Chapter 11 - Mason nearly dropped his flashlight.“Jesus.”
Ryan climbed into the chamber.
The first bed was empty.
The second held a mannequin.
The third held a child.
A little boy.
His eyes were closed.
Machines connected to his arms.
Ryan touched his shoulder.
The boy opened his eyes.
“Daddy?”
Ryan froze.
“No.”
The boy smiled.
“You came back.”
Mason whispered, “Ryan, step away.”
Ryan couldn't.
“How many children did your father hide here?”
Emily's voice came from behind him.
“Twenty-three.”
Ryan turned.
“Twenty-three?”
“Some died.”
“And the rest?”
“I don't know.”
Daniel appeared at the end of the corridor.
He was holding a folder.
“You weren't supposed to find this room.”
Ryan stepped forward.
“What are they?”
“Experiments.”
“Children.”
“Subjects.”
“They're children!”
Daniel's expression hardened.
“They were dying.”
Ryan stared.
“What?”
“They all had severe neurological conditions.”
“So you experimented on them?”
“I tried to save them.”
Emily shook her head.
“That isn't what happened.”
Daniel looked at her.
“You were there.”
“I was seventeen.”
“You volunteered.”
“I was a child.”
Daniel looked toward Ryan.
“You want to know the truth?”
Ryan said nothing.
Daniel opened the folder.
“Your family has a degenerative memory disorder.”
Ryan frowned.
“The condition doesn't destroy memory.”
“It duplicates it.”
Ryan stared.
“What?”
“Every generation inherits fragments of ancestral memories.”
Daniel explained.
“Dreams. Voices. Phantom emotions. Familiarity with people you've never met.”
Ryan remembered his childhood nightmares.
The basement.
A girl.
His father's voice.
Daniel continued.
“Mara had the strongest case ever recorded.”
“And Lily?”
“Lily had the same condition.”
Ryan looked at the girl.
“So you transferred Mara's memories into Lily.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“To preserve Mara.”
Ryan's voice became cold.
“You killed her.”
Daniel didn't answer.
The little boy in the bed began crying.
Ryan went to him.
“What is your name?”
The boy whispered:
“Evan.”
“Evan what?”
“Carter.”
Ryan's heart stopped.
“Carter?”
The boy nodded.
“Daniel said you're my brother.”
Ryan looked at his father.
“You had another child?”
Daniel smiled.
“No.”
Ryan looked at Emily.
She shook her head.
“Ryan, don't listen.”
The boy said:
“Dad doesn't know.”
Ryan stepped closer.
“Know what?”
Evan looked at him.
“You're not Ryan.”
Silence.
Ryan felt the blood leave his face.
“What?”
Evan pointed at Daniel.
“He changed you.”
Mason raised his gun.
“What does that mean?”
Daniel looked at Ryan.
“Ryan Carter died twelve years ago.”
Ryan's knees weakened.
“No.”
Daniel continued.
“The boy you're looking at is a reconstruction.”
Ryan laughed.
“You're insane.”
Daniel opened another folder.
Inside was a photograph of Ryan as a child.
A date.
A hospital.
Cause of death: cardiac arrest.
Ryan stared.
“No.”
Daniel said softly:
“The real Ryan died at seventeen.”
Emily began sobbing.
Ryan looked at her.
“You knew.”
“I met you afterward.”
“You knew I wasn't me.”
“Yes.”
“Then who am I?”
Daniel answered.
“You are Ryan's memory.”
Ryan couldn't breathe.
The girl stepped forward.
“That's why I know you.”
Ryan looked at her.
She touched his face.
“You were never my daddy.”
Ryan closed his eyes.
“Then why?”
She whispered:
“Because you remember being him.”
Suddenly, Evan screamed.
The machines went dark.
Every child in the hidden chamber opened their eyes at once.
Twenty-three voices spoke together.
“Daddy.”
Ryan staggered backward.
May you like
Then all the lights turned red.
And the hidden doors began unlocking.
