Chapter 9: The Bloodstained Gun
For one terrible second, I thought Serena was dead.
Then I saw her chest move.
Barely.
"Serena!"
I pressed my hands against the wound.
"Stay with me."
Her eyes fluttered.
Ava was screaming.
"Mommy!"
Noah clung to my leg.
Across the room, Thomas stood in the doorway.
A gun hung loosely in his hand.
Blood covered his sleeve.
I looked at the weapon.
Then at Serena.
Then back at him.
"You shot her."
Thomas shook his head.
"Not me."
"You're holding the gun."
"I took it from the shooter."
"What shooter?"
He looked toward the ceiling.
"The one who killed your father."
I froze.
"My father?"
Thomas nodded.
"He's dead."
I stared at him.
"You're lying."
"Look."
He pointed toward the far end of the room.
A body lay behind the equipment.
I moved closer.
It was my father.
Richard Cross.
A dark stain covered his chest.
I couldn't speak.
He was dead.
Again.
Except this time, I was looking at his body.
Thomas walked toward me.
"He deserved it."
I looked at him.
"Who killed him?"
Thomas didn't answer.
"Who?"
He looked toward Serena.
"She knows."
I turned.
Serena was barely conscious.
"Serena."
Her eyes opened.
"Daniel..."
"Who killed him?"
She tried to speak.
Nothing came out.
Thomas crouched beside her.
"Tell him."
She shook her head.
"Not here."
Thomas looked at me.
"Then we have a problem."
"What?"
He pointed toward the door.
"Because they're coming."
A distant siren sounded.
Then another.
Police.
I almost felt relief.
Finally.
Help.
Then Thomas said:
"Those aren't police."
I listened.
The sirens were getting closer.
But there were too many.
And something about them sounded wrong.
Marcus suddenly appeared beside me.
"He's right."
"What?"
"Real police don't use those frequencies."
I stared at him.
"How do you know?"
"Because I've spent twenty years avoiding them."
He looked at Thomas.
"You called them?"
Thomas shook his head.
"No."
"Then who?"
Nobody answered.
Ava suddenly screamed.
"Daddy!"
I turned.
She was pointing toward the body of my father.
His hand was moving.
I froze.
"That's impossible."
His fingers twitched.
Then his eyes opened.
He wasn't dead.
He smiled.
I stepped backward.
My father slowly pushed himself up.
Blood covered his shirt.
But the wound was fake.
A bulletproof vest.
He looked at me.
"You really are my son."
I couldn't move.
Thomas swore.
"You said he was dead."
My father laughed.
"I wanted everyone to believe that."
He looked at Serena.
"Unfortunately, she survived."
Serena opened her eyes.
"Richard..."
He turned toward her.
"You should have stayed loyal."
She whispered:
"I was never yours."
My father raised his gun.
I grabbed Ava.
Marcus raised his weapon.
Thomas stepped between them.
"Richard."
My father looked at him.
"What?"
"You've lost."
Richard laughed.
"No."
He looked around the room.
"You have."
Then he pressed a button.
The basement door slammed shut.
A red light began flashing.
Marcus looked at the ceiling.
"What is that?"
Thomas's face changed.
"Gas."
I grabbed Noah.
"What?"
"Gas."
Ava started coughing.
I covered her mouth with my shirt.
"Get us out!"
Marcus ran toward the door.
Locked.
Thomas fired at the control panel.
Nothing.
Richard stood calmly.
"You have three minutes."
"Why?"
"Because after three minutes, everyone in this room will be unconscious."
"And then?"
He smiled.
"I'll take Ava."
I looked at Serena.
She was barely conscious.
I couldn't leave her.
But I couldn't let my children die.
Then Claire shouted:
"The ventilation shaft!"
Everyone turned.
She pointed toward the ceiling.
"That's where the gas is coming from."
Marcus looked up.
"Can we shut it?"
"From inside the control room."
"Where is it?"
Claire pointed toward the wall.
"Behind the cabinets."
Marcus and Thomas moved together.
They pulled the cabinets away.
A hidden door appeared.
Marcus opened it.
Inside was a narrow control room.
"I'll shut the gas off."
Thomas followed.
I stayed with the children.
Serena suddenly grabbed my wrist.
"Daniel."
I leaned closer.
"What?"
"Listen to me."
Her breathing was weak.
"Your father didn't create the project."
I stared at her.
"What?"
"He inherited it."
"From who?"
She looked toward my mother.
My mother stepped closer.
"Daniel..."
"Mom?"
She was crying.
"Your grandfather."
I felt like the room was spinning.
"My grandfather?"
She nodded.
"He started everything."
"Why?"
"He lost your uncle."
"What does that have to do with Ava?"
My mother looked at my daughter.
"He believed he could prevent certain diseases."
"And the children?"
"He became obsessed."
She closed her eyes.
"Your father continued his work."
Serena whispered:
"But your father changed the purpose."
"What purpose?"
She looked at me.
"Control."
I didn't understand.
"He believed genetics could be used to predict behavior."
"What?"
"Fear."
She swallowed.
"Violence."
"Obedience."
My stomach turned.
"He wanted to identify children who could be manipulated."
"And Ava?"
"She was the first child whose genetic profile matched perfectly."
I looked at Ava.
She was crying silently.
"What does that mean?"
Serena said:
"Your father believed Ava could be conditioned."
I felt rage rising.
"He experimented on my daughter?"
"Not directly."
"Then who?"
She looked at me.
"Me."
The word hit me harder than anything.
"You?"
"I was assigned to monitor her."
"For how long?"
"Since she was born."
I stepped backward.
"Every day?"
"Yes."
"Every conversation?"
"Yes."
"Every time she cried?"
Serena began sobbing.
"I was supposed to report everything."
"And you did?"
"At first."
"Then?"
"I stopped."
"Why?"
She looked at Ava.
"Because she called me Mommy."
Silence.
The gas alarm continued.
Two minutes.
Marcus shouted from the control room.
"We can't shut it down!"
Thomas yelled:
"Then cut the main line!"
"I need a tool!"
I looked around.
Nothing.
Then Noah pointed toward the wall.
"Daddy."
He pointed at a fire extinguisher.
I grabbed it.
I ran toward the control room.
Marcus was trying to open a metal panel.
I handed him the extinguisher.
"Break it."
He swung.
Once.
Twice.
The panel shattered.
Inside were wires.
Marcus grabbed one.
"Which one?"
Claire shouted:
"Red!"
He cut it.
The alarm stopped.
The gas stopped flowing.
Everyone collapsed against the walls.
I breathed again.
Then I heard a sound.
A soft click.
Behind me.
I turned.
Richard was holding Ava.
He had grabbed her while we were distracted.
Ava screamed.
"Daddy!"
I lunged.
Richard pulled a gun to her head.
"Stop."
I froze.
"Let her go."
"No."
He backed toward the hidden exit.
My mother screamed:
"Richard!"
He looked at her.
"You betrayed me."
She stepped forward.
"I protected my son."
"He's not your son anymore."
Richard looked at me.
"He's mine."
I stared at him.
"What?"
He smiled.
"You thought you were just my son."
He tightened his grip around Ava.
"But you were part of the experiment too."
I felt the blood drain from my face.
"What experiment?"
Richard whispered:
"The same one that made Ava special."
Then the emergency lights went out.
Total darkness.
A gunshot echoed.
Ava screamed.
I heard someone fall.
When the lights came back...
Richard was gone.
So was Ava.
And on the floor was a single bloodstained photograph.
It showed me as a child.
Standing beside my father.
May you like
And written across the back were seven words:
"You were Subject Zero all along."
