Chapter 12 - The hospital went into lockdown.Doors slammed shut.
Sirens screamed.
Dad ordered everyone to stay close.
We moved through the emergency stairwell.
Luca carried a weapon.
Ryan stayed beside me.
My mother followed, still weak.
"Two daughters," I whispered.
My mind couldn't process it.
Lily.
Another girl.
And I had been lied to about both.
We reached the ground floor.
The security monitors showed chaos.
People running.
Lights flashing.
A black SUV crashed through the hospital entrance.
A man stepped out.
Dad recognized him.
"Anthony."
I stared.
"Your brother?"
Dad nodded.
Anthony Vale looked older than the photographs.
Gray hair.
A scar across his cheek.
Cold eyes.
He looked directly at the camera.
Then smiled.
"He wants you to see him."
Dad approached the monitor.
Anthony spoke through the loudspeaker.
"Vincent."
Dad answered.
"You should have stayed dead."
Anthony laughed.
"You've spent twenty-five years pretending you left that world."
"I did."
"No."
Anthony shook his head.
"You simply handed it to your daughter."
His face changed.
"Bring Emily to the old estate."
Dad said:
"Never."
Anthony smiled.
"Then Lily dies."
A second monitor activated.
Lily was strapped to a chair.
I screamed.
"Stop!"
Ryan grabbed my arm.
"It's a trap."
"I don't care."
Dad looked at me.
"Emily."
"I have to go."
"No."
I looked at him.
"She's my daughter."
Anthony's voice returned.
"You have thirty minutes."
The screens went dark.
Luca turned to Dad.
"The old estate."
Dad nodded.
"The house where Emily was born."
I looked at him.
"I was born there?"
Dad hesitated.
"Yes."
"What happened?"
He looked at my mother.
She answered.
"You were supposed to have a sister."
I stared.
"Supposed to?"
My mother nodded.
"The twins were born during a storm."
"Why didn't I know?"
"Because one child was declared stillborn."
"And the other?"
"Lily was taken."
"Then who is the second girl?"
My mother looked at me.
"The other twin."
I felt my knees weaken.
"The girl in the hospital voice."
"Yes."
"Where is she?"
My mother whispered:
"With your uncle."
We drove toward the old estate.
Rain hammered the windshield.
Lightning lit the road.
Dad sat beside me.
He finally spoke.
"I thought your uncle killed them."
"Who?"
"Your mother."
I stared.
"Why would you think that?"
"Because after the birth, your mother disappeared with the babies."
My mother closed her eyes.
"I was trying to protect you."
"From what?"
She looked at me.
"From your father."
Dad flinched.
I stared.
"My father?"
"Not from Vincent," she whispered.
"From your grandfather."
Dad looked forward.
"He was planning to use the children as leverage over me."
We arrived.
The old estate stood in darkness.
Exactly as I remembered.
Blue shutters.
White columns.
A locked nursery upstairs.
My chest tightened.
I walked inside.
Every room was covered with dust.
Except one.
The nursery door was open.
Inside sat two cribs.
One empty.
One with a small blanket.
I walked closer.
The blanket was pink.
On the crib was a note.
My name.
Emily.
I picked it up.
Inside was a single photograph.
Two newborn babies.
Identical.
One had a tiny crescent-shaped birthmark.
I touched the picture.
I looked at my own arm.
The same mark.
Then I noticed the second baby.
She had a scar under her left eye.
The same tiny scar Luca had described.
The door creaked behind me.
I turned.
A teenage girl stood there.
Maybe fourteen.
She was holding the stuffed rabbit from Lily's room.
She looked at me.
And whispered:
"You're late."
I couldn't breathe.
"Who are you?"
She stepped into the light.
"I've been waiting for you."
May you like
Then she smiled.
"Mom."
