Chapter 10 - David shot the lock.Nothing.
“Get back!”
He pulled Sarah and Leo behind him.
The woman didn't move.
She simply held the baby.
“You have always misunderstood the purpose of this project.”
David shouted:
“Open the door!”
“Not until you see.”
The floor beneath them vibrated.
A hidden panel opened.
David saw rows of incubators.
Dozens.
Some empty.
Some occupied.
A white hallway stretched beneath the house.
The Lantern Facility.
Sarah covered her mouth.
“This is under the hospital.”
Her mother nodded.
“Under every hospital.”
David stared at her.
“What?”
“The program moved.”
The detective whispered:
“How many locations?”
“Seven.”
“Why?”
“To hide the failures.”
David looked toward the incubators.
“What happened to the children?”
The woman smiled sadly.
“Some survived.”
“Some?”
“Some became parents.”
David looked at Sarah.
She was trembling.
“Who is this baby?”
Her mother looked down.
“Your grandson.”
David's chest tightened.
“Leo?”
“No.”
She turned the baby around.
A small birthmark appeared behind its ear.
The same mark Leo had.
David suddenly understood.
“There are two.”
The woman smiled.
“Yes.”
The detective's face went pale.
“Twins.”
Sarah whispered:
“I only gave birth to one.”
Her mother nodded.
“That's what we told you.”
David looked at Leo.
The boy stared toward the incubators.
Then he pointed.
“Brother.”
Everyone froze.
Sarah started crying.
“Leo…”
The child pointed again.
“Baby.”
A monitor beeped.
One incubator lit up.
A newborn inside.
The same birthmark.
David whispered:
“Where did he come from?”
Her mother answered:
“He has always been here.”
Sarah shook her head.
“No.”
“You asked me to save him.”
“I would never…”
“You did.”
The woman walked closer.
“You begged me to take one child and raise the other.”
Sarah's face twisted in confusion.
“I don't remember.”
“Of course you don't.”
She looked at David.
“You were supposed to bring them together when the time came.”
David stepped forward.
“You manipulated us.”
“Yes.”
“You used Tank.”
“Yes.”
“You watched Leo.”
“Yes.”
“You nearly killed our son.”
The woman looked genuinely offended.
“Never.”
“Then why was Tank attacked?”
“He wasn't.”
David frowned.
“He was wounded.”
“He was trying to stop the extraction.”
“What extraction?”
The woman's eyes darkened.
“The man who entered your nursery.”
David's heart stopped.
“Who?”
“Your father.”
The detective swore.
David turned.
“Dad is alive?”
Her mother nodded.
“He has been living beneath this house for six years.”
David's face hardened.
“Why didn't you tell me?”
“Because he wanted you to bring Leo home willingly.”
David's blood ran cold.
“What happens now?”
The woman looked at the clock.
“Nine minutes have passed.”
David heard a metallic door open somewhere below.
Footsteps.
Slow.
Heavy.
Approaching.
The detective raised his weapon.
A man's voice echoed through the corridor.
“David.”
His father's voice.
“Bring me my grandson.”
David moved Leo behind him.
Tank, still weak, suddenly lifted his head.
He began growling.
Then the lights went out.
A gunshot exploded in the darkness.
Sarah screamed.
When the lights returned, the woman was gone.
So was the incubator.
So was the baby.
And Leo was standing alone beside the open door.
Holding something in his hand.
A photograph.
David took it.
His blood ran cold.
It showed him.
As a child.
May you like
Standing beside Tank.
Twenty years before Tank was supposed to have been born.
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