Chapter 14 - The VaultMy Father Was the Monster and the Savior
The recording ended.
Nobody spoke.
My mother stared at the floor.
Thomas closed his eyes.
Mara whispered:
“What did your father do?”
I looked at my mother.
“Tell me.”
She took a long breath.
“Your father created Halcyon after your older sister died.”
I frowned.
“Older sister?”
Thomas looked at me.
“You don't remember her.”
My stomach turned.
“How many siblings did we have?”
“One.”
I stared at him.
“Then who was she?”
“A girl named Elise.”
The room seemed to tilt.
Memory flashed.
A red bicycle.
A bedroom.
A little girl's laugh.
Then pain.
A hospital corridor.
A door closing.
My hand shaking.
I stumbled backward.
“I remember.”
My mother caught me.
“Easy.”
I pushed her away.
“She died.”
“Yes.”
“And that's why you created Halcyon.”
“Yes.”
“To erase grief?”
“To reverse death.”
Mara looked stunned.
My father had never wanted to erase memories.
He wanted to reconstruct them.
Bring people back through memory.
Halcyon had started as medicine.
Then obsession took over.
The program became experiments.
Children.
Patients.
Families.
My father turned grief into a business.
And Richard turned that business into power.
My mother had tried to stop him.
Thomas had tried to expose it.
And I had been the final subject.
The vault was beneath the original family house.
We returned before dawn.
The black key opened a steel chamber.
Inside were boxes.
Recordings.
Medical files.
Bank accounts.
Photographs.
Names.
Everything.
The truth of Hollow Pine.
Mara opened one file.
“Daniel.”
His complete report.
Signed by Richard.
A death order.
Thomas found another.
Nora.
Another.
My father.
Another.
Elise.
I stopped.
My sister's file had only one page.
CAUSE OF DEATH: NEUROLOGICAL FAILURE
Then beneath it:
HALCYON SUCCESS RATE: 94%
I looked at my mother.
“You lied.”
She shook her head.
“No.”
“Then tell me.”
She sat.
“Your sister was the first successful memory transplant.”
I stared.
“What?”
“We copied fragments of her brain activity.”
“For what?”
“To preserve her.”
“She's dead.”
“Yes.”
“Then what survived?”
My mother looked at me.
“Her memories.”
I didn't understand.
Then she pointed toward the final chamber.
The walls were covered with old monitors.
One screen displayed a girl's face.
A girl I had forgotten.
Elise.
My sister.
Her eyes opened.
I stepped closer.
The recording activated.
A child's voice spoke.
“Hi, Huy.”
My heart broke.
“It isn't really me,” the recording said.
“But if you're watching this, Dad hasn't stopped.”
I looked at my mother.
She was crying.
Elise continued.
“Please don't let him bring me back.”
The screen changed.
A video appeared.
My father.
Young.
Holding a syringe.
He turned toward the camera.
Then someone else entered.
Richard.
And behind him stood a man I recognized from recent photographs.
Vince.
My security chief.
I turned slowly.
Vince stood behind me.
He lowered his weapon.
“I knew you'd find it.”
Mara stepped in front of me.
“You worked for Richard.”
Vince shook his head.
“No.”
“Then why are you here?”
He looked at me.
“Because Thomas asked me to protect you.”
I stared.
“From Richard?”
Vince swallowed.
“No.”
The vault door slammed shut.
May you like
He pointed his weapon at my mother.
“From her.”
