Chapter 8 - Ryan followed the sound downstairs.Mason stayed behind with Emily.
Daniel didn't stop him.
That frightened Ryan more than if he had.
The laboratory was alive.
Machines blinked.
Old monitors showed images.
Ryan recognized himself.
As a child.
At six.
At ten.
At fifteen.
At twenty.
Different versions of the same face.
Different dates.
Different memories.
One screen showed Ryan sitting in a chair.
A younger Daniel stood behind him.
A woman in a medical coat held electrodes against Ryan's head.
Ryan looked at the photograph.
The woman was Emily's mother.
His jaw tightened.
Everyone had known.
Everyone.
Except him.
Another screen displayed a child's drawing.
A family.
Ryan.
Emily.
Noah.
Lily.
Then the image changed.
The family became:
Ryan.
Mara.
Emily.
The room.
The picture changed again.
Ryan.
Lily.
Noah.
Then:
Ryan.
Mara.
Lily.
Ryan stepped back.
“How many times?”
Daniel entered behind him.
“How many what?”
“How many versions?”
“Seven.”
Ryan stared.
“Seven?”
“Seven memory reconstructions.”
Ryan pointed to the screens.
“You made me forget my own family seven times?”
Daniel didn't answer.
Ryan lunged at him.
Mason grabbed Ryan's arm.
“Don't.”
Daniel smiled.
“You see? Anger remains.”
Ryan turned.
“What does that mean?”
“It means memory can be erased.”
Daniel pointed toward the chair.
“But emotion survives.”
Lily entered the room.
She walked directly to the machine.
Ryan looked at her.
“Lily?”
She touched the chair.
“I remember this.”
Emily appeared at the doorway.
“Lily, stop.”
The girl looked at her.
“You called me Mara.”
Emily froze.
Ryan turned.
“Why?”
Emily whispered, “Because that was her name.”
“Then why call her Lily?”
“Because Lily was the name of your daughter who died.”
Ryan's face changed.
Emily continued.
“You had one daughter.”
She pointed at the little girl.
“And one sister.”
Ryan stared.
“I don't understand.”
“Neither did I.”
Daniel interrupted.
“You weren't supposed to.”
He switched on another monitor.
An MRI appeared.
Two scans.
One labeled MARA.
One labeled LILY.
They were nearly identical.
Daniel said, “Mara was born with an unusual memory disorder. She could absorb fragments of other people's memories.”
Ryan shook his head.
“That isn't possible.”
“We proved it.”
Daniel looked at Lily.
“She inherited memories that did not belong to her.”
“Whose?”
“Yours.”
Ryan felt a chill.
Daniel continued.
“Your daughter Lily died.”
Ryan closed his eyes.
“Yes.”
“She was buried.”
“Yes.”
“But before she died, Mara was connected to her.”
Emily gasped.
Ryan looked at her.
“What happened?”
Emily whispered, “The girls were raised together.”
Ryan stared.
“Together?”
“Mara was hidden because Daniel wanted to study her.”
“And Lily?”
“Your daughter was used as the final test.”
Ryan's voice dropped.
“What test?”
Daniel didn't answer.
Lily did.
“To see if one person's memories could be moved into another person's mind.”
Ryan looked at his daughter.
“Did it work?”
She nodded.
“I remember being Lily.”
Ryan's skin crawled.
“But you're Mara.”
“I think so.”
“What do you remember?”
The girl looked at him.
“You singing to me.”
Ryan froze.
A melody appeared in his mind.
A lullaby he hadn't sung in years.
A song his mother used to sing.
He remembered holding a baby.
He remembered tiny fingers around his thumb.
Then blood.
Then an operating room.
Then Daniel shouting.
Ryan collapsed against the table.
“It hurts.”
Emily ran toward him.
Lily whispered:
“It hurts because you're remembering both of us.”
The machines suddenly began beeping.
Mason looked at the screens.
“What's happening?”
Daniel's expression changed.
“The system detected a conflict.”
“Meaning?”
Daniel looked at Ryan.
“The memories are coming back too fast.”
Ryan heard voices.
Emily.
Noah.
Lily.
Mara.
His father.
All speaking at once.
Then one voice rose above the others.
A woman's.
Emily.
But younger.
“Ryan, if you're hearing this, don't trust Daniel.”
Ryan looked up.
The voice came from the machine.
It was a recording.
Emily's younger voice continued:
“I was the one who put the girl inside the wall.”
Ryan stared at his wife.
She covered her mouth.
“I did it because..."
The machine crackled.
“...because she was trying to kill Noah.”
Everyone froze.
May you like
Noah screamed from upstairs.
And a second later, the alarm began ringing.
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