CHAPTER 13: THE HOUSE UNDER THE HOUSE
My mother's name was glowing on my phone.
MOM.
I stared at the screen.
Nobody spoke.
Nobody moved.
The phone kept ringing.
Once.
Twice.
Three times.
I finally answered.
“Mom?”
Nothing.
Only static.
Then breathing.
Slow.
Weak.
A woman's voice whispered:
“Don't go home.”
I closed my eyes.
“Mom, where are you?”
“Listen to me.”
“Where are you?”
“Your father is lying.”
I looked at my father.
He stared at me.
“What is she saying?”
I put the phone on speaker.
My mother's voice continued.
“The house isn't safe.”
My father stepped forward.
“Who is this?”
The line went silent.
Then my mother's voice returned.
“Don't trust him.”
My father froze.
I stared at him.
“Dad?”
He looked at me.
“She isn't your mother.”
The call ended.
I felt cold.
“What?”
My father shook his head.
“Your mother would never tell you not to trust me.”
“How do you know?”
“Because she knows what I did.”
“What did you do?”
He looked away.
I grabbed his arm.
“What did you do?”
He whispered:
“I killed her.”
The room went silent.
I released him.
“What?”
“I killed your mother.”
Elena gasped.
Daniel, still bleeding against the wall, opened his eyes.
“Dad…”
My father didn't look at him.
“I had no choice.”
“You always say that.”
“I was trying to stop the system.”
“You killed Mom.”
“Yes.”
“Then why is she calling me?”
My father looked at my phone.
“She isn't.”
“Then who is?”
He shook his head.
“I don't know.”
Isabella suddenly spoke.
“I do.”
Everyone looked at her.
She was staring at the phone.
“That's not Grandma.”
“How do you know?”
“She doesn't sound right.”
“What does she sound like?”
Isabella closed her eyes.
“Like someone pretending to be her.”
A chill moved through me.
Then she added:
“But I know where she is.”
“Where?”
“At home.”
My father went pale.
“No.”
I turned toward him.
“Why?”
“Because that's exactly where they want you.”
I looked at Daniel.
He was struggling to breathe.
“Daniel.”
He opened his eyes.
“The house.”
My father shook his head.
“Don't.”
Daniel ignored him.
“It's underneath.”
I looked at my father.
“What is underneath?”
He said nothing.
I grabbed his collar.
“Tell me.”
He finally whispered:
“The original laboratory.”
My blood froze.
“You said the facility was here.”
“This was only a branch.”
“And my childhood house?”
“The original site.”
I stared at him.
“How long?”
“Twenty years.”
“You knew?”
“Yes.”
“You let me live there?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because the system was dormant.”
“And now?”
He looked at Isabella.
“Now it isn't.”
I turned toward her.
She was staring at the floor.
“Dad.”
“Yes?”
“I want to go home.”
My father immediately said:
“No.”
I crouched beside her.
“Why?”
“Because that's where I remember you.”
“What do you mean?”
“You used to take me there.”
I felt my stomach drop.
“I didn't.”
She looked confused.
“You did.”
“When?”
“Before I was born.”
Nobody spoke.
Daniel whispered:
“She remembers the original timeline.”
I looked at him.
“What timeline?”
“The one they erased.”
My head spun.
“What are you talking about?”
He forced himself upright.
“There were two versions of your life.”
“One they wanted you to remember.”
“And one you actually lived.”
I stared.
“What was the real one?”
Daniel looked at me.
“You never married Beatriz.”
I froze.
“What?”
“You married Elena.”
Elena looked at him in shock.
“No.”
Daniel nodded.
“You did.”
I looked at Elena.
She was crying.
“I don't remember.”
“Of course you don't.”
Daniel looked at me.
“They erased your marriage.”
I couldn't breathe.
“They erased the birth.”
“They erased the first three years of Isabella's life.”
“They erased your mother.”
“They erased me.”
I looked at Isabella.
“Then what did they leave?”
Daniel whispered:
“Enough to make you believe the lie.”
I stepped backward.
The entire world seemed unstable.
Beatriz stared at me.
“You were supposed to remember me as your wife.”
I looked at her.
“Why?”
“Because I was planted in your life.”
“To monitor you.”
“To monitor Isabella.”
“And Elena?”
Beatriz lowered her eyes.
“She was supposed to be removed.”
Elena stared at her.
“You tried to kill me.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because they told me you were dangerous.”
Elena laughed bitterly.
“And you believed them?”
“I was twenty-four.”
“You knew what they were doing.”
“I was afraid.”
“You still hurt my daughter.”
“I know.”
I turned toward the exit.
“We're going home.”
My father grabbed my shoulder.
“No.”
I pulled away.
“You told me the truth.”
“Not all of it.”
“Then tell me now.”
He looked at Isabella.
“The system under your house isn't just a server.”
“What is it?”
“A vault.”
“What is inside?”
“The original memory archive.”
I frowned.
“Why is that important?”
“Because it contains every memory they ever erased.”
I stared.
“Mine?”
“Yes.”
“My mother's?”
“Yes.”
“Daniel's?”
“Yes.”
“Elena's?”
“Yes.”
He paused.
“And Isabella's.”
My daughter looked at him.
“Mine?”
“Yes.”
She whispered:
“Then I need to see it.”
My father shook his head.
“You don't understand.”
“I understand enough.”
“No.”
He looked at me.
“If Isabella enters that vault, the system will recognize her.”
“And?”
“It will try to complete the transfer.”
“What transfer?”
“The memories inside the vault will return to her.”
I felt sick.
“All of them?”
“All.”
“What happens then?”
My father looked at Isabella.
“She may remember everything.”
“That sounds good.”
“It isn't.”
“Why?”
“Because she won't know which memories belong to her.”
I stared.
“She could lose herself.”
Silence.
Isabella stepped toward me.
“Dad.”
I knelt.
“Yes?”
“I want to remember.”
“You don't have to.”
“Yes, I do.”
“Why?”
She looked at me.
“Because you forgot.”
I couldn't answer.
She placed her small hand in mine.
“And I remember enough for both of us.”
We left the facility.
Adrian drove.
My father sat beside him.
Elena sat in the back with Isabella.
Beatriz remained beside me.
For almost an hour, nobody spoke.
Then the skyline appeared.
My hometown.
Familiar streets.
Familiar buildings.
The same gas station.
The same bridge.
Then the neighborhood.
My childhood home appeared at the end of the road.
The house looked exactly as I remembered it.
White walls.
Black roof.
Large oak tree.
Nothing had changed.
Except one thing.
The front door was open.
I stared.
“I locked that door before leaving.”
Adrian slowed the vehicle.
“Someone's inside.”
My father whispered:
“We shouldn't go in.”
I looked at him.
“You're staying here.”
He shook his head.
“I'm coming.”
“No.”
“This is my fault.”
“Exactly.”
I stepped out.
Isabella followed.
I grabbed her hand.
“Stay beside me.”
We walked toward the house.
The front door creaked.
Inside, everything was dark.
Furniture covered in dust.
Family photographs still hanging on the walls.
My mother's piano.
My childhood bedroom.
Everything looked untouched.
Except for one photograph.
It sat on the staircase.
I picked it up.
It showed me.
Daniel.
My mother.
And my father.
But there was someone else.
A little girl.
Standing beside us.
I stared.
“Who is she?”
My father stopped breathing.
Elena stepped closer.
“What?”
I turned the photograph around.
A date was written on the back.
AUGUST 14, 2006.
I stared at the date.
I was only a child.
Daniel was beside me.
My mother was smiling.
And the little girl...
She looked exactly like Isabella.
I felt dizzy.
“That can't be.”
Isabella took the photograph.
She stared at it.
Then whispered:
“That's me.”
I shook my head.
“You weren't born yet.”
She pointed at the photograph.
“Yes, I was.”
I looked at her.
“What?”
She touched the girl's face.
“I remember this day.”
My father suddenly shouted:
“DROP IT!”
Everyone froze.
The photograph slipped from Isabella's hand.
My father ran toward it.
Too late.
The little girl in the photograph suddenly moved.
Her head turned.
Her eyes looked directly at the camera.
Then the photograph screen lit up.
A hidden recording began.
My mother's voice played.
“If you're watching this…”
She paused.
“…then the vault has awakened.”
I stared at the photograph.
My mother continued:
“Your daughter was born twice.”
My heart stopped.
“Once in 2006.”
“And once in 2018.”
Elena covered her mouth.
I looked at Isabella.
The recording continued.
“The first Isabella died.”
Silence.
“The second Isabella replaced her.”
I couldn't breathe.
My daughter began crying.
“Dad…”
I pulled her into my arms.
“No.”
My mother continued:
“And if she remembers the first life…”
The screen flickered.
“…she will remember who killed her.”
The recording ended.
Everyone turned toward my father.
He was standing perfectly still.
I stared at him.
“You knew.”
He said nothing.
“You knew there was another Isabella.”
Still nothing.
I stepped closer.
“Who killed her?”
My father finally looked at me.
His eyes filled with tears.
“I did.”
The house went silent.
Then the floor beneath us clicked.
A hidden mechanism activated.
The staircase began moving.
A section of the floor opened.
Beneath it was a massive steel door.
And engraved across the center were four words:
THE FIRST ISABELLA REMEMBERS.
The door unlocked.
Slowly.
And from beneath the house came the sound of a little girl laughing.
Isabella grabbed my hand.
“That isn't a recording.”
I stared into the darkness.
“Then what is it?”
May you like
She whispered:
“She's still down there.”
