Chapter 8 - The Woman Beneath the NameAdrian reached the hospital to find half the building without electricity.
Security rushed him inside.
The emergency wing was in chaos.
Nurses were shouting.
Generators were starting.
Patients were being moved.
And Owen was gone.
Adrian pushed through the doors.
“WHERE IS MY SON?”
A nurse pointed toward pediatrics.
“They took him.”
“Who?”
“We don't know.”
Adrian's hand shook.
“Show me the cameras.”
A technician led him to security.
Footage flickered.
At 11:42 p.m., a woman entered the pediatric wing.
At 11:43, the lights went out.
At 11:44, the woman left carrying a baby.
Her face was hidden.
Adrian watched again.
Then noticed something.
She walked with a slight limp.
He knew that walk.
His mother.
But his mother had allegedly died six years ago.
Daniel stared at the screen.
“There's another camera.”
He pulled footage from a hallway across the street.
A vehicle waited outside.
A black SUV.
Different one.
The woman entered.
Someone opened the rear door.
Adrian zoomed.
The driver turned.
His heart stopped.
Ethan.
His missing brother.
Alive.
Adrian couldn't breathe.
“He's alive.”
Daniel nodded slowly.
“He never died.”
Adrian watched Ethan drive away.
“Where is he going?”
Daniel checked the plate.
Then his face changed.
“What?”
Daniel whispered:
“To the Vale estate.”
Adrian's phone rang.
His mother's voice.
“You saw him.”
“Yes.”
“Then you know.”
“I know nothing.”
“You were never supposed to know.”
“Where are you?”
“I am where I have always been.”
Adrian felt a chill.
“Where?”
“Below the house.”
The hidden room.
He turned.
Daniel stared at him.
“Your father built the estate around it.”
Adrian rushed home.
When he arrived, the house was empty.
Not empty of people.
Empty of staff.
The security guards were gone.
Every door stood open.
The lights flickered.
Adrian walked through the silent mansion.
On the dining table was a single envelope.
Inside:
COME ALONE.
He followed the note to the basement.
The hidden room had changed.
The old files were gone.
A door at the far end stood open.
Behind it was a much larger chamber.
His mother sat in a chair.
Weak.
Pale.
Alive.
Adrian stared at her.
“Mom.”
She looked at him.
“My son.”
He stepped forward.
“Where is Owen?”
She began crying.
“Safe.”
“Where?”
“With Ethan.”
“Why?”
“Because your father is coming.”
Adrian shook his head.
“My father is already here.”
“No.”
She looked behind him.
Adrian turned.
Nothing.
Then the door locked.
A voice came over a speaker.
His father's voice.
“You've finally come home.”
Adrian looked up.
“Where are you?”
“In the walls.”
His mother covered her ears.
“Don't listen.”
The speaker continued.
“You want to know why your son was replaced.”
Adrian stared at the ceiling.
“Yes.”
“Because he wasn't the first.”
A screen lit up.
A photograph appeared.
A woman in a hospital bed.
Pregnant.
Adrian recognized her.
Natalie's mother.
Under the photograph were two names.
CHILD A: OWEN.
CHILD B: UNKNOWN.
Adrian's heart pounded.
“Twins?”
His father's voice answered.
“Yes.”
His mother whispered:
“There were two babies.”
Adrian stared.
“One of them disappeared.”
The lights went out.
A baby's cry echoed through the chamber.
May you like
Then the speaker whispered:
“And the missing twin is already inside the mansion.”
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