Chapter 12 - BRIAR HOUSEBriar House stood on a frozen hill two hours outside Manhattan.
The old mansion looked abandoned.
Windows boarded.
Iron gate rusted.
Snow buried the driveway.
Yet the power was on.
Julian knew immediately.
They were expected.
Adrian parked behind an old barn.
Everyone entered through a servant's tunnel.
Inside, Briar House looked exactly as Julian remembered from childhood.
Except the photographs were gone.
The furniture was covered.
The clocks had stopped.
His grandfather had erased the house.
Almost.
Daniel Sterling's study remained untouched.
Julian entered.
A gunshot echoed.
He ducked.
Then heard his father's voice.
“Don't shoot.”
Daniel stepped out from behind a bookshelf.
Julian ran toward him.
“You're alive.”
“For now.”
Julian grabbed him.
“You killed Marianne.”
Daniel looked at him.
“She was already dying.”
“That's not what Mom said.”
“She doesn't know the truth.”
“What truth?”
Daniel glanced at Elena.
Then Daniel.
“Your son is not a carrier.”
Julian frowned.
“What?”
“He is the antidote.”
Silence.
“To what?”
“Genesis.”
Julian waited.
Daniel continued.
“Your grandfather altered the family line over decades.”
“He created the genetic sequence.”
“Yes.”
“Then why is my son different?”
“Because Elena is not Sterling.”
Julian frowned.
“That matters?”
“More than you know.”
Elena looked confused.
“What does my family have to do with this?”
Daniel's eyes met hers.
“Your blood neutralizes the Sterling sequence.”
Elena's face went blank.
“You knew.”
“Yes.”
“How?”
“Because your father worked for me.”
She stepped backward.
“My father?”
Daniel nodded.
“He was part of Genesis.”
Elena couldn't speak.
Julian looked at her.
“What did your father do?”
She shook her head.
“I don't know.”
Daniel answered.
“He was one of the scientists.”
Elena's eyes filled with tears.
“You're lying.”
“No.”
“He died in a car accident.”
“He was murdered.”
“By whom?”
“Your grandfather.”
Silence.
Julian turned toward the study.
His entire life was becoming a maze of lies.
“My father.”
Daniel looked at him.
“Your grandfather wasn't trying to create immortality.”
“Then what?”
“Control.”
“Control what?”
“People.”
Daniel opened a hidden compartment.
Inside was a small metal case.
He handed it to Julian.
“Your weapon.”
Julian opened it.
Inside was a syringe.
Clear liquid.
“What is it?”
“Your son's blood after exposure to Genesis.”
Julian stared.
“Why would you have this?”
“Because we knew someday the system would need to be destroyed.”
Elena shook her head.
“You're talking about my baby like he is an experiment.”
Daniel's voice softened.
“I'm talking about saving him.”
Suddenly, the house lights went out.
Adrian raised his weapon.
“They're here.”
Glass shattered.
Gunfire erupted throughout the mansion.
Julian pulled Elena behind a desk.
Daniel opened another hidden passage.
“Get to the basement.”
“What about you?”
“I'll slow them down.”
“No.”
Daniel looked at him.
“You're not my little boy anymore.”
He pushed the wall open.
“You're a father.”
Julian stared.
“Go.”
They ran.
Down the stairs.
Past old wine cellars.
Into an underground laboratory.
Machines hummed.
Screens displayed DNA sequences.
Elena stopped.
“This is Genesis.”
Julian looked at the equipment.
One screen showed the date.
TODAY.
Another showed:
SUBJECT D-01: ACTIVE
Daniel.
Their son.
Elena cried.
“No.”
A door opened.
Chloe walked inside.
Her face was expressionless.
She held a small device.
“I told you I'd get him.”
Julian raised his weapon.
“Come any closer.”
Chloe smiled.
“You still think a gun changes anything?”
“It changes you.”
She looked at Elena.
“Do you know what happens when the baby reaches six hours?”
Elena froze.
“What?”
“The genetic sequence stabilizes.”
Julian's face changed.
“How long?”
Chloe glanced at the clock.
“Thirty-seven minutes.”
Elena tightened her arms.
“What happens then?”
Chloe whispered:
“The Vault chooses an owner.”
Julian frowned.
“Owner?”
“Your son.”
The laboratory doors locked.
Chloe pressed the device.
Machines around them came alive.
A massive screen displayed one final message.
GENESIS FINALIZATION IN 36:59
Then another line appeared.
AUTHORIZED PARENT: JULIAN STERLING
Julian stared.
“But I renounced the Sterling name.”
Chloe smiled.
“You renounced the name.”
May you like
She pointed at the screen.
“Not the blood.”
