Chapter 10 - We found the hidden room beneath the old nursery.
Two locks.
Two silver keyholes.
One for me.
One for Ella.
Together, the keys opened a massive steel door.
Inside was an archive.
Boxes.
Hard drives.
Photographs.
Medical files.
Bank accounts.
Video tapes.
Names.
Thomas had documented everything.
I found my birth records.
Then Ella's.
Then our biological father's name.
Adrian Vale.
But the final page contained something else.
A handwritten note:
DANIEL IS NOT THE FINAL SUBJECT.
I looked at my mother.
She turned pale.
“What's that?”
“Thomas's handwriting?”
“Yes.”
“What does it mean?”
“I don't know.”
Ella pointed toward a video recorder.
“Play that.”
I inserted a tape.
The screen flickered.
Thomas appeared.
He looked younger.
Beside him stood Adrian.
My biological father.
And Margaret's sister.
My aunt.
Thomas said:
“The sequence has been successfully isolated.”
Adrian replied:
“You promised this would be used to save lives.”
Thomas smiled.
“I never promised that.”
Margaret's sister stepped forward.
“Thomas, this isn't what we agreed.”
Thomas ignored her.
He looked into the camera.
“Subject D-17 will be the first viable carrier.”
The screen changed.
A baby.
Me.
Thomas continued.
“Subject D-18 failed.”
Ella covered her mouth.
My mother started crying.
Then the video showed a second newborn.
Ella.
Thomas said:
“D-18 must be eliminated.”
I stared at the screen.
“No.”
Ella went silent.
The video continued.
Adrian tried to stop him.
Thomas grabbed a gun.
The recording ended.
The archive became silent.
Ella whispered:
“Our mother saved me.”
My mother nodded.
“She switched you.”
“Then who was the baby that died?”
Nobody answered.
I looked through another file.
The death certificate belonged to a different child.
A child with no name.
My mother's sister had created a false burial to protect Ella.
Thomas believed she was dead.
That was why Ella survived.
Until now.
Then Marcus found a sealed envelope.
He opened it.
Inside was a recent photograph.
My daughter Emma.
Taken three days earlier.
On the back:
SUBJECT D-19.
My stomach dropped.
“No.”
Marcus grabbed another file.
Inside were Emma's medical records.
Blood work.
Genetic sequencing.
Hospital visits.
Someone had been testing her.
Without my knowledge.
My mother looked devastated.
“Thomas got to her.”
“When?”
She shook her head.
“Maybe before she was born.”
I turned toward Emma.
She was holding her arms tightly.
“Dad…”
I knelt.
“Are you okay?”
She nodded.
“Grandma said I had something special.”
My voice broke.
“You have me.”
She smiled faintly.
Then Marcus shouted.
“Daniel!”
He was looking at the security monitor.
Someone was standing outside the house.
A woman.
Gray coat.
My mother's face.
Again.
But this time the woman stepped closer to the camera.
She looked directly into it.
Then lifted a photograph.
It showed my father.
Thomas.
And someone beside him.
A man who looked exactly like me.
Older.
Same eyes.
Same scar.
Same face.
The caption beneath the image read:
ADRIAN VALE, ALIVE.
My biological father.
I stared.
Then the camera feed changed.
A message appeared.
COME ALONE, DANIEL.
I looked at the bottom.
BRING THE KEY.
May you like
Then another line appeared.
OR EMMA DIES TONIGHT.
