She was my sister.”
The old woman turned.
“My first body.”
Daniel stared.
“Victor, how old are you?”
He didn’t answer.
The old woman did.
“Older than he looks.”
Emma looked terrified.
“She transferred into new bodies.”
Daniel remembered the duplicate.
“You’ve been doing this for generations.”
“Longer.”
“How?”
The woman pointed at Lily.
“Through memory.”
Lily suddenly collapsed.
Daniel caught her.
Her eyes were closed.
Then she spoke.
But her voice was not childish.
It was calm.
Adult.
“I remember you.”
The old woman smiled.
“Of course you do.”
Lily opened her eyes.
Daniel froze.
“I remember the first house.”
The old woman stepped closer.
“The first fire.”
Lily continued.
“The first time you tried to kill me.”
The old woman’s expression changed.
Daniel stared.
“What?”
Lily looked at him.
“Daddy, she’s lying.”
The old woman backed away.
Lily stood.
“You were never the original.”
The woman’s face twisted.
“What did you say?”
“You stole the memories.”
Lily pointed to the old woman.
“You’re not the source.”
The old woman screamed.
The nursery windows shattered.
Every monitor in the mansion turned on.
A voice echoed through the speakers.
Not Daniel.
Not Emma.
Not the old woman.
A child’s voice.
“You found me.”
Everyone froze.
Daniel looked toward the ceiling.
“Who said that?”
Lily whispered:
“The real one.”
The voice laughed.
“You’ve been chasing the wrong monster.”
A hidden door opened behind the crib.
Inside was a small room.
Daniel stepped closer.
On the wall was a single photograph.
A little girl.
Maybe six years old.
She had Lily’s face.
But beneath the photograph was a date.
1891.
Daniel stared.
The child in the photograph smiled.
May you like
Then the speakers whispered:
“I’m still alive.”
