Chapter 13: The Mother Who Raised the Monster
Ethan stared at the gun.
It was pointed directly at Sophie.
His mother stood twenty feet away.
Alive.
Older.
Her hair streaked with silver.
Her face thinner than the woman Ethan remembered from childhood photographs.
But her eyes were unmistakable.
The same eyes that had once watched over him.
The same eyes he had spent twenty-six years trying to remember.
And now they were fixed on his daughter.
“Mom…”
His voice broke.
She didn't lower the weapon.
“Put Sophie down.”
Ethan tightened his arms around the little girl.
“No.”
His mother swallowed.
“Ethan, please.”
“You're pointing a gun at my daughter.”
“I don't want to hurt her.”
“Then put the gun down.”
“I can't.”
Behind them, the countdown continued.
03:41
03:40
03:39
Victor smiled.
“Beautiful, isn't it?”
Ethan looked at him.
“What?”
“The moment everyone finally realizes who the real monster is.”
His mother glared at him.
“Be quiet, Victor.”
Victor laughed.
“You've spent twenty-six years pretending you were protecting them.”
His mother looked at Ethan.
“I was.”
“By disappearing?”
“Yes.”
“By letting Michael raise me?”
“I had no choice.”
“You always had a choice.”
She flinched.
Ethan stepped forward.
“You could have come for me.”
“I tried.”
“You could have told me the truth.”
“I tried.”
“You could have trusted me.”
Her eyes filled with tears.
“I was afraid.”
“Of what?”
“That you would become like me.”
Silence.
Ethan stared at her.
“What does that mean?”
His mother slowly lowered the gun.
“I built Black Meridian.”
Ethan's expression hardened.
“I know.”
“No.”
She shook her head.
“You don't.”
She looked at Victor.
“He's told you the story he wanted you to hear.”
Victor's smile vanished.
His mother continued.
“Black Meridian wasn't created to control governments.”
“Then what was it created for?”
“To find children.”
Ethan frowned.
“Children?”
“Children like you.”
“Why?”
“Because Michael believed certain bloodlines carried unusual abilities.”
Ethan almost laughed.
“Abilities?”
“Memory. Intelligence. Pattern recognition. Emotional control.”
Victor interrupted.
“And Sophie inherited all three.”
His mother looked at him.
“You don't understand what she is.”
Victor smiled.
“I understand perfectly.”
“No.”
She shook her head.
“You understand what you want her to be.”
The countdown continued.
03:02
03:01
03:00
Ethan looked at the screen.
“What happens at zero?”
His mother answered.
“The Eden protocol activates.”
“What does it do?”
“It locks every Black Meridian account to one genetic signature.”
“Whose?”
“Sophie's.”
Ethan's stomach tightened.
“And then?”
“Then she becomes the only person capable of shutting it down.”
Victor stepped forward.
“Exactly.”
His mother raised the gun again.
“That's why I need her.”
Ethan shook his head.
“No.”
“I don't want to hurt her.”
“Then why are you pointing that at her?”
“Because if Victor gets her, millions of people could die.”
Victor laughed.
“Always the hero.”
His mother turned toward him.
“You've killed people already.”
“You taught me how.”
“I taught you how to protect people.”
“You taught me how to control them.”
“I taught you because I trusted you.”
Victor smiled.
“And that was your greatest mistake.”
Ethan looked between them.
“You two worked together.”
His mother lowered her weapon.
“Yes.”
“For how long?”
“Twenty years.”
Victor smiled.
“Longer than you know.”
Ethan looked at Victor.
“You were the one who watched me.”
“Yes.”
“You were the one who arranged Vanessa's marriage to me.”
Victor nodded.
“Yes.”
“You were the one who ordered the bruises on Sophie.”
Victor's expression changed.
“No.”
Ethan froze.
“Then who?”
Victor looked toward Thomas.
But Thomas was no longer there.
“Thomas,” Victor whispered.
Ethan's jaw tightened.
“Where is he?”
No answer.
Suddenly, the laboratory doors opened.
Thomas walked inside.
Blood covered one side of his face.
He held a small device in his hand.
Everyone turned toward him.
Victor's expression hardened.
“You.”
Thomas smiled.
“You all believed I was working for Michael.”
Michael's voice came through the speakers.
“You were.”
Thomas looked toward the camera.
“Not anymore.”
Victor raised his weapon.
Thomas raised the device.
“Don't.”
Victor stopped.
Thomas smiled.
“This controls the Eden protocol.”
Ethan stared.
“What did you do?”
Thomas looked at him.
“I changed the target.”
His mother went pale.
“No.”
Thomas nodded.
“The protocol no longer recognizes Sophie.”
Victor stared.
“Then who?”
Thomas looked directly at Ethan.
“You.”
Ethan froze.
The countdown disappeared.
For three seconds, there was silence.
Then a new message appeared.
EDEN TARGET UPDATED
ETHAN BENNETT
Ethan felt the room spin.
His mother whispered,
“No…”
Thomas smiled.
“You wanted the truth?”
Ethan stared at him.
“What have you done?”
Thomas's smile disappeared.
“I've finally given you control.”
Victor raised his gun.
Thomas pressed the device.
Every light in the laboratory exploded.
Darkness swallowed the room.
Gunshots erupted.
Ethan dropped to the floor with Sophie.
Vanessa screamed.
Daniel shouted,
“Ethan, move!”
Ethan crawled behind a metal console.
Sophie clung to him.
“Daddy, I'm scared.”
“I know.”
“Don't leave me.”
“I won't.”
Another gunshot.
Then silence.
Emergency lights flickered back on.
Ethan looked around.
Victor was gone.
Thomas was gone.
Daniel was standing beside Vanessa.
And his mother was on the floor.
Blood stained her shoulder.
“Mom!”
Ethan ran toward her.
She looked up.
“I'm okay.”
He knelt.
“Who shot you?”
She looked toward the doorway.
“Thomas.”
Ethan stared.
“Why?”
“He knows where your father is.”
Ethan froze.
“Daniel?”
She shook her head.
“No.”
“Then who?”
She grabbed his wrist.
“The man you saw in the photograph.”
“The man whose face was scratched out?”
“Yes.”
“Who is he?”
Her eyes filled with tears.
“His name is Samuel.”
Ethan frowned.
“Samuel who?”
She whispered,
“Samuel Bennett.”
Ethan stopped breathing.
“That can't be.”
His mother nodded.
“It is.”
“Who is Samuel Bennett?”
“Your grandfather's first son.”
Ethan stared.
“Michael's brother?”
“Yes.”
“Then why have I never heard of him?”
“Because Michael erased him.”
“Why?”
“Because Samuel was the rightful heir.”
Ethan's mind raced.
“Rightful heir to Black Meridian?”
“No.”
His mother looked at him.
“To the Bennett family.”
Ethan shook his head.
“This doesn't make sense.”
“It will.”
She reached inside her coat.
She pulled out a small photograph.
She handed it to him.
Ethan looked.
It showed two young men standing beside an older man.
The older man was Jonathan Bennett.
The first young man was Michael.
The second was Samuel.
But there was something else.
A baby in Samuel's arms.
Ethan stared.
“Who is that?”
His mother whispered,
“You.”
Ethan's breath caught.
“No.”
“You were born Samuel's son.”
He looked at her.
“You said Daniel was my father.”
“I was wrong.”
“Then who is Daniel?”
“Your protector.”
Ethan stared at the photograph.
The baby looked exactly like the child he remembered seeing in his mother's old pictures.
His whole identity had been fabricated.
His mother continued.
“Samuel discovered what Jonathan was building.”
“Black Meridian.”
“Yes.”
“He tried to stop him.”
“Yes.”
“And Michael killed him?”
“No.”
She shook her head.
“Samuel escaped.”
Ethan's eyes widened.
“Where is he?”
His mother looked toward the dark corridor.
“That's the problem.”
“What?”
“Samuel isn't missing.”
She grabbed Ethan's hand.
“He has been running Black Meridian from the shadows for twenty-six years.”
Ethan stared.
“Then Victor…”
“Was never the leader.”
“Michael?”
“Never.”
“Thomas?”
“No.”
“Then who?”
His mother looked directly into Ethan's eyes.
“Samuel.”
Ethan felt cold.
His own biological grandfather's first son.
The man whose existence had been erased.
The man who had manipulated everyone from the shadows.
The man who had just changed the Eden protocol.
And suddenly Ethan understood why the stranger's identity had always been hidden.
He wasn't hiding from Black Meridian.
Black Meridian was hiding from him.
A soft sound came from the corner.
Sophie.
She was staring at something on the floor.
“Daddy?”
Ethan turned.
“What?”
She pointed.
“There.”
A small blue light blinked beneath the console.
Ethan picked it up.
A recording device.
He pressed the button.
A man's voice filled the laboratory.
Samuel.
“You've finally found me.”
Ethan stared.
Samuel continued.
“Ethan, if you're listening to this, then your mother has told you enough to make you dangerous.”
A pause.
“You're going to want revenge.”
Ethan's jaw tightened.
“You'll want to find me.”
Another pause.
“But before you do…”
The recording crackled.
Samuel's final words came through.
“Ask your daughter who she really is.”
The device went silent.
Ethan looked at Sophie.
She stared back innocently.
Then the little girl whispered something that made every person in the room freeze.
“I remember him.”
Ethan crouched beside her.
“Who?”
Sophie pointed toward the screen.
“The man from my dreams.”
Ethan's heart stopped.
“What man?”
Sophie looked at him.
“The man who comes to my room at night.”
Ethan's blood ran cold.
“What does he look like?”
Sophie slowly raised her hand.
Then pointed toward the dark hallway.
“He looks like you.”
The lights went out again.
And from somewhere in the darkness came a child's laughter.
May you like
Then a man's voice whispered:
“Hello, son.”
