CHAPTER 12 — MY SISTER'S LAST SECRET
Emma stood beneath the flickering light.
She looked almost exactly like me.
The same dark eyes.
The same crescent-shaped mark on her wrist.
The same expression my mother had worn in the old photographs.
But there was something different in her.
Something cold.
She looked at Isabella.
Then Sofia.
Then back at me.
“You're wondering why your mother wanted you to destroy me.”
I didn't answer.
Emma smiled.
“Good.”
She turned toward Elena.
“You never told him the whole story.”
Elena lowered her head.
“I was afraid.”
“You've always been afraid.”
Emma walked closer.
“You were afraid when Father took me.”
“You were afraid when Mother hid David.”
“And you were afraid when Beatriz came for Isabella.”
I looked at Beatriz.
“You took Isabella?”
Beatriz shook her head.
“I saved her.”
Emma laughed.
“You saved one child.”
“That's more than you ever did.”
Emma's eyes hardened.
“Don't pretend you're a hero.”
I stepped between them.
“Enough.”
Emma looked at me.
“You want answers?”
“Yes.”
“Then listen carefully.”
She walked toward an old table.
On it sat a metal box.
She opened it.
Inside were photographs.
Hundreds.
Children.
Adults.
Families.
I recognized some faces from the laboratory.
Others were strangers.
Emma placed three photographs in front of me.
The first showed me as a baby.
The second showed Lucas.
The third showed Emma.
“Three children.”
She pointed at the first.
“You.”
Then Lucas.
“Your genetic duplicate.”
Then herself.
“The first successful consciousness transfer.”
I stared.
“You were the first?”
Emma nodded.
“I was six when Father transferred part of his consciousness into me.”
My stomach tightened.
“He put himself inside you?”
“Yes.”
“How?”
“Memory implantation.”
She tapped her temple.
“He didn't need my body.”
“What did he need?”
“My brain.”
Silence.
“He discovered something.”
“What?”
“A child's brain can accept foreign memories more easily than an adult's.”
I felt sick.
“So you became his first vessel.”
“Yes.”
“What happened?”
Emma smiled.
“I fought him.”
“You survived.”
“I became stronger.”
“Then why did you create all those subjects?”
Her expression changed.
“To make sure I would never be controlled again.”
I frowned.
“That doesn't explain anything.”
She opened the metal box.
Inside was a small device.
A black metal disk.
“This is the original transfer core.”
Lucas stared at it.
“Where did you get that?”
Emma looked at him.
“I stole it from Father.”
Lucas stepped closer.
“Then why is he still alive?”
“He isn't.”
“Then who was in the facility?”
Emma looked at me.
“A copy.”
My stomach tightened.
“Like us?”
“No.”
She shook her head.
“More advanced.”
“Meaning?”
“He doesn't need a body anymore.”
I remembered the man healing after being shot.
“He's software.”
Emma nodded.
“A consciousness.”
I stared at the device.
“And you?”
“I'm the only one who can shut him down.”
“Then do it.”
Emma laughed.
“It's not that simple.”
“Why?”
“Because he hid himself inside you.”
I froze.
“What?”
Emma pointed at me.
“When Father realized he couldn't control your mind, he put a fragment of himself inside your memory system.”
I touched my temple.
“So the memories…”
“Some aren't yours.”
I felt sick.
“Which ones?”
Emma smiled.
“That's the problem.”
She walked toward me.
“You can't tell.”
I stared at her.
“Then how do I know what's real?”
“You don't.”
I looked at Isabella.
She was watching us.
Emma crouched in front of her.
“Do you remember the first time you met your father?”
Isabella nodded.
“When I was little.”
“Do you remember where?”
“At the garden.”
Emma smiled.
“Wrong.”
Isabella frowned.
“You met him in the laboratory.”
My daughter looked at me.
I shook my head.
“No.”
Emma pointed to a monitor.
The screen turned on.
A video played.
A little girl stood in a laboratory.
It was Isabella.
She was only three years old.
Standing beside her was me.
Or someone who looked exactly like me.
He was holding her hand.
I felt my stomach turn.
“That isn't me.”
Emma nodded.
“That's the point.”
The video continued.
The man leaned down.
“Call me Dad.”
The little Isabella smiled.
“Dad.”
I couldn't breathe.
Then the video showed another scene.
Beatriz entered.
She was younger.
She picked up Isabella.
“It's time.”
The man said:
“Don't forget the plan.”
Beatriz nodded.
Then she looked toward the camera.
And whispered:
“He'll never remember.”
The video ended.
I turned toward Beatriz.
“What plan?”
She was crying.
“I had no choice.”
“Everyone says that.”
She shook her head.
“This time it's true.”
“What did you do?”
“I helped your mother hide you.”
I frowned.
“What?”
“You weren't the one they were trying to save.”
She looked at Isabella.
“She was.”
Emma's expression changed.
“What?”
Beatriz continued.
“Your mother knew Emma was becoming dangerous.”
“She wanted to stop her.”
“So she created Isabella as a countermeasure.”
Emma stepped forward.
“That's impossible.”
“No.”
Beatriz shook her head.
“Isabella was designed to recognize implanted memories.”
Emma stared at Isabella.
“She can tell what's real.”
I looked at my daughter.
“Is that why she knew Lucas was lying?”
Beatriz nodded.
“She doesn't know how she knows.”
“But she feels it.”
I remembered all the times Isabella had said something was wrong.
The photograph.
The cellar.
The memory of her mother.
She had been right every time.
Emma suddenly looked frightened.
“You've activated her.”
Beatriz nodded.
“Yes.”
Emma stepped backward.
“No.”
I moved closer.
“What happens when she's fully activated?”
Beatriz looked at me.
“She can separate your real memories from the implanted ones.”
“And then?”
“You'll remember everything.”
Emma whispered:
“And if he remembers everything…”
She looked at me.
“He'll remember how to destroy me.”
I stared.
“You're afraid of me.”
Emma didn't answer.
Then a loud alarm sounded.
The tunnel lights turned red.
A voice echoed from the speakers.
WARNING. EXTERNAL ACCESS DETECTED.
Lucas raised his weapon.
“They found us.”
Emma looked toward the entrance.
“No.”
“What?”
She shook her head.
“They didn't find us.”
She looked at me.
“They followed you.”
I froze.
“Who?”
Emma whispered:
“Your father.”
The tunnel door exploded.
Smoke filled the room.
Men rushed inside.
But they weren't carrying guns.
They were carrying machines.
One of them shouted:
“Subject 001 located!”
Another:
“Subject 032 located!”
Emma grabbed Isabella.
I immediately lunged forward.
“LET HER GO!”
Emma shoved Isabella behind her.
“I'm saving her!”
“You're kidnapping her!”
“Ask her!”
I looked at Isabella.
She was staring at Emma.
Then my daughter said something that made everyone freeze.
“She's telling the truth.”
I stared.
“Isabella?”
She nodded.
“Emma isn't the enemy.”
Emma looked stunned.
“Then who is?”
Isabella slowly turned.
She pointed toward me.
Everyone went silent.
I felt my blood turn cold.
“What?”
Isabella's eyes filled with tears.
“Dad…”
She whispered:
“There's someone inside you.”
I couldn't move.
She continued:
“Someone who isn't you.”
Emma immediately backed away.
Lucas raised his gun.
Elena began crying.
And the soldiers stopped moving.
Then a voice came from my own mouth.
But it wasn't mine.
It was my father's.
“Hello, everyone.”
I staggered backward.
My body moved without my permission.
My hand slowly reached toward Isabella.
She screamed.
“DAD!”
I fought against myself.
“RUN!”
But my mouth spoke again.
“Don't run, Isabella.”
I felt something take control of my arm.
My fingers closed around a weapon.
I couldn't stop them.
Then the voice inside me whispered:
“It's time to come home.”
And I realized the terrifying truth.
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My father hadn't been chasing us.
He had been inside me the entire time.
