Chapter 14: The Face in the Darkness
“Hello, son.”
The voice came from somewhere beyond the darkness.
Ethan froze.
Sophie clung to his neck.
“Daddy…”
“I’m here.”
His hand moved instinctively toward her back.
Daniel raised his weapon.
“Everyone stay still.”
Vanessa whispered,
“Who is that?”
No one answered.
A soft clicking sound echoed through the laboratory.
Then the emergency lights flickered.
Once.
Twice.
Three times.
A figure appeared at the end of the corridor.
Tall.
Motionless.
Watching them.
Ethan stared.
The man slowly stepped into the light.
His face was older than Ethan remembered from the photograph.
Gray hair.
Deep scars along his cheek.
Cold, dark eyes.
But there was something unmistakable about him.
The same eyes Ethan saw every morning in the mirror.
The man smiled.
“Hello, Ethan.”
Ethan couldn't move.
His mother whispered,
“Samuel.”
Samuel Bennett.
The man whose existence had been erased.
The man everyone had claimed was dead.
The man who had been controlling Black Meridian from the shadows.
Ethan tightened his grip around Sophie.
“You're my father.”
Samuel nodded.
“Yes.”
Ethan's voice shook.
“Why did you let me believe you were dead?”
“Because it was safer.”
“For who?”
“For you.”
“You watched me grow up.”
“Yes.”
“You watched Michael raise me.”
“Yes.”
“You watched him destroy my life.”
Samuel's expression didn't change.
“Yes.”
Ethan stepped forward.
“And you did nothing.”
Samuel's eyes hardened.
“I did everything.”
“You call this everything?”
“You're alive.”
“My mother suffered.”
“She survived.”
“Vanessa was forced into my life.”
“She protected you.”
“Thomas tortured my daughter.”
“I know.”
“Victor tried to use her.”
“I know.”
Ethan's voice rose.
“You knew everything!”
Samuel nodded.
“I did.”
“Then why didn't you stop it?”
Samuel looked at Sophie.
“Because I needed them to believe they controlled her.”
Ethan frowned.
“What?”
“Project Eden was never theirs.”
Samuel pointed toward the computers.
“It was mine.”
Daniel stepped forward.
“You're lying.”
Samuel looked at him.
“You're still protecting him.”
Daniel's expression tightened.
“From you.”
Samuel smiled.
“You've always been loyal.”
Ethan looked at Daniel.
“What does he mean?”
Daniel didn't answer.
Samuel did.
“Daniel was assigned to protect you.”
“By who?”
“Your mother.”
Ethan's mother looked away.
“You lied to me.”
“I was trying to keep you alive.”
“Everyone says that.”
His voice cracked.
“Everyone lies and says they're protecting me.”
Samuel stared at him.
“Because the truth would have killed you.”
Ethan laughed bitterly.
“The truth has nearly killed everyone around me.”
Samuel's expression softened.
“You're right.”
He stepped forward.
“I should have told you sooner.”
Ethan raised his weapon.
“Don't come closer.”
Samuel stopped.
“Fair enough.”
Sophie suddenly spoke.
“Daddy.”
Ethan looked down.
“What?”
She was staring at Samuel.
“He's the man from my dreams.”
Samuel's eyes widened.
“You remember?”
Sophie nodded.
“He used to talk to me.”
Ethan looked at Samuel.
“You were visiting her?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“To make sure the protocol was working.”
Ethan's face hardened.
“What protocol?”
Samuel pointed at Sophie.
“She wasn't just being monitored.”
“What did you do to her?”
“Nothing.”
“Then why does she remember you?”
“Because she was born with an ability the others didn't understand.”
Ethan shook his head.
“Stop talking in riddles.”
Samuel sighed.
“Eden was designed to create a human key.”
“A key?”
“Someone capable of accessing every Black Meridian system without passwords.”
Ethan looked at Sophie.
“And that's her?”
“Yes.”
“How?”
“Because she inherited genetic markers from three bloodlines.”
“Mine.”
“Yes.”
“Victor's.”
“Yes.”
“And whose third?”
Samuel looked at him.
“Mine.”
Ethan froze.
Sophie was his daughter.
But Samuel was his biological father.
That meant...
“She's your granddaughter.”
Samuel nodded.
“Yes.”
Ethan looked at Sophie.
“My daughter.”
“Yes.”
“And your granddaughter.”
“Yes.”
Samuel looked at her with something almost resembling affection.
“She is the final generation.”
Ethan stepped between them.
“She isn't a project.”
“I know.”
“She isn't a weapon.”
“I know.”
“She isn't your property.”
Samuel's expression became serious.
“No.”
He looked at Ethan.
“She is the person who can end everything.”
Victor's voice suddenly came through the speakers.
“Don't believe him.”
Everyone looked up.
Victor appeared on one of the monitors.
His face was bruised.
But he was smiling.
“Samuel wants you to believe he's saving Sophie.”
Samuel looked at the screen.
“You're still alive.”
“Unfortunately for you.”
Victor leaned closer to the camera.
“Ask him what happened to the first Eden child.”
Samuel's expression changed.
Ethan noticed.
“Who?”
Samuel didn't answer.
“Who was the first Eden child?”
Victor laughed.
“Ask your father.”
Ethan turned toward Samuel.
“Who?”
Samuel remained silent.
Ethan raised his gun.
“Tell me.”
Samuel looked at him.
“The first child died.”
“How?”
“The protocol failed.”
“What happened?”
Samuel's voice became quiet.
“She couldn't survive the neural activation.”
Ethan's stomach turned.
“How old?”
“Four.”
Ethan looked at Sophie.
She was four.
His blood ran cold.
“You're going to do it to her.”
“No.”
“You just admitted it.”
“I said the first protocol failed.”
“And Sophie?”
“Is different.”
“Why?”
“Because you're her father.”
Ethan stared.
“What does that have to do with it?”
Samuel stepped closer.
“The first child had one bloodline.”
He pointed toward Ethan.
“Sophie has yours.”
Ethan frowned.
“Why does mine matter?”
“Because you were the original successful subject.”
The room went silent.
Ethan couldn't breathe.
“What?”
Samuel continued.
“Project Eden wasn't created for Sophie.”
“It was created for me.”
“Yes.”
“Michael experimented on me?”
“Yes.”
“Since childhood?”
“Yes.”
Ethan looked at his mother.
She was crying.
“You knew.”
“I tried to stop it.”
“But you let it happen.”
“I was too late.”
Samuel continued.
“Michael didn't raise you because you were his son.”
“He raised you because you were proof the Eden protocol worked.”
Ethan felt sick.
“What did he do to me?”
“Nothing you would remember.”
“That isn't an answer.”
Samuel looked at the medical equipment.
“Your memories were altered.”
Ethan froze.
“What?”
“Certain memories were removed.”
“Which ones?”
“Everything related to the laboratory.”
Ethan suddenly remembered fragments.
A white room.
Bright lights.
A woman's voice.
A needle.
A door.
And someone crying.
His own childhood memories began breaking apart.
He grabbed his head.
“No…”
His mother rushed toward him.
“Ethan!”
He stepped away.
“Don't touch me!”
She stopped.
Ethan looked at her.
“You knew they altered my memories.”
She cried.
“Yes.”
“You let them erase me.”
“I saved what I could.”
“How?”
“I took one memory.”
“Which one?”
She pointed toward Sophie.
“The memory of your first meeting with her.”
Ethan stared.
“What?”
“You met Sophie before she was born.”
He froze.
“That doesn't make sense.”
“You were there.”
“Where?”
“In the Eden laboratory.”
Ethan's breathing became uneven.
“I saw you holding her.”
Samuel nodded.
“You were chosen to be her father.”
Ethan looked at Sophie.
She was staring at him.
Then she whispered,
“I remember too.”
Ethan crouched.
“What do you remember?”
Sophie pointed at him.
“You were crying.”
Ethan's heart stopped.
“What else?”
“You told me…”
She hesitated.
“What?”
“You told me you'd never let them take me.”
Ethan looked at Samuel.
Samuel's expression had changed.
Fear.
Real fear.
“That's impossible.”
Sophie suddenly smiled faintly.
“You also said…”
“What?”
“Daddy always comes back.”
Ethan's eyes filled with tears.
The laboratory went silent.
Then every monitor switched on simultaneously.
A red warning appeared.
EDEN PROTOCOL: MANUAL OVERRIDE
AUTHOR: SAMUEL BENNETT
Samuel looked at the screen.
“No.”
The doors slammed shut.
The floor began vibrating.
Victor's voice echoed through the speakers.
“Thank you, Samuel.”
Samuel's face turned pale.
“You used me.”
Victor laughed.
“I used everyone.”
The monitors changed.
A map appeared.
Hundreds of red points spread across the world.
Samuel stared.
“What did you do?”
Victor answered:
“I activated every Black Meridian cell.”
Daniel stepped forward.
“Why?”
Victor smiled.
“Because now they all know Ethan is alive.”
Ethan's phone began vibrating.
One message.
Then another.
Then dozens.
Unknown numbers.
Unknown locations.
All carrying the same sentence:
THE HEIR HAS RETURNED.
Samuel looked at Ethan.
“They're coming.”
“Who?”
“Everyone.”
Ethan stared.
“Why?”
“Because if they capture you…”
Samuel's voice dropped.
“They control Black Meridian.”
“And if they capture Sophie?”
“They control the world.”
A massive explosion shook the building.
The ceiling cracked.
Dust rained down.
Vanessa grabbed Emily.
Daniel grabbed Ethan.
Samuel pulled Sophie away from the collapsing wall.
Ethan shouted,
“Get her back!”
Samuel looked at him.
“Trust me!”
“I don't trust anyone!”
Another explosion.
The floor split.
Ethan fell.
He caught the edge of the platform with one hand.
Sophie screamed.
“Daddy!”
Samuel grabbed Ethan's wrist.
For a moment, father and son stared at each other.
Samuel pulled.
Ethan climbed up.
Then the floor collapsed beneath them.
The laboratory disappeared into darkness.
When Ethan opened his eyes, he was lying beneath broken concrete.
Sophie was beside him.
Alive.
Vanessa was unconscious nearby.
Daniel was gone.
Samuel was nowhere to be seen.
Ethan crawled toward Sophie.
“Are you okay?”
She nodded.
Then she looked behind him.
“Daddy…”
“What?”
“There.”
Ethan turned.
A narrow tunnel had opened beneath the rubble.
At the end stood a woman.
Ethan froze.
His mother.
She was holding a flashlight.
But she wasn't alone.
Beside her stood a man.
Older.
Wounded.
Ethan recognized him immediately.
Alexander.
His supposed father.
His supposed protector.
His mother's expression was terrified.
Alexander looked at Ethan.
Then at Sophie.
Then he said the words that turned Ethan's blood to ice:
“Ethan, we have to leave.”
“Why?”
Alexander pointed behind them.
“Because Samuel isn't the one you need to fear.”
A shadow moved inside the tunnel.
Alexander whispered:
“Michael is.”
Then a man's voice echoed from the darkness.
“Not anymore.”
Michael stepped into the light.
He was holding a detonator.
And he smiled.
“Because tonight, I'm going to burn Black Meridian to the ground.”
May you like
He pressed the button.
And somewhere beneath the mansion, something enormous began to explode.
