Chapter 6 - Daniel stared at the photograph.Lily was smiling.
Emma stood beside her.
And behind them was his mother.
The photograph had been taken yesterday.
Impossible.
He looked at Vanessa.
“You knew Emma was alive.”
She shook her head.
“I knew she might be.”
“Where is she?”
“I don’t know.”
Daniel shoved the photograph into his pocket.
“Then we find her.”
They moved through a maintenance tunnel beneath the laboratory.
Marcus led.
Vanessa followed.
Daniel kept Lily between them.
Every few minutes, the tunnel vibrated.
Something enormous was moving beneath the mansion.
Eventually they reached an iron staircase.
At the bottom was a circular chamber.
On the wall were dozens of clocks.
Each displayed a different time.
Marcus stopped.
“This is the memory vault.”
Daniel frowned.
“Why are there clocks?”
“Because every recorded memory has a timestamp.”
Daniel noticed one clock was running backward.
He approached.
Beneath it was a name.
EMMA ASHFORD.
He touched the glass.
The clock stopped.
A hidden projector activated.
Emma appeared.
Older.
Tired.
Her hair was shorter.
A scar crossed her cheek.
Daniel stepped closer.
“Emma?”
The recording began.
“If you are seeing this, Daniel, then they finally showed you the truth.”
Daniel’s chest tightened.
Emma looked directly into the camera.
“Everything Dad told you about my disappearance was a lie.”
The recording paused.
Then resumed.
“I didn’t run away.”
Daniel closed his eyes.
“I was taken.”
Vanessa covered her mouth.
Emma continued.
“I found the archive when I was seventeen. Dad had been collecting memories from children in our bloodline.”
Daniel whispered, “Why?”
“To predict behavior.”
The next image showed diagrams of the brain.
“Eventually he discovered something else. Some children didn’t simply remember their ancestors.”
Emma’s voice became quieter.
“They remembered things that hadn’t happened yet.”
Daniel stared.
“Future memories?”
Marcus nodded.
Emma continued.
“Eli was the strongest case.”
Daniel looked at Vanessa.
She was crying silently.
“He could describe places he had never visited. People he had never met. Events that hadn’t occurred.”
The recording changed.
A young Eli appeared.
Barely two years old.
He sat in a room drawing with crayons.
Emma stood beside him.
“What are you drawing, Eli?”
The child answered:
“Fire.”
“Where?”
“The house.”
“Which house?”
He pointed.
“Daddy’s house.”
Daniel’s skin prickled.
Emma asked:
“Who is in the house?”
Eli looked directly into the camera.
“Everybody.”
The recording ended.
A long silence followed.
Daniel finally spoke.
“What did he predict?”
Marcus hesitated.
“The mansion fire.”
Daniel looked around.
“The fire that happened fifteen years ago?”
Marcus shook his head.
“No.”
“The one that hasn’t happened yet.”
Daniel stared.
Vanessa stepped backward.
“What did Eli see?”
Marcus answered:
“This mansion burning.”
Daniel looked toward Lily.
Her face was pale.
“When?”
Marcus looked at the backward clock.
“Tonight.”
Silence.
Then Lily whispered:
“Not tonight.”
Daniel looked down.
“What?”
She pointed toward the clock.
“That says tomorrow.”
Daniel stared.
The room suddenly felt freezing.
He crouched beside her.
“Lily, how do you know what that clock means?”
She looked confused.
“I saw it before.”
“Where?”
“In my dreams.”
Daniel exchanged a look with Marcus.
Lily continued.
“There was fire.”
She began trembling.
“And you were dead.”
Daniel hugged her.
“It was only a dream.”
Lily shook her head.
“No.”
She looked behind him.
“There was another girl.”
Daniel slowly turned.
No one stood there.
“What girl?”
Lily whispered:
“She said her name was Emma.”
Daniel looked at the projection screen.
Emma’s face remained frozen.
Then a voice came from the corridor.
“Because I am Emma.”
Daniel turned.
A woman stepped into the chamber.
Same eyes.
Same scar.
Same face from the photograph.
His sister.
Alive.
Daniel couldn’t speak.
Emma looked at him.
“I’m sorry I waited this long.”
Daniel took one step toward her.
Emma raised a hand.
“Don’t come closer.”
“Why?”
Her eyes filled with fear.
“Because someone is wearing my face.”
Daniel frowned.
Emma pointed toward Vanessa.
“She isn’t the only liar in this house.”
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Then the clocks all struck midnight at once.
And the mansion above them began to burn.
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