Chapter 9 - We returned to the old family home before dawn.
The house looked exactly as I remembered.
Dark windows.
Broken shutters.
Overgrown garden.
Yet something about it felt wrong.
My childhood memories had always been warm.
Now every corner looked like a crime scene.
Thomas had disappeared.
Evelyn vanished into the trees.
Marcus stayed with us.
My mother led the way.
We entered through the side door.
She stopped in the hallway.
“Your father's study.”
I followed.
Behind a bookshelf was another hidden passage.
We entered.
The corridor descended underground.
At the end was a steel door.
My mother touched it.
“This is where Thomas kept the children.”
I stared.
“The children?”
She nodded.
“Other subjects.”
I felt sick.
We opened the door.
Empty rooms.
Rusty medical equipment.
Old beds.
A child's drawing on the wall.
A little house.
Five people standing outside.
Beneath it, someone had written:
I WANT MY FAMILY BACK.
Emma stopped.
“Dad.”
She pointed at another wall.
Photographs.
Children.
Dozens.
I recognized some.
My father.
My mother.
Marcus.
And me.
Then another photograph caught my eye.
A little girl.
Same dark eyes as mine.
Same birthmark on the left shoulder.
My twin.
Under the photograph was a name.
ELLA REED.
Emma stepped forward.
“Is that your sister?”
I looked at my mother.
She nodded.
“Ella.”
My hands shook.
“Where is she?”
A speaker crackled overhead.
Then a girl's voice.
“Right here.”
We froze.
The lights came on.
A glass room appeared behind the wall.
Inside stood a young woman.
Maybe twenty-four.
Dark hair.
Gray eyes.
My face.
She looked at me.
I couldn't breathe.
“Ella?”
She smiled.
“Hello, brother.”
My mother broke down crying.
Ella touched the glass.
“I'm sorry.”
I walked closer.
“You're alive.”
“Yes.”
“Why did Mom say you died?”
“Because she believed it.”
“Who told her?”
“Thomas.”
The glass door opened.
Ella stepped out.
Emma stared at her.
Ella smiled.
“You're Emmy.”
Emma nodded.
“You look like Dad.”
Ella crouched.
“So do you.”
I stared at my sister.
“Why didn't you come find me?”
“I tried.”
“When?”
“Many times.”
“How?”
Ella looked at Marcus.
“He stopped me.”
I turned.
Marcus looked devastated.
“I had no choice.”
“You always say that.”
Ella's eyes filled with tears.
“He worked for Thomas.”
“Why?”
“To keep me alive.”
Marcus nodded.
“Thomas was going to kill her.”
Ella whispered:
“He killed our father.”
I froze.
“My biological father.”
She nodded.
“He discovered what Thomas had done.”
“And?”
“He confronted him.”
“What happened?”
“He disappeared.”
My mother stepped forward.
“I found his body.”
Ella looked at her.
“No.”
Silence.
“He wasn't dead.”
“What?”
“He escaped.”
I stared.
“Where is he?”
Ella's expression changed.
“He's the one who has been sending Thomas's messages.”
My blood ran cold.
“You mean my biological father is alive?”
“Yes.”
“Then who was buried in his grave?”
Ella looked at me.
“No one.”
Suddenly a gunshot came from upstairs.
We all turned.
Another shot.
Then another.
Marcus grabbed Emma.
“Down!”
The lights went out.
A voice echoed through the intercom.
Thomas.
“You found her.”
A laugh.
“But you haven't found him.”
The room filled with smoke.
My mother shouted.
“Daniel!”
I searched blindly.
“Emma!”
No answer.
I crawled across the floor.
Then my hand touched something.
A small silver key.
It wasn't mine.
It was identical.
Two keys.
Two siblings.
Behind me, Ella whispered:
“Don't use them separately.”
I turned.
She was holding the second key.
“Together,” she said.
“What do they open?”
May you like
She looked toward the floor.
“The room Thomas never wanted you to find.”
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