CHAPTER 7: THE MEMORY SHE WAS NEVER SUPPOSED TO HAVE
Nobody moved.
The armed men stood frozen.
My father looked at Isabella as if he had just seen a ghost.
Elena was crying.
Adrian had stopped breathing.
And the man in the dark suit...
He was staring at my eight-year-old daughter like she was something impossible.
“What did you say?” he whispered.
Isabella pressed herself against me.
“You were there.”
The man's face lost all color.
“No.”
“You were there when I was a baby.”
“No.”
“You were holding a black folder.”
He took one step backward.
“How could you possibly know that?”
I stared at him.
“What did you do to her?”
He didn't answer.
I stepped forward.
“What did you do?”
My father grabbed my arm.
“Don't.”
I pulled away.
“She remembers him.”
“She shouldn't.”
“Then explain it!”
My father looked at Isabella.
“She was exposed to the system.”
“What system?”
“The memory protocol.”
I stared at him.
“What the hell is that?”
The man in the dark suit interrupted.
“Your father is lying.”
My father turned toward him.
“You know I'm not.”
The man smiled.
“Then tell him what happened in that room.”
My father went silent.
I looked between them.
“What room?”
Neither answered.
I felt rage rising.
“WHAT ROOM?”
Isabella suddenly covered her ears.
“Dad!”
I stopped.
She was shaking.
“Don't yell.”
I immediately knelt beside her.
“I'm sorry.”
She looked at me.
“I remember the room.”
My heart stopped.
“What room?”
“The white room.”
My father closed his eyes.
Elena whispered:
“No…”
I looked at her.
“You know what she's talking about.”
Elena nodded.
“She was six days old.”
My blood ran cold.
“What happened?”
Elena looked at Isabella.
“They took her.”
“Who?”
“Black Meridian.”
My hands tightened.
“Why?”
“To test the protocol.”
“What protocol?”
Elena swallowed.
“They wanted to know whether a newborn could retain information before normal memory formation.”
I stared at her.
“That makes no sense.”
“It does to them.”
She looked at the man in the dark suit.
“They believed the brain could store patterns before conscious memory existed.”
I looked at Isabella.
“You remember something from when you were six days old?”
She nodded.
“I don't remember everything.”
“What do you remember?”
She closed her eyes.
“A white ceiling.”
Silence.
“A red light.”
She began breathing faster.
“A man talking.”
I looked at the man.
“What did he say?”
Isabella opened her eyes.
“He said…”
She hesitated.
“‘If she survives this, she'll remember us.’”
The man in the suit stepped backward.
My father raised his weapon.
“Don't move.”
The man smiled.
“You still think you can stop this?”
“Yes.”
“You couldn't stop it eight years ago.”
My father's expression hardened.
“I can stop it now.”
Suddenly the lights went out.
Gunfire erupted.
I grabbed Isabella.
Someone screamed.
Glass shattered.
People were shouting.
I couldn't see anything.
“ISABELLA!”
“Dad!”
I pulled her toward me.
“Stay low!”
A gunshot hit the concrete wall beside us.
I crawled forward.
Then someone grabbed my shoulder.
I almost attacked them.
“It's me!”
Adrian.
“Where's my father?”
“Behind you!”
I turned.
My father was fighting one of the armed men.
Elena was dragging Beatriz toward the tunnel.
I grabbed Isabella.
“Move!”
We ran.
Behind us, the garage became chaos.
Gunfire.
Footsteps.
Shouting.
Explosions.
We reached the tunnel entrance.
Elena pushed Beatriz through.
Adrian followed.
I was about to enter when a hand grabbed my wrist.
My father.
“Listen to me.”
“What?”
“You can't trust Elena.”
I stared at him.
“She just saved Isabella.”
“She has her own agenda.”
“What agenda?”
“She wants the system.”
I looked toward the tunnel.
“Why?”
“Because she believes it can bring back someone she lost.”
“Who?”
My father hesitated.
“Her son.”
I froze.
“Elena had another child?”
“Yes.”
“When?”
“Before Isabella.”
“What happened?”
“He died.”
My father released my wrist.
“She believes Black Meridian killed him.”
I looked at Elena.
She was standing in the tunnel.
Waiting.
My father whispered:
“She'll do anything to get him back.”
I stared at him.
“Why didn't you tell me?”
“Because I didn't know who to trust.”
I looked at the armed men.
“Then why should I trust you?”
My father smiled sadly.
“You shouldn't.”
I froze.
“What?”
“You shouldn't trust anyone.”
A gunshot echoed.
My father shoved me toward the tunnel.
“Go!”
I ran.
The hidden door slammed shut behind us.
We moved through the darkness.
Nobody spoke.
Then Isabella tugged my sleeve.
“Dad?”
“Yes?”
“There's someone behind us.”
I stopped.
Everyone stopped.
We listened.
Nothing.
Then...
Footsteps.
Slow.
One.
Two.
Three.
Coming through the tunnel.
Adrian whispered:
“Keep moving.”
We ran.
The footsteps followed.
Faster.
We reached the underground garage on the other side.
A second vehicle waited there.
This one was old.
No electronics.
Adrian opened it.
“Get in.”
We piled inside.
He started the engine.
The vehicle roared.
We shot out through a hidden exit and onto a deserted road.
Only then did I breathe.
I looked at Isabella.
She was pale.
I pulled her close.
“You okay?”
She nodded.
Then she whispered:
“I remember something else.”
“What?”
“The man in the white room.”
I froze.
“What about him?”
“He wasn't alone.”
“Who was with him?”
She looked toward Beatriz.
Beatriz was sitting silently in the passenger seat.
Her face was covered in blood.
Isabella whispered:
“She was there.”
I looked at Beatriz.
“What?”
Beatriz slowly turned.
“I was.”
I felt betrayed all over again.
“You were there?”
She nodded.
“I was the one holding her.”
My voice became cold.
“You held my daughter while they experimented on her?”
“I was trying to save her.”
“You expect me to believe that?”
“I didn't know what they were going to do.”
“You knew enough to stay.”
“I couldn't leave.”
“Why?”
Beatriz looked at Isabella.
“Because if I left, they would have killed her.”
I stared at her.
“Who?”
She swallowed.
“Her grandfather.”
Silence.
“My father?”
“Yes.”
I shook my head.
“My father was trying to protect her.”
“He changed his mind.”
“What?”
“He wanted the experiment completed.”
I felt my blood freeze.
“No.”
Beatriz nodded.
“He believed Isabella could unlock the system.”
“Then why did he help us escape?”
“Because he changed his mind later.”
“When?”
“The night she survived.”
I stared at her.
“Why?”
Beatriz looked at Isabella.
“Because she said something.”
“What?”
“She was six days old.”
“She couldn't talk.”
“I know.”
“Then what did she say?”
Beatriz's eyes filled with tears.
“She said your name.”
I froze.
“My name?”
Beatriz nodded.
“She had never heard it.”
“But she said it.”
“How?”
“We don't know.”
I looked at Isabella.
She was asleep now.
Her head rested against the window.
I whispered:
“That's impossible.”
Beatriz shook her head.
“No.”
She looked at me.
“That's why they were afraid of her.”
Adrian suddenly slammed on the brakes.
The vehicle skidded across the road.
Everyone lurched forward.
“What happened?”
He pointed ahead.
A black car was parked in the middle of the road.
No driver.
No lights.
Just waiting.
My stomach dropped.
“It's them.”
Adrian reversed.
Another black car appeared behind us.
We were trapped.
Then the doors of the vehicles opened.
Men stepped out.
But they weren't carrying guns.
They were wearing white medical coats.
I stared.
“What the hell?”
The lead man walked toward us.
He wasn't holding a weapon.
He was holding a clipboard.
He stopped beside the driver's window.
Then looked directly at Isabella.
His expression was strangely calm.
“Isabella?”
She woke up.
Her eyes opened.
She looked at him.
And suddenly began screaming.
Not crying.
Not panicking.
Screaming.
She pointed at him.
“You killed the baby!”
The man's face changed.
“What?”
“You killed him!”
Everyone froze.
Elena looked at Isabella.
Then at the man.
“What baby?”
Isabella was shaking violently.
“He was in the room.”
She pointed toward the man.
“He was crying.”
The man slowly stepped backward.
“No.”
“He looked like me.”
Elena's face turned white.
She whispered:
“My son…”
Isabella continued.
“He had the same bracelet.”
Elena collapsed against the seat.
The man in the white coat stared at Isabella.
Then he whispered something that made my blood run cold.
“She remembers the other child.”
I looked at him.
“What other child?”
He didn't answer.
Instead, he turned toward the men behind him.
“Get the girl.”
Adrian locked the doors.
The men started moving.
I pulled Isabella close.
Then the man in the white coat smiled.
“Don't worry.”
He raised his clipboard.
“We're not here to hurt her.”
He paused.
“We're here to take her back to where she was born.”
I stared at him.
“She was born in a hospital.”
He smiled.
“No.”
He pointed toward the forest behind him.
“She was born here.”
I looked beyond the road.
Through the trees stood a massive abandoned facility.
And on its rusted metal gate was the same symbol.
The black circle.
The white triangle.
Black Meridian.
Adrian whispered:
“That's impossible.”
I looked at my daughter.
Then at the facility.
The place where they claimed she was born.
And suddenly I realized the hospital certificate might have been fake.
All of it might have been fake.
Her birth.
Her records.
Her childhood.
Maybe even the story of how I became her father.
The gate slowly opened.
And from somewhere deep inside the abandoned facility came the sound of a child's laughter.
Isabella stopped screaming.
She stared at the building.
Then whispered:
“That's where I remember waking up.”
I looked at her.
“You've been here before?”
She nodded.
“When I was a baby.”
Then she pointed toward the open gate.
“Dad…”
“What?”
“There are still people inside.”
And the lights of the abandoned facility suddenly turned on.
One by one.
May you like
Across the entire building.
Like someone had been waiting for us.
