Chapter 12 - The Real Reason Vanessa CameThe little girl was not Emma.
She was older by only minutes.
A twin.
Emma had a sister.
Claire was behind another glass wall.
Alive.
Thin.
Exhausted.
I smashed the lock.
Claire fell into my arms.
For several seconds, neither of us spoke.
I couldn't stop touching her face.
“You're real.”
She cried.
“I tried to come home.”
“Why didn't you?”
“They told me you'd die.”
“Who?”
“Michael.”
I looked toward the little girl.
“Our daughter?”
Claire nodded.
“Her name is Lily.”
My heart broke.
“Why did they call her Lily?”
“Because the original Lily Harris died here.”
“What?”
Claire explained.
Lily Harris had witnessed the first experiment.
She had seen adults assaulting another child.
She became the first witness they studied.
After she died, they reused her name in their files.
The little girl in the room was actually Emma's twin.
But why had the baby been transferred?
Because someone believed one child would become easier to control if separated from the other.
Claire had fought them.
Vanessa had also fought them.
But Vanessa had been forced into the surveillance operation after Noah was taken.
“Noah was never her biological son,” Claire said.
“What?”
“He was another child she protected.”
“Where is he?”
“Alive.”
“Where?”
Claire looked terrified.
“Michael knows.”
The little girl tapped the glass.
Emma ran toward her.
The girls pressed their palms together through the barrier.
“My sister,” Emma whispered.
Lily smiled.
“Yes.”
We opened the door.
The girls hugged.
I broke down.
All the anger.
All the fear.
Everything came out at once.
Claire held me.
“I knew they'd eventually use Emma to find the notebook.”
“You knew she was being watched?”
“I tried to warn you.”
“You let Vanessa into our house.”
“I had no choice.”
“What happened in the laundry room?”
Claire closed her eyes.
“She was trying to scare Emma into hiding.”
“That's not an excuse.”
“No.”
Claire nodded.
“It isn't.”
I looked at the glass rooms.
“How do we get them out?”
A voice answered from behind us.
“You don't.”
Michael.
He stood at the far end of the corridor.
Adrian beside him.
Vanessa appeared behind them.
Her face was bruised.
She held her hands up.
“I didn't betray you.”
Michael smiled.
“Of course she did.”
Vanessa shook her head.
“He made me.”
Michael looked at her.
“You always blame someone else.”
He pressed a button.
The corridor doors locked.
Water began rushing through the lower passage.
Cole drew his weapon.
Michael turned.
“You have five minutes.”
“Why?”
“To choose which child leaves.”
The floodwater rose.
Emma clung to me.
Lily cried.
Claire stared at Michael.
“You promised.”
Michael smiled.
“I lied.”
Then he walked away.
The lights shut off.
And in the darkness, Vanessa whispered:
“Daniel, there is a second exit.”
May you like
“Where?”
“Under the floor.”
