Chapter 6 - Nobody moved.Three guns.
Three people.
One dead silence.
Daniel stood in the center.
Michael was on the floor, one hand pressed against his shoulder.
Sophia stood beside him.
Richard faced Emily.
Emily's hands were shaking.
“You lied to him,” Richard said.
“So did you.”
“You erased his memories.”
“I protected him.”
“You kidnapped him.”
“I saved him.”
Daniel screamed.
“STOP!”
Both of them turned.
He looked at his mother.
“Who am I?”
Emily lowered her gun.
“David.”
Richard laughed.
“That isn't his real name.”
Daniel stared at him.
“What is my real name?”
Richard answered:
“Alexander Hale.”
Sophia's face went white.
“Hale?”
Daniel looked at her.
“Your family?”
Victor Hale.
Sophia Hale.
Michael Hale.
And now...
Alexander Hale.
Richard smiled.
“Your mother was married to Victor before she met me.”
Emily shook her head.
“No.”
Richard continued.
“Victor had twins.”
Daniel's heart slammed.
“Twins?”
“Alexander and Michael.”
Michael slowly lifted his head.
“Keep talking.”
Richard smiled.
“When the twins were born, Victor was already involved in Project Dove.”
Daniel looked at Michael.
Michael looked just as confused.
“What happened to us?”
Richard's voice lowered.
“Alexander was designated for the final experiment.”
Emily stepped forward.
“I stopped it.”
Richard shook his head.
“You tried.”
“I succeeded.”
“You stole one child.”
Emily's voice broke.
“I stole my own child.”
Daniel felt something inside him crack.
Victor had been his biological father.
Sophia's father.
Michael's father.
Which meant Sophia...
He couldn't finish the thought.
“No.”
Sophia understood.
“No.”
Richard smiled.
“That is why I arranged your marriage.”
Daniel turned slowly.
“You knew?”
Sophia was crying.
“I didn't know.”
Richard laughed.
“Not until two days ago.”
Daniel's face went numb.
His bride was his sister.
The realization was monstrous.
Sophia covered her mouth.
“Oh God.”
Michael shouted:
“Richard!”
Richard raised his gun toward Michael.
Daniel moved.
The shot hit the wall.
Emily fired.
Richard dropped behind a pillar.
“RUN!”
They ran.
Through the corridor.
Down a staircase.
A door opened into an underground tunnel.
Michael stumbled.
Daniel grabbed him.
“Can you walk?”
“Yes.”
Sophia followed.
They reached a steel door.
Locked.
Emily arrived seconds later.
“Move.”
She pulled a key from her coat.
The door opened.
They emerged into a hidden garage.
A van was waiting.
Daniel climbed inside.
Then stopped.
A large photograph was taped to the dashboard.
It showed Victor Hale.
Standing beside a woman.
Daniel's mother.
And between them...
a pregnant Emily.
On the back was written:
THE FIRST BETRAYAL.
Daniel turned it over.
A date.
Twenty-six years earlier.
Underneath:
ALEXANDER WAS NEVER SUPPOSED TO BE BORN.
Emily stared at the photograph.
Daniel looked at her.
“Explain.”
She sat down.
“I wasn't supposed to have you.”
“What?”
“Your father wanted the experiment performed before you were born.”
Daniel's voice shook.
“Then how am I here?”
Emily looked at Michael.
“Because Victor changed the plan.”
Michael frowned.
“What did he do?”
Emily's eyes filled with tears.
“He created another child.”
Silence.
Daniel looked at Michael.
Emily whispered:
“Michael was the substitute.”
Michael's face went pale.
“They experimented on me.”
“Yes.”
Daniel stared at him.
Michael closed his eyes.
“I thought I was the one who escaped.”
Emily shook her head.
“You didn't escape.”
She pointed toward the road outside.
“They let you.”
Daniel frowned.
“Why?”
Emily whispered:
“Because you were never the real target.”
Suddenly the van's engine started.
Nobody was driving.
The doors locked.
A screen inside the van lit up.
Richard appeared on it.
Blood covered his forehead.
He smiled.
“You wanted the truth?”
Daniel stared at the screen.
“Then here's the final part.”
Richard leaned toward the camera.
“Your mother wasn't protecting you from us.”
A pause.
“She was protecting us from you.”
The screen went black.
Then a countdown appeared.
00:59:59
Michael looked at Daniel.
“What happens when it reaches zero?”
May you like
Emily whispered:
“We all die.”
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