CHAPTER 13 THE CHILDREN WITH CLARA'S FACE
The laboratory doors opened one after another.
Click.
Click.
Click.
Then all at once, the corridor filled with children.
Clara stared.
There were girls.
Boys.
Some barely old enough to walk.
Others looked almost her age.
But they all had one thing in common.
The same silver bird necklace.
And the same eyes.
Her eyes.
Clara stepped backward.
“No…”
Evelyn grabbed her hand.
“Don't look at them.”
“Why?”
“Because they want you to.”
Richard slowly lowered his gun.
For the first time since Clara had known him, he looked genuinely afraid.
Elena smiled.
“You should see your face.”
Richard whispered:
“Shut up.”
Elena turned toward the children.
“Come here.”
They didn't move.
She tried again.
“Come to me.”
Still nothing.
Clara noticed something.
They weren't looking at Elena.
They were looking at her.
One little girl stepped forward.
She couldn't have been older than six.
“Are you Clara?”
Clara swallowed.
“Yes.”
The girl smiled.
“Which one?”
Clara froze.
“I don't know.”
The girl nodded.
“Good.”
“Why?”
“Because neither do they.”
She pointed at Richard.
The old man tightened his grip on the gun.
Evelyn stepped between Clara and Richard.
“You've lost.”
Richard laughed.
“No.”
He looked around.
“I built every room in this facility.”
“I know.”
“I created the system.”
“I know.”
“I made these children.”
Evelyn's voice became cold.
“You kidnapped them.”
Richard shrugged.
“Semantics.”
“You destroyed their lives.”
“I gave them purpose.”
Clara looked at the children.
“Why do they look like me?”
Richard smiled.
“Because your blood is valuable.”
Clara felt sick.
“How many?”
Richard didn't answer.
“How many children did you experiment on?”
“Thirty-seven.”
Evelyn's eyes filled with disgust.
“Thirty-seven.”
Richard nodded.
“Only seven survived.”
Clara looked at the children.
“Where are the others?”
Richard's expression became blank.
“Some weren't viable.”
Clara stared at him.
“You killed them.”
“No.”
“You killed them.”
Richard looked at her.
“I simply stopped wasting resources.”
Evelyn slapped him.
The entire room went silent.
Richard slowly turned his head back.
A thin smile appeared.
“You always had a temper.”
“You deserved worse.”
Richard wiped the blood from his lip.
Then he looked at Clara.
“Do you want to know why you're different?”
Clara didn't answer.
“You weren't created here.”
Richard pointed toward Elena.
“She was.”
Clara stared at Elena.
“What?”
Elena smiled.
“I was the first successful subject.”
Clara looked at her.
“Then why do you look like me?”
“Because the experiment worked.”
Elena walked closer.
“I inherited your grandmother's memory.”
“Then why did you need me?”
Elena's smile disappeared.
“Because I wasn't enough.”
Clara frowned.
“What does that mean?”
“I can remember everything.”
She touched her temple.
“Every sound. Every face. Every word.”
“So?”
“I can't forget.”
Clara stared.
“That sounds good.”
“No.”
Elena's voice became bitter.
“It means I remember pain forever.”
She looked toward Richard.
“I remember every procedure.”
Every injection.
Every night alone.
Every child who screamed.
Every child who died.
Clara looked at the other children.
“You made them.”
Elena shook her head.
“I didn't.”
“Then who?”
Elena looked at Richard.
“He did.”
Richard laughed.
“You're blaming me?”
“You taught me.”
“And you became better than me.”
Elena's eyes darkened.
“Yes.”
Richard suddenly raised his gun.
“Enough.”
He aimed at Elena.
Clara stepped forward.
“Don't.”
Richard looked at her.
“You think you can stop me?”
“No.”
Clara pointed toward the children.
“But they can.”
Richard frowned.
“What?”
Clara looked at the little girl.
Then at the others.
“Why are they here?”
Richard's face changed.
Elena smiled.
“Because they remember.”
Clara's heart skipped.
“Remember what?”
Elena whispered:
“Everything.”
One by one, the children began speaking.
A boy said:
“He locked me in Room Four.”
A girl said:
“He injected me.”
Another child whispered:
“He killed my sister.”
Another:
“He told us our parents didn't want us.”
Another:
“He said we'd never leave.”
Richard's face became pale.
Clara looked at him.
“You told them they'd never leave.”
Richard stepped backward.
“They're children.”
“No.”
Elena shook her head.
“They're witnesses.”
Suddenly alarms began screaming.
Red lights flashed.
Richard looked toward the control room.
“What did you do?”
Elena smiled.
“I opened the archives.”
“What?”
“Every file.”
Richard's face changed.
“Stop it.”
“Too late.”
A large monitor turned on.
Thousands of documents appeared.
Bank transfers.
Medical reports.
Photographs.
Names.
Dates.
Payments.
Then Clara saw one file.
PROJECT BIRD.
She stepped toward the screen.
“What is that?”
Evelyn whispered:
“Your grandmother's project.”
Clara opened the file.
A photograph appeared.
Her grandmother.
Evelyn.
Daniel.
Vanessa.
And a fifth person.
Clara stared.
“Who is that?”
Evelyn didn't answer.
Clara zoomed in.
The fifth person was a young man.
She recognized him.
Adrian.
But the file said:
SUBJECT A-01: ADAM WHITMORE
Clara's heart stopped.
“Adam?”
Richard closed his eyes.
Clara looked at Evelyn.
“Who is Adam?”
Evelyn's face went white.
“Your uncle.”
“I don't have an uncle.”
“You did.”
“What happened to him?”
“He disappeared.”
“When?”
“The night you were born.”
Clara stared at the photograph.
Adam's face looked strangely familiar.
Not like Daniel.
Not like Richard.
Like Clara.
The same eyes.
The same jaw.
The same expression.
She looked toward Elena.
“You knew him.”
Elena nodded.
“He was the first person who escaped.”
“From here?”
“Yes.”
“Where did he go?”
Elena looked toward Richard.
“He took something.”
“What?”
“The original research.”
Clara felt a chill.
“And that's why you wanted me?”
“No.”
Elena shook her head.
“I wanted you because Adam hid the research inside you.”
Clara stared.
“What?”
“He encoded the information into your memories.”
Evelyn stepped forward.
“That's impossible.”
Elena smiled.
“Is it?”
Clara suddenly felt a sharp pain behind her eyes.
She grabbed her head.
Images flashed.
A hospital.
A newborn baby.
A man holding her.
Adam.
He whispered:
“If they ever find you, remember the bird.”
Clara gasped.
Another memory.
A silver bird necklace.
Her mother's face.
Then a door.
A hidden room.
And a voice.
“The truth is not in the file.”
Clara opened her eyes.
Evelyn was crying.
“What did you remember?”
Clara looked at her.
“Adam.”
Evelyn nodded.
“What did he say?”
Clara whispered:
“He told me the truth isn't in the file.”
Richard suddenly looked terrified.
“Shut down the system.”
Nobody moved.
“SHUT IT DOWN!”
The children didn't move.
Elena smiled.
“You're too late.”
The main screen flickered.
Then another file appeared.
PROJECT BIRD: FINAL SUBJECT
Clara stepped closer.
The screen displayed a photograph of a newborn baby.
Under it was a name.
CLARA WHITMORE.
Clara's heart stopped.
“That proves I'm Clara.”
Evelyn nodded.
“Yes.”
Richard suddenly shouted:
“No!”
Everyone turned.
Richard's face had lost all color.
“That file is false.”
Elena laughed.
“You created it.”
“I created hundreds of false files.”
“But not that one.”
Richard stared at her.
“Why?”
Elena pointed toward Clara.
“Because you forgot one thing.”
“What?”
“She remembers.”
Clara suddenly remembered the night of the accident.
Not fragments.
Everything.
She saw Evelyn driving.
Daniel beside her.
Vanessa in the back.
Richard following them.
And Adam standing on the roadside.
Then something impossible happened.
The car stopped.
Evelyn got out.
Daniel followed.
Vanessa stayed inside.
Richard approached.
Adam grabbed Clara from the back seat.
He whispered:
“Your mother isn't Evelyn.”
Clara screamed.
Everyone looked at her.
“What did you remember?”
Clara looked at Evelyn.
“You aren't my mother.”
Evelyn's face shattered.
“No…”
“You're not.”
“I am.”
Clara stepped backward.
“You lied.”
“I had to.”
“Who is my mother?”
Evelyn began crying.
Then a voice came from the doorway.
“I am.”
Everyone turned.
Vanessa stood there.
She lowered her gun.
Clara stared.
Vanessa slowly removed her silver bird necklace.
Then she whispered:
“Clara…”
Evelyn shook her head.
“Don't.”
Vanessa looked at her.
“You've lied long enough.”
Clara couldn't breathe.
“Mommy?”
Vanessa's eyes filled with tears.
“Yes.”
Clara stepped toward her.
Vanessa whispered:
“I am your mother.”
Evelyn suddenly shouted:
“No!”
The entire laboratory fell silent.
Richard smiled.
Because the moment he had been waiting for had finally arrived.
Then the main doors locked.
A voice came over the speakers.
“Subject Clara has been identified.”
A pause.
“Begin final extraction.”
Clara looked around.
“Extraction?”
Elena's face changed.
“No.”
“What?”
Elena grabbed Clara.
“We have to leave.”
“Why?”
Elena looked toward the ceiling.
“Because they don't want your memories anymore.”
The lights turned red.
May you like
“They want your brain.”
And from somewhere beneath the laboratory, machinery began to roar.
