Chapter 6 - David couldn't move.The woman in the attic looked almost exactly like Sarah.
Same eyes.
Same mouth.
Same scar beneath the chin.
Only older.
Much older.
Sarah appeared behind David.
The woman smiled.
“Hello, Sarah.”
Sarah's knees nearly buckled.
“No.”
“It's been a long time.”
David stepped in front of his wife.
“Who are you?”
The woman ignored him.
She looked at Leo.
“Come here, little one.”
Leo reached toward her.
“Mommy.”
Sarah grabbed him.
The woman laughed softly.
“He still remembers.”
David looked at Sarah.
“What does she mean?”
Sarah shook her head.
The woman stood.
“My name is Emma.”
David stared.
The detective behind him whispered:
“That's impossible.”
Emma smiled.
“You're finally starting to understand.”
She walked toward an old television.
The screen flickered on.
A recording appeared.
A young Sarah sat in a white room.
She was holding a newborn.
Emma's voice came from the recording.
“Your daughter is healthy.”
Young Sarah looked terrified.
“Can I take her home?”
A man off-screen answered:
“Not yet.”
The recording ended.
David looked at Sarah.
“You were here.”
Sarah began crying.
“I don't remember.”
Emma turned.
“They erased it.”
“Who?”
“The people who built this house.”
David looked around.
“Why?”
Emma's eyes hardened.
“Because your family wasn't chosen to raise Leo.”
She pointed toward the television.
“They were chosen to study him.”
David felt sick.
“Study him for what?”
Emma whispered:
“Memory.”
Silence.
“The children were born with a strange neurological condition. They remembered things they shouldn't.”
David looked at Leo.
“That's impossible.”
Emma shook her head.
“Watch.”
The television changed.
Leo was shown at eighteen months.
He was standing beside the crib.
Someone off-camera asked:
“Where did you see him?”
Leo pointed beneath the crib.
The recording showed a shadow.
A man hiding there.
David's heart exploded.
“That was real?”
Emma nodded.
“Someone entered your nursery every night.”
Sarah covered her mouth.
“Why didn't the alarm…”
“Because he had a key.”
David turned toward the detective.
“Who?”
The detective didn't answer.
Emma looked at him.
“You know.”
The detective lowered his eyes.
David noticed his hand.
There was a ring.
Black metal.
Engraved with a symbol.
David had seen the same symbol in the hidden room.
“Who are you?”
The detective removed his badge.
Underneath it was another card.
PRIVATE SECURITY DIVISION.
David stepped backward.
“You're not a detective.”
“No.”
Emma laughed.
“He was one of them.”
David grabbed a fireplace poker.
The detective raised his hands.
“I came to help.”
Emma shook her head.
“You came because he escaped.”
The detective looked at her.
“Where is he?”
Emma smiled.
“You already know.”
David looked between them.
“Who?”
The lights came back on.
Sarah suddenly screamed.
Leo was gone.
David spun around.
The room was empty.
Tank stood beside the staircase.
His head was lowered.
A tiny piece of Leo's pajamas hung from his mouth.
David ran downstairs.
“LEO!”
No answer.
Sarah collapsed to her knees.
Then the television upstairs turned on.
A video played.
Leo was sitting inside the crib.
Alone.
The camera angle was from above.
Behind him stood a woman.
Sarah.
But the woman in the video was smiling.
The real Sarah stood beside David.
Frozen.
The video woman leaned toward Leo.
And whispered:
“It's time to bring him home.”
The screen went black.
Then came a sound from the nursery.
Leo crying.
David and Sarah ran.
Tank was already ahead.
He reached the nursery first.
Then stopped.
Because inside the crib was Leo.
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And beside him stood Sarah.
Two Sarahs.
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