CHAPTER 11 — THE WOMAN ON THE PHONE
The phone went dead.
I stared at the screen.
No number.
No caller ID.
Nothing.
Only one word remained in my mind.
Mother.
Beatriz grabbed my wrist.
“Drop the phone.”
“Why?”
“Because if she called you, they know you're alive.”
“Who?”
She looked toward the burning laboratory.
“The people your father was afraid of.”
I looked at Elena.
She was staring at the phone too.
“You know who she is.”
Elena hesitated.
“Yes.”
“Who?”
She swallowed.
“Your mother.”
I shook my head.
“I just saw her on that screen.”
“No.”
Elena looked at me.
“That wasn't your mother.”
My stomach dropped.
“What?”
“She died twenty years ago.”
I stared at her.
“Then who was that?”
Elena whispered:
“Someone wearing her face.”
The building shook again.
A ceiling panel collapsed.
Dust filled the corridor.
Lucas shouted:
“We have to move!”
I grabbed Isabella and Sofia.
“Come on!”
We ran.
Behind us, fire spread through the laboratory.
The alarms became louder.
Every few seconds, another explosion shook the walls.
We reached the emergency exit.
Lucas forced the door open.
Cold night air hit my face.
We stumbled outside.
The facility behind us was burning.
But I couldn't stop thinking about the woman on the screen.
She had looked at the camera.
She had called me David.
Nobody had called me that except my mother.
Or someone who had her memories.
We reached the woods behind the property.
Lucas stopped.
“Wait.”
Everyone froze.
“What?”
He listened.
“There are vehicles.”
I heard them too.
Engines.
Several of them.
Approaching from the main road.
Beatriz whispered:
“They found us.”
“Who?”
She looked at me.
“Not the police.”
Lucas raised his weapon.
“Then we hide.”
We moved deeper into the woods.
Isabella held my hand.
Sofia stayed beside her.
Elena followed.
Beatriz was last.
Then I heard a branch snap.
I turned.
Nobody.
“Keep moving.”
We walked another fifty meters.
Then another.
Suddenly a flashlight swept across the trees.
“Down!”
We dropped.
Men entered the forest.
Five.
Then ten.
All carrying weapons.
Lucas whispered:
“They're searching for the girls.”
I looked at Isabella.
“Stay here.”
She shook her head.
“No.”
“Please.”
“I know where to go.”
“What?”
She pointed toward a narrow path.
“There is an old tunnel.”
Elena looked shocked.
“You remember that?”
Isabella nodded.
“Beatriz showed me.”
Beatriz looked away.
We followed Isabella.
The path became narrower.
Branches scratched against our faces.
Eventually we reached a stone wall.
Isabella touched a small section.
“This.”
Lucas pushed.
A hidden door opened.
We entered.
The tunnel was dark.
But dry.
We moved quickly.
After several minutes, we reached an underground room.
There were chairs.
Water.
Medical supplies.
A generator.
Someone had prepared it.
I looked at Beatriz.
“You knew about this.”
She nodded.
“I built it.”
“For what?”
“To hide Isabella.”
I stared at her.
“You knew this would happen.”
“I hoped it wouldn't.”
Lucas closed the door.
“We have maybe twenty minutes.”
“Before what?”
“Before they find another entrance.”
I looked around.
There was an old radio on a table.
It suddenly turned on.
Static.
Then a voice.
“Daniel.”
I froze.
My father's voice.
“Don't trust Elena.”
Everyone looked at her.
Elena went pale.
“That's impossible.”
The radio continued.
“She has been lying to you since the beginning.”
I looked at Elena.
“What is he talking about?”
She shook her head.
“Don't listen.”
The radio crackled.
“Ask her about the night you were born.”
I stared.
Elena's face changed.
“Daniel…”
“What happened?”
She didn't answer.
“What happened the night I was born?”
Lucas stepped between us.
“Don't.”
I looked at him.
“Why?”
“Because you're not ready.”
“I've been hearing that all night.”
Elena began crying.
“I didn't know how to tell you.”
“Tell me now.”
She looked at Isabella.
Then Sofia.
Then me.
“The night you were born…”
She stopped.
“Your mother wasn't the one who gave birth to you.”
I froze.
“What?”
“She didn't carry you.”
“Then who did?”
Elena whispered:
“Me.”
Silence.
I couldn't breathe.
“You?”
“Yes.”
“You're saying you were my biological mother?”
She nodded.
“I carried you.”
I stared at her.
“But my memories…”
“Were implanted.”
“My mother…”
“She raised you.”
“So she wasn't my mother?”
“She was.”
I shook my head.
“This makes no sense.”
Elena stepped closer.
“Your mother was unable to have children.”
“So she used you.”
“No.”
“She asked me to help.”
“Why?”
“Because she wanted to create a child outside your father's control.”
I looked at Isabella.
“And I was that child.”
“Yes.”
“Then why did he experiment on me?”
“Because he discovered you were different.”
“How?”
Elena looked at my wrist.
“The mark.”
I looked down.
“The crescent.”
“Yes.”
“What does it mean?”
“It means your body rejected the memory transfer.”
I remembered the man's face changing after touching me.
“So that's why.”
“Yes.”
“But why did my mother hide me?”
“Because your father wanted to use you.”
“For what?”
Elena whispered:
“To create himself again.”
I felt sick.
Then the radio crackled.
My father's voice returned.
“You've finally told him.”
Elena looked terrified.
“You're still listening.”
“Of course.”
I grabbed the radio.
“Where are you?”
“Closer than you think.”
“Show yourself.”
The radio went silent.
Then another voice came through.
A woman's voice.
The same voice from the phone.
“Daniel.”
I froze.
“Who are you?”
She answered:
“Your sister.”
I stared at Elena.
“I don't have a sister.”
The voice laughed.
“You did.”
A photograph slid from beneath the tunnel door.
Lucas picked it up.
It showed three children.
A young me.
Lucas.
And a little girl.
She looked about five.
On the back was a handwritten note:
SUBJECT 004 — ELENA'S DAUGHTER.
Elena began shaking.
“No.”
I looked at her.
“You had another child?”
She covered her face.
“She was taken.”
“By whom?”
“My husband.”
I froze.
“Your husband?”
She nodded.
“Your father.”
I stared at the photograph.
The little girl's face looked strangely familiar.
Not like Isabella.
Not like Sofia.
Like me.
The radio crackled again.
The woman's voice whispered:
“Daniel…”
I brought it closer.
“You remember me.”
I closed my eyes.
A memory appeared.
A little girl laughing.
Running through a garden.
Calling me:
“David!”
I opened my eyes.
I knew her.
She wasn't a stranger.
She was part of my childhood.
But that was impossible.
I whispered:
“Emma.”
The radio went silent.
Then the woman laughed.
“Yes.”
Elena began crying.
“She's alive.”
I stared at the photograph.
“My sister.”
“Yes.”
“Where is she?”
Elena looked toward the tunnel wall.
“She is the one who built this place.”
I turned.
“What?”
Beatriz suddenly stepped backward.
“No.”
I looked at her.
“What?”
She whispered:
“Emma didn't build this tunnel.”
“Then who did?”
Beatriz's face went white.
“She built the entire program.”
The room fell silent.
I stared at her.
“You're saying my sister…”
“She took control after your father disappeared.”
“Why?”
Beatriz looked at me.
“Because she believes the world needs to be rebuilt.”
“How?”
Beatriz swallowed.
“Using people like you.”
A metallic sound echoed from the tunnel.
Everyone turned.
A hidden door slowly opened.
A woman stepped through.
She looked about thirty.
Dark hair.
Pale skin.
Same crescent birthmark.
Same eyes.
She looked directly at me.
Then smiled.
“Hello, David.”
I couldn't speak.
She walked toward me.
“You finally remembered my name.”
“Emma?”
She nodded.
Then she looked at Isabella.
Her smile disappeared.
“She's not supposed to be here.”
I stepped between them.
“Don't touch my daughter.”
Emma's expression hardened.
“You still don't understand.”
“Understand what?”
She looked at Sofia.
Then Isabella.
Then me.
“Your mother didn't create you to destroy the program.”
She stepped closer.
“She created you to destroy me.”
I froze.
May you like
Emma smiled.
“And now I'm going to show you why she failed.”
