CHAPTER 12 The Man Behind the Name
Three quick knocks.
Two slow.
Three quick again.
The sound traveled through Elena's apartment like a warning.
Not loud.
Not aggressive.
Almost polite.
That made it worse.
Because whoever stood outside wasn't afraid of being heard.
They wanted Laura to know they were there.
Elena slowly reached for the kitchen knife beside the counter.
Laura stared at her.
"That won't help."
Elena didn't look away from the door.
"It makes me feel better."
A strange moment of normality.
Two women standing in a dark apartment, holding whatever they could find, waiting for a person who knew their deepest secrets.
Then the knocking came again.
Three.
Two.
Three.
Laura's blood ran cold.
"Don't open it."
Elena nodded.
"I wasn't planning to."
The apartment stayed silent.
Then a piece of paper slid underneath the door.
Both women froze.
The person outside didn't force entry.
Didn't threaten them.
Just left something.
Laura approached slowly.
"Wait."
Elena grabbed her arm.
"Laura."
"I need to know."
She picked up the paper.
Only one sentence was written.
YOU HAVE BEEN LOOKING FOR THE WRONG MONSTER.
No signature.
No explanation.
But beneath the sentence was a symbol.
A small circle with three lines through it.
Laura stared.
Her hand began shaking.
Because she recognized it.
Not from Eduardo.
Not from the hospital.
From her own memories.
A memory she didn't know she had.
A white laboratory.
A younger version of herself.
Standing in front of a glass wall.
On the glass was the same symbol.
A man behind her said:
"Everything we built depends on you."
She turned.
"Why me?"
The man smiled.
"Because you are the only one who can finish it."
The memory vanished.
Laura gasped.
Elena caught her.
"What happened?"
"I've seen that symbol before."
"Where?"
Laura looked at the paper.
"I don't know."
But she did.
Somewhere inside her mind...
A locked door had started opening.
The next morning, Elena took Laura to an old research facility outside Cuernavaca.
"Why are we here?"
"Because of the symbol."
The building looked abandoned.
Broken windows.
Rusting gates.
A place forgotten by everyone.
But Elena had found records showing it had once belonged to a private genetics company.
A company that disappeared seven years ago.
The same year Elena Vargas died.
The same year Daniel was born.
Laura stepped inside.
Dust covered the floor.
Old computers sat untouched.
Like everyone had left suddenly.
Elena opened a folder she had brought.
"The company was called Nova Genesis."
Laura stopped walking.
The name triggered something.
Nova Genesis.
A phrase.
A memory.
A voice.
"Nova Genesis will change humanity."
She pressed her hand against her head.
"Laura?"
"I'm okay."
But she wasn't.
She was remembering.
They reached the main laboratory.
Inside, everything had been abandoned.
Except one thing.
A computer.
Still running.
Elena stared.
"Impossible."
The screen displayed a password prompt.
One word.
IDENTITY
Laura stepped closer.
She didn't know why.
But her fingers moved.
She typed.
ELENAVARGAS
Wrong.
She tried again.
LAURAMENDOZA
Wrong.
She closed her eyes.
The memory returned.
The laboratory.
The man.
The voice.
The only one who can finish it.
Her fingers moved.
She typed a third word.
DANIEL
The screen unlocked.
Elena looked shocked.
"How did you know?"
Laura stared at the files appearing.
"I didn't."
Hundreds of documents appeared.
Research reports.
Medical records.
Videos.
Then one file appeared at the top.
PROJECT DANIEL
Laura clicked.
A video started playing.
A young woman appeared.
Laura.
Not Laura Mendoza.
Elena Vargas.
Seven years younger.
She looked exhausted.
Terrified.
She looked directly into the camera.
"If you're watching this..."
Her younger self swallowed.
"...then they succeeded."
Laura covered her mouth.
Elena beside her whispered:
"That's you."
The video continued.
"I don't have much time."
"I discovered what Nova Genesis was really creating."
"The project was never about medicine."
A pause.
"It was about control."
The screen showed files of wealthy clients.
Their DNA.
Their medical histories.
Their private information.
Laura watched in horror.
"They weren't searching for cures."
"They were searching for people they could own."
The video continued.
"And Daniel..."
Young Elena looked away.
Tears filled her eyes.
"Daniel was the only child born from the program who showed unexpected results."
Laura leaned closer.
Unexpected results.
"What does that mean?"
The video answered.
"Daniel developed natural resistance to the treatments."
"His DNA changed."
"He wasn't their creation."
"He was their failure."
Elena looked at Laura.
"What?"
The video continued.
"And that's why they wanted him."
Laura felt sick.
"Not because he's valuable."
Young Elena shook her head.
"Because he's proof."
"Proof that everything they did was wrong."
The door behind them suddenly closed.
Both women turned.
A man stood there.
Older.
Gray hair.
Calm expression.
Laura recognized him immediately.
The stranger from the office.
But this time...
He wasn't hiding.
He walked slowly into the laboratory.
"You finally found it."
Elena stepped forward.
"Marcos Valdés."
The man smiled.
"So you remember."
Laura froze.
"Marcos?"
Elena whispered:
"He's Gabriel Valdés' brother."
The man nodded.
"And the person who kept this project alive."
Laura stared at him.
"You're the one behind everything."
He smiled.
"No."
He looked at the screen.
"Your father was."
Laura felt the air leave her lungs.
Again.
Her father.
The dead man who wasn't dead.
The man she had no memory of.
"Where is he?"
Marcos looked at her.
"Very close."
"Where?"
He stepped closer.
"Closer than Eduardo ever was."
Laura's heart pounded.
"What does that mean?"
Marcos smiled.
"Ask yourself one question."
"What?"
"Why do you think Eduardo married you?"
Laura didn't answer.
Because she knew.
She had asked herself that question every day.
Marcos leaned forward.
"Because he was assigned to you."
The words hit like a punch.
"No."
"Yes."
"Eduardo wasn't your husband."
"He was your handler."
The room went silent.
Laura felt dizzy.
Everything she believed was collapsing.
Her marriage.
Her memories.
Her identity.
Then Marcos pulled out a photograph.
He placed it on the table.
A young Eduardo.
Standing beside a younger Laura.
But the date on the photograph was impossible.
Two years before they married.
On the back was a handwritten note.
Subject acquired. Handler assigned.
Laura stared.
Then noticed something else.
In the background...
A little boy.
Only a few months old.
Daniel.
Her hands started trembling.
"That picture..."
Marcos nodded.
"Was taken before you lost your memory."
Laura looked up.
"What happened to me?"
Marcos smiled faintly.
"You don't want that answer."
"Why?"
"Because when you remember..."
He walked toward the exit.
"...you'll understand why Eduardo spent fourteen years lying to you."
The lights suddenly flickered.
Before leaving, Marcos stopped.
One final sentence.
"The worst thing Eduardo ever did..."
He looked back.
"...wasn't betraying you."
A pause.
"It was saving you."
The door closed.
Laura stood motionless.
Then the computer screen changed.
A new file appeared.
Automatically opened.
A video.
No password.
No warning.
Only a title:
THE NIGHT LAURA REMEMBERED EVERYTHING
The recording began.
And the first image on the screen...
was Laura herself.
Holding a gun.
May you like
Standing over Dr. Gabriel Valdés.
End of Chapter 12
