CHAPTER 12 THE THIRD CHILD
The gun clicked.
Clara froze.
Vanessa stood in the doorway, her face unreadable.
Behind her were twelve armed men.
Lily was trembling beside Clara.
Margaret slowly raised her hands.
“Vanessa.”
“Don't.”
Vanessa's voice was cold.
“Don't say my name like you still know me.”
Margaret stared at her.
“I do know you.”
“No.”
Vanessa shook her head.
“You knew the woman I used to be.”
She looked at Clara.
“This is the girl they wanted.”
Clara stepped backward.
“Who are they?”
Vanessa didn't answer.
One of the men moved forward.
“Bring the child.”
Lily immediately stepped in front of Clara.
“No.”
The man raised his weapon.
Vanessa shouted:
“Don't shoot!”
The room fell silent.
The man looked at her.
“She is not the target.”
Vanessa's eyes hardened.
“I said don't.”
Clara stared at Vanessa.
“You're protecting me.”
Vanessa didn't look at her.
“Don't misunderstand.”
“Then why?”
“Because your mother asked me to.”
Clara's heart skipped.
“Mommy?”
Vanessa finally looked toward the screen.
Evelyn was still there.
Bound to the chair.
Alive.
Clara pointed.
“They have my mother.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
Vanessa's face tightened.
“Because she refused to tell them where the original file is.”
“What file?”
“The one that proves who you are.”
Clara looked at Lily.
“What does that mean?”
Lily shook her head.
“I don't know.”
Vanessa whispered:
“You will.”
The screen suddenly changed.
Richard appeared.
He sat beside Evelyn.
“Clara.”
She stepped closer.
Richard smiled.
“Come here.”
“No.”
“Your mother is alive.”
“I can see that.”
“Then you understand what happens if you refuse.”
Richard leaned toward Evelyn.
Evelyn looked directly at Clara.
“Don't come.”
Richard smiled.
“Always stubborn.”
Clara looked at Vanessa.
“Why don't you stop him?”
Vanessa's eyes filled with tears.
“Because I can't.”
“Why?”
“Because he has something I need.”
“What?”
Vanessa looked at Lily.
“My daughter.”
Lily froze.
“You're my mother?”
Vanessa nodded.
“Yes.”
Lily stared at her.
“You told me I was Clara.”
“I had to.”
“Why?”
“To keep you alive.”
Lily's face crumpled.
“You let them hurt me.”
“I know.”
“You lied to me.”
“I know.”
“You made me think I wasn't real.”
Vanessa looked away.
“I was trying to keep them from finding you.”
Lily shook her head.
“You failed.”
Vanessa's eyes filled with tears.
“Yes.”
Richard's voice came through the screen.
“Enough family drama.”
He looked at Clara.
“Come to the laboratory.”
“No.”
“Then Evelyn dies.”
Clara stared at the screen.
Her mother shook her head.
“Don't.”
Clara whispered:
“I have to.”
Margaret grabbed her arm.
“No.”
Clara looked at her.
“She'll die.”
Margaret shook her head.
“That is exactly what they want.”
Vanessa stepped forward.
“She's right.”
Clara stared.
“What?”
“They don't need you to come willingly.”
Vanessa pointed toward the men.
“They can take you.”
“So what do I do?”
Vanessa looked directly at her.
“Pretend to surrender.”
Clara understood.
She slowly raised her hands.
“Okay.”
Two men approached.
They grabbed her arms.
Lily screamed:
“Clara!”
Clara looked at her.
“Stay with Margaret.”
Vanessa nodded subtly.
The men led Clara toward the door.
As they passed Vanessa, she whispered:
“Three steps after the elevator.”
Clara didn't react.
They entered the elevator.
The doors closed.
The men stood on either side of her.
Clara counted silently.
One floor.
Two.
Three.
Then the elevator stopped.
The doors opened.
A long white corridor stretched ahead.
Laboratories lined both sides.
Through the glass, Clara saw children.
Dozens of them.
Some were asleep.
Some were awake.
Some stared blankly at the ceiling.
Clara stopped.
“What is this?”
One of the guards pushed her forward.
“Keep walking.”
Clara looked through the glass.
A little boy pressed his hand against the window.
He was crying.
Clara stopped again.
“Who are they?”
The guard ignored her.
“They're experiments.”
Clara's stomach turned.
“Experiments for what?”
A voice answered from behind her.
“Memory.”
Clara turned.
Richard stood there.
He was no longer bleeding.
His shirt was clean.
His smile was calm.
“You've finally arrived.”
Clara stared.
“You weren't shot.”
Richard laughed.
“No.”
“You faked it.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“To make everyone believe I was vulnerable.”
Clara's face hardened.
“You're a monster.”
Richard smiled.
“Perhaps.”
He walked toward her.
“But I built this.”
He pointed toward the laboratories.
“For twenty years.”
Clara looked at the children.
“Why?”
“To create perfect memory.”
She frowned.
“What does that mean?”
“You remember everything.”
“I don't.”
“You will.”
Richard touched the glass.
“Your grandmother was the first.”
Clara stared.
“She could remember every detail of every event.”
“And?”
“She became impossible to control.”
“So you experimented on her?”
“No.”
Richard smiled.
“She experimented on herself.”
Clara felt sick.
“She wanted to pass the trait to her descendants.”
Richard continued:
“But she made a mistake.”
“What mistake?”
“She had three daughters.”
Clara stared.
“Three?”
Richard nodded.
“Your grandmother's research showed that the memory trait was strongest in female children.”
“So?”
“So she created three candidates.”
Clara looked at Lily.
“You mean us?”
“Yes.”
“But why?”
“To determine which child inherited the strongest memory.”
Clara shook her head.
“That's insane.”
Richard smiled.
“Science rarely looks sane from the outside.”
He pointed toward the end of the corridor.
“Your sister is waiting.”
Clara's eyes widened.
“Which one?”
Richard smiled.
“That's the surprise.”
They entered a large laboratory.
A young woman stood beside a medical bed.
She looked about twenty-five.
Clara stopped.
The woman turned.
She had Evelyn's eyes.
And Clara's face.
Richard smiled.
“Meet your sister.”
Clara stared.
“But she's an adult.”
“Yes.”
“How?”
Richard looked pleased.
“She wasn't born nine years ago.”
Clara couldn't breathe.
“What?”
Richard walked closer.
“She was born eighteen years ago.”
Clara stared at him.
“Then she's older than me.”
“Yes.”
“Then why does she look like me?”
“Because she's your genetic twin.”
Clara looked at the woman.
The woman smiled.
“Hello, little sister.”
Clara stepped backward.
“You're Lily?”
The woman shook her head.
“No.”
“Then who?”
The woman looked toward Richard.
“My name is Elena.”
Clara stared.
“Where is Lily?”
Richard smiled.
“Right where she's always been.”
Clara's blood ran cold.
“What does that mean?”
He pointed toward the glass.
Clara looked.
Lily was standing outside the laboratory.
But something was wrong.
She wasn't crying anymore.
She was staring directly at Elena.
Then Clara noticed the expression on Lily's face.
Recognition.
Fear.
Hatred.
Clara looked back at Elena.
“You know her.”
Elena nodded.
“She is my daughter.”
Clara's mind went blank.
“What?”
Richard smiled.
“Now you understand.”
Elena stepped closer.
“Lily was never Vanessa's daughter.”
Vanessa's voice suddenly came through the intercom.
“That's a lie.”
Elena laughed.
“Vanessa believed it.”
Clara stared.
“Then who is Lily's mother?”
Elena looked directly at her.
“You.”
Clara's blood ran cold.
“What?”
“You gave birth to her.”
Silence.
Clara shook her head.
“I'm nine.”
Elena smiled.
“Exactly.”
Richard stepped closer.
“You've been living under a false identity.”
Clara stared at him.
“What identity?”
Richard leaned toward her.
“The real Clara Whitmore died nine years ago.”
Clara's heart stopped.
“You are not Clara.”
Richard pointed toward Elena.
“She is.”
Clara looked at Elena.
Then toward Lily.
Then back at Richard.
“No.”
Richard smiled.
“You are the third child.”
Clara whispered:
“Then who am I?”
Richard answered:
“You're the experiment that survived.”
The laboratory doors suddenly opened.
Evelyn rushed inside.
She was bruised but alive.
“Clara!”
Clara ran toward her.
“Mommy!”
Evelyn grabbed her.
“Don't listen to him.”
Richard laughed.
“You're too late.”
Evelyn looked at Clara.
“Clara, look at me.”
Clara did.
“You are my daughter.”
Richard shook his head.
“She isn't.”
Evelyn pulled Clara closer.
“She is.”
Richard smiled.
“Then tell her what happened nine years ago.”
Evelyn froze.
Clara stared at her.
“Mommy?”
Evelyn began crying.
“I can't.”
Richard whispered:
“Tell her.”
Evelyn closed her eyes.
Then finally spoke.
“The night you were born…”
She took a trembling breath.
“you weren't the only baby in that hospital.”
Clara waited.
“There were three.”
Richard smiled.
“And one of them died.”
Evelyn looked at Clara.
“You were the only one I could save.”
Clara whispered:
“Which one am I?”
Evelyn didn't answer.
Instead, she pointed toward Elena.
“That woman is lying.”
Elena laughed.
Evelyn continued:
“She isn't your sister.”
Richard's smile vanished.
Clara looked at her mother.
“Then who is she?”
Evelyn whispered:
“She is the woman who has been pretending to be your grandmother's heir for eighteen years.”
Elena's face changed.
Richard immediately raised his gun.
And for the first time, Clara realized something.
Richard wasn't protecting Elena.
He was afraid of her.
Elena slowly smiled.
Then she said:
“Tell her, Richard.”
He didn't move.
“Tell her who I really am.”
Elena's smile widened.
“I'm not the third child.”
She looked directly at Clara.
“I'm the first.”
And behind her, every laboratory door suddenly unlocked at once.
Dozens of children stepped into the corridor.
May you like
All of them had the same silver bird necklace.
And all of them looked exactly like Clara.
