Chapter 6 - Émilie screamed.Gabriel grabbed her shoulder.
“Don't move.”
The laughter continued.
Soft.
High-pitched.
A child's laughter echoing through the walls.
Émilie held her breath.
Then a tiny voice whispered:
“Émilie?”
She turned.
A small figure stood at the far end of the room.
A girl.
Barefoot.
Wearing a white dress.
Gabriel raised his flashlight.
Nothing.
The girl was gone.
Émilie rushed toward where she had stood.
A hidden panel was slightly open.
Behind it was a narrow corridor.
Gabriel swore.
“Stay here.”
“No.”
“I've been in these tunnels before.”
“So have they.”
He looked at her.
“You're right.”
They entered together.
The corridor ended at another room.
This one contained monitors.
Dozens.
Every screen showed a different location.
The street corner.
The hospital.
Émilie's apartment.
The café.
The warehouse.
And one camera showing a woman sitting in a dark room.
Émilie's mother.
She was older than the woman in the photographs.
Her hair was gray.
Her face was thin.
But it was unmistakably her.
Émilie stepped toward the screen.
“Maman.”
The woman looked directly into the camera.
“You found the archive.”
Gabriel stared.
“You're alive.”
The woman looked at him.
“I told you I would be.”
“You said you were dead.”
“I needed them to believe that.”
Émilie's hands shook.
“Why?”
“Because if they knew I survived, they would kill you.”
“Who are they?”
Her mother looked away.
Then back at the camera.
“The person who built everything.”
“Who?”
The screen flickered.
The woman's voice dropped.
“Your father.”
Émilie froze.
“My father died before I was born.”
“No.”
“He did.”
“That is what I told you.”
Gabriel turned sharply.
“What did you do?”
Her mother closed her eyes.
“I erased him.”
A sound came from behind the door.
Footsteps.
Her mother continued.
“You must understand. Your father was not innocent.”
“Then who was he?”
“His name was Victor.”
The name seemed to change the temperature in the room.
Gabriel whispered:
“Victor Moreau.”
Émilie looked at him.
“You know him.”
“Yes.”
“Who was he?”
Gabriel answered slowly.
“The man who recruited me.”
A metal door slammed somewhere nearby.
Her mother looked frightened.
“They found you.”
“Help us!”
“I can't.”
“Why?”
“Because if I open the doors, they will follow you out.”
“Then tell me what to do.”
Her mother looked directly at her.
“Find the dog.”
“The dog?”
“It knows where your sister is.”
Émilie stared.
“What does that mean?”
“The dog's name is Atlas.”
Gabriel shook his head.
“That dog belonged to your father.”
Émilie remembered the old man's whispering.
Not yet.
You remember, don't you?
Her mother spoke again.
“Atlas was trained to find people.”
“Find who?”
“Your sister.”
The screen went black.
A second later, every monitor lit up at once.
One image appeared.
The old street corner.
Someone had placed the blanket back where it had been.
The dog sat beside it.
And sitting next to Atlas was a girl.
Émilie couldn't breathe.
The girl looked twelve years old.
But the photograph in the hidden room showed her at six.
She had not aged.
Then the camera zoomed in.
The girl's face turned toward the lens.
Her lips moved.
No sound came through.
But Émilie knew what she was saying.
Her sister was forming one word.
Run.
The monitors exploded into static.
The lights returned.
Gabriel looked toward the corridor.
Men were approaching.
“We have seconds,” he said.
Émilie grabbed his arm.
“Where do we go?”
Gabriel pointed at a ventilation shaft.
“There.”
“What about Atlas?”
“We can't reach him.”
Émilie looked at the screen.
“He's waiting for me.”
Gabriel shook his head.
“No.”
“What?”
“He's not waiting for you.”
A gunshot echoed through the tunnel.
May you like
Gabriel pulled her down.
“He's waiting for someone else.”
Related Stories
