Chapter 9 - THE CHILDREN OF BLACK CROWNThomas screamed Sarah's name.
"Where is she?"
Julian smiled.
"I told you."
Thomas lunged.
Julian fired.
The bullet struck the floor.
Evelyn tackled Thomas backward.
"Stop!"
The vault door wouldn't open.
Daniel rushed to the control panel.
"Someone has overridden it."
"Who?"
"Not Julian."
The lights flickered.
A voice came over the intercom.
David.
"Thomas."
Thomas looked up.
"You have ten minutes."
"Where is Sarah?"
"Safe."
"Bring her back."
"You want your daughter?"
"Yes."
"Then you must choose."
Thomas stared at the speaker.
"Choose what?"
"Truth."
A screen activated.
Images appeared.
Six children.
Different ages.
Different locations.
Each had the same black crown symbol.
David's voice continued.
"Black Crown created six candidates."
Thomas looked at the children.
"Candidates for what?"
"The future."
Evelyn stepped closer.
"What future?"
"Control."
The screen changed.
A network of companies.
Banks.
Political organizations.
Media.
Defense contractors.
"Black Crown needed someone to inherit the system."
Thomas understood.
"Sarah."
"Sarah was the most successful."
Rebecca whispered:
"No."
David continued.
"She has the Miller Pattern."
Thomas felt sick.
"She's a child."
"She is an asset."
Thomas slammed his fist against the glass.
"She's my daughter."
David replied calmly.
"That is why you must prove yourself."
The screen showed a countdown.
10:00.
David said:
"Open the archive."
"We already did."
"No."
A hidden panel opened in the vault wall.
Behind it was another door.
The red door Sarah had described.
Thomas stared.
His father continued.
"Behind that door is the truth about Rebecca."
Rebecca went pale.
"No."
Thomas looked at her.
"What is it?"
"I can't."
"Tell me."
Rebecca shook her head.
"I was the first subject."
Thomas froze.
"What?"
"Before Sarah."
"Before?"
Rebecca looked at him.
"I was created through the Legacy Project."
Thomas stared.
"Created?"
"My biological mother was one of the Miller test subjects."
Daniel closed his eyes.
Rebecca continued.
"Richard Croft raised me after my mother died."
Thomas couldn't speak.
Evelyn looked at her.
"My father adopted you."
Rebecca nodded.
"He told me I was special."
"You weren't."
Rebecca shook her head.
"He made me useful."
Julian interrupted.
"She was meant to become the perfect intermediary."
Thomas looked at him.
"Between what?"
"The Miller and Croft bloodlines."
The countdown fell.
07:42.
Daniel shouted:
"We don't have time."
They opened the red door.
Inside was a laboratory.
Old machines.
Medical equipment.
Photographs.
Thomas saw Rebecca as a teenager.
Evelyn as a child.
Daniel.
Richard.
And David.
Then he saw Sarah.
As a newborn.
Thomas looked at Rebecca.
"You knew."
"Yes."
"You knew before she was born."
"I knew they would take her."
"Then why did you let me raise her?"
Rebecca's eyes filled.
"Because I loved you."
Thomas looked away.
"I didn't know what was true anymore."
A door opened behind them.
David entered.
He was holding Sarah's hand.
Thomas froze.
"Daddy!"
Thomas rushed forward.
David held up a gun.
"Stop."
Sarah looked terrified.
Thomas stopped.
David looked at Evelyn.
"I gave you years to understand."
Evelyn stared at him.
"You killed my mother."
"No."
"You ordered it."
"I tried to save her."
"You failed."
David sighed.
"Everyone blames the wrong people."
He looked at Thomas.
"Your father did not start Black Crown."
Thomas stared.
"Then who?"
David pointed to the wall.
An old photograph was projected.
Richard Croft stood beside a woman.
Thomas recognized her.
His grandmother.
The room went silent.
David said:
"Your grandmother started it."
Thomas shook his head.
"Why?"
"Because she believed money was the only shield against the world."
Thomas looked at Daniel.
Daniel nodded.
"It began as a protection network."
David continued.
"Then Richard turned it into an empire."
Julian laughed.
"That isn't true."
Everyone turned.
Julian raised his gun.
"I built Black Crown."
David smiled.
"You inherited it."
"I improved it."
"You corrupted it."
Julian fired.
The bullet hit David's shoulder.
Sarah screamed.
Evelyn fired back.
Chaos exploded.
Thomas grabbed Sarah.
Rebecca tackled Julian.
Daniel pulled the emergency lever.
The vault doors began opening.
Julian escaped through the side corridor.
Evelyn chased him.
Thomas stayed with Sarah.
She clung to him.
"Daddy."
"I'm here."
She was crying.
"I saw Mom."
Thomas froze.
"What?"
"Before you came."
Sarah pointed toward the red room.
"She showed me something."
"What?"
Sarah whispered:
"There's another baby."
Thomas looked at Rebecca.
"What does she mean?"
Rebecca's face turned white.
A monitor activated.
One final file appeared.
SUBJECT 7
Thomas stared.
The picture loaded.
A child.
Same eyes as Sarah.
Same face as Evelyn.
But older.
Sixteen.
The file said:
LOCATION: UNKNOWN
Then another line appeared.
STATUS: ACTIVE
Thomas looked toward the corridor.
Evelyn returned.
"Julian escaped."
Thomas pointed to the screen.
"Who is that?"
Evelyn stared.
Her face drained of color.
"I know her."
"Who?"
"My daughter."
Thomas's voice went quiet.
"Emily."
Evelyn nodded.
"She's sixteen."
"That's impossible."
"No."
Evelyn looked at Sarah.
Then at the screen.
"She was never dead."
The monitor flickered.
A message appeared.
May you like
I'M COMING FOR MY MOTHER.
Then the entire building lost power.
