Chapter 4 - David couldn't remember the drive home.Mark drove.
David sat in the passenger seat holding the photograph.
The one showing him in a hospital bed.
Three days earlier.
Alive.
Unconscious.
Connected to machines.
And standing beside the bed was Dr. Alan Mercer.
Rebecca was there too.
Mark glanced at him.
"You okay?"
David didn't answer.
"David."
"She lied."
Mark tightened his grip on the steering wheel.
"Maybe she was forced."
David looked at him.
"Why are you defending her?"
"I'm not."
"You sound like you are."
Mark said nothing.
David looked back at the photograph.
"She was there."
"Yes."
"With Mercer."
"Yes."
"And nobody told me."
"You were unconscious."
"Exactly."
The rain became heavier.
David's phone rang.
Rebecca.
He watched it vibrate.
Then ignored it.
Mark glanced over.
"Answer."
"No."
"Why?"
"Because I don't know which version of my wife is calling."
The phone rang again.
Then stopped.
A message appeared.
PLEASE COME HOME.
Another followed.
I NEED TO TELL YOU EVERYTHING.
Then:
BUT NOT IN FRONT OF EMILY.
David's chest tightened.
He looked at Mark.
"Take me home."
When they arrived, the house was dark.
The front door was unlocked.
David immediately knew something was wrong.
He stepped inside.
"Rebecca?"
No answer.
The living room looked untouched.
But one chair had been knocked over.
Emily's backpack lay on the floor.
Mark raised his weapon.
David shouted:
"Rebecca!"
Silence.
Then a faint sound came from upstairs.
Three knocks.
David froze.
Three more.
Knock.
Knock.
Knock.
Someone was inside the walls.
Mark looked at him.
"Secret passage?"
David shook his head.
They moved upstairs.
The sound came from behind the master bedroom.
David opened the closet.
Nothing.
Then he noticed a section of wall that wasn't aligned properly.
He pressed it.
A hidden door opened.
Behind it was a narrow staircase.
David stared.
"I've lived here for sixteen years."
Mark looked down.
"Apparently you haven't lived here alone."
They descended.
At the bottom was a concrete room.
Monitors covered one wall.
Cameras.
Recordings.
Files.
Hundreds of them.
David walked toward the nearest screen.
It showed his bedroom.
Live.
Mark shut off the monitor.
"Someone has been watching this house."
David opened a cabinet.
Inside were files labeled with dates.
His.
Rebecca's.
Emily's.
Then one marked:
PROJECT ECHO.
David opened it.
Inside was a medical chart.
His medical chart.
But it wasn't his current diagnosis.
It was dated twelve years earlier.
The first line read:
SUBJECT RESPONDED TO MEMORY SUPPRESSION PROCEDURE.
David dropped the folder.
"What the hell?"
Mark picked it up.
"Memory suppression?"
David stared.
"I've never had a procedure."
Mark flipped through the pages.
"You might not remember."
David laughed bitterly.
"This is insane."
A sound came from behind them.
Rebecca.
She stood at the bottom of the stairs.
Her face was wet with tears.
David turned.
"You built this room."
She slowly nodded.
"Yes."
"You've been watching me."
"I was protecting you."
"From what?"
She looked at Mark.
"From the people who created you."
David went still.
"What does that mean?"
Rebecca stepped closer.
"You weren't born into this life."
David stared at her.
She whispered:
"At least, not all of it."
Mark's eyes widened.
"Rebecca, what are you saying?"
She looked directly at David.
"The man you think you are died twelve years ago."
David's face went blank.
"What?"
Rebecca cried.
"The David Whitmore everyone knows ceased to exist twelve years ago."
David shook his head.
"No."
"You had an accident."
"I remember it."
"No. You remember what they wanted you to remember."
David stepped backward.
"This is impossible."
Rebecca whispered:
"You've been living under an artificial identity."
David stared at her.
"Then who am I?"
Before she could answer, the lights went out.
A gunshot echoed through the room.
Rebecca collapsed.
David screamed.
"REBECCA!"
Mark fired toward the darkness.
Another shot.
The monitors exploded.
David grabbed Rebecca.
Blood spread across her shirt.
He held her against him.
"Stay with me."
She looked up.
Her eyes were fading.
She reached into her pocket.
Pulled out a small key.
She pressed it into David's hand.
Then whispered:
"Your real name..."
She coughed.
"...is not David."
Her eyes closed.
David stared at her.
Then from somewhere inside the hidden room, a speaker activated.
A calm male voice said:
"Subject has regained memory awareness."
May you like
A pause.
"Proceed to Phase Two."
Related Stories
