Chapter 10 - The house became a prison.Windows locked.
Doors sealed.
The old ventilation system roared beneath the floors.
Ryan stood between Emily and the girl.
Daniel's voice echoed through the speakers.
“You don't understand what she is.”
Ryan shouted, “Then come tell me.”
“I already told you.”
“No. You lied.”
Silence.
Then Daniel answered:
“So did she.”
Ryan looked at Lily.
The girl didn't move.
“Who are you?”
She looked at him.
“I don't know anymore.”
That answer frightened Ryan more than any confession could have.
Mason searched the basement.
He found a hidden control panel.
“There's a lockdown system.”
Ryan rushed over.
“Can you disable it?”
“Maybe.”
“Do it.”
Mason opened the panel.
Wires.
Switches.
Old relays.
Then he stopped.
“This wasn't built to keep people out.”
Ryan looked at him.
“What?”
“It was built to keep something in.”
The girl whispered:
“Me.”
Ryan stared.
Mason looked at her.
“Why?”
She pointed to the wall.
“Because when I remember everything, people die.”
The room fell silent.
Ryan remembered Noah's blood.
Emily's fear.
The voice inside the machine.
“How?”
The girl closed her eyes.
Then she screamed.
The lights burst.
Mason dropped his weapon.
A wave of sound moved through the room.
Ryan saw memories that weren't his.
A little girl running.
A woman crying.
Daniel carrying a baby.
Lily laughing.
Mara screaming.
Noah as a baby.
Emily holding a newborn.
Then something impossible.
Ryan himself.
Standing over a crib.
Holding a pillow.
His own voice saying:
“I'm sorry.”
He stumbled backward.
“That wasn't real.”
The girl whispered:
“It was.”
Ryan looked at Emily.
“What did I do?”
Emily couldn't answer.
“You killed Lily.”
Ryan froze.
“What?”
Emily shook her head rapidly.
“No. You didn't.”
Lily screamed.
“Stop lying!”
Ryan covered his ears.
She collapsed to the floor.
“I remember.”
Her voice changed.
It sounded older.
“I remember Daddy holding me.”
Ryan knelt.
“What happened?”
“You were angry.”
“Why?”
“Because Mommy wanted to take me away.”
Emily began crying.
Lily continued.
“You said I wasn't your daughter.”
Ryan looked horrified.
“I would never.”
“You did.”
“No.”
“You said Mara was your daughter.”
Ryan felt like his mind was tearing apart.
A memory surfaced.
Daniel had forced him to choose.
Lily or Mara.
One memory had to survive.
Ryan remembered screaming.
Then a needle.
Then darkness.
He staggered.
Daniel's voice came through the speakers.
“You chose Mara.”
Ryan looked toward the ceiling.
“You made me choose.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because you couldn't save both.”
Ryan clenched his fists.
“Where is Mara?”
Daniel answered:
“In the girl.”
Then another voice interrupted.
Not Daniel.
Not Emily.
Not Lily.
A little boy's voice.
Noah.
“Dad?”
Ryan ran upstairs.
Noah stood in the hallway holding the silver bracelet.
“What happened?”
Noah looked at Lily.
“She told me something.”
“What?”
Noah whispered:
“She said she's not the only child in the wall.”
Ryan stopped.
“What?”
Noah pointed toward the opposite side of the kitchen.
“There are more.”
Ryan slowly turned.
The wall was covered with faint outlines.
Tiny handprints.
Dozens of them.
Mason stepped closer.
He touched one.
The plaster cracked.
A child's whisper came from inside.
“Please.”
Then another.
“Help.”
Then another.
“Daddy.”
Ryan stared at Emily.
“How many?”
She couldn't answer.
The wall began shaking.
Lily looked terrified.
“No.”
Ryan asked, “What's wrong?”
She whispered:
“They're waking up.”
The first brick fell.
Then another.
Behind the wall was a narrow chamber.
Inside stood three small wooden beds.
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And in each bed...
something was breathing.
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