CHAPTER 11: SIX YEARS UNDER THE HOUSE
My mother's last words turned the blood in my veins to ice.
She's been there for six years.
I stared at her.
“Who?”
My mother didn't answer.
“Mom.”
Her lips trembled.
“Your wife.”
The room seemed to tilt.
Sarah grabbed the edge of the table.
“No.”
My mother looked at her.
“I didn't know she was still alive.”
Sarah's face collapsed.
“You knew she was taken.”
“I thought she was dead.”
“You let me believe she was dead.”
“I was protecting my son.”
Sarah laughed bitterly.
“From what?”
My mother looked at me.
“From the truth.”
I stepped toward her.
“What truth?”
She lowered her head.
“Your wife was taken beneath the house the night she disappeared.”
I couldn't breathe.
“By Victor?”
She shook her head.
“By your father.”
Silence.
My father's name seemed to turn the entire room colder.
“You said Victor killed him.”
“He did.”
“Then why would my father take my wife?”
“Because your father discovered what she had found.”
“What?”
My mother looked at Emily.
“The truth about Subject 17.”
Emily stood silently beside me.
I knelt beside her.
“Sweetheart, stay close.”
She nodded.
I stood again.
“Tell me everything.”
My mother wiped her tears.
“Six years ago, your wife discovered the archive.”
“The one under our childhood house?”
“Yes.”
“She found Daniel's records.”
“Yes.”
“She found Emily's records.”
“Yes.”
“What else?”
My mother swallowed.
“She found her own.”
I froze.
“What was in her file?”
“That she was never supposed to become your wife.”
I stared.
“What does that mean?”
“She was placed near you.”
My chest tightened.
“By whom?”
“Your father.”
The words barely registered.
My wife had met me through my father's company.
I had always thought it was coincidence.
She had worked in accounting.
We met at a company dinner.
We fell in love.
We married.
Then Emily was born.
My mother continued:
“Your father wanted to monitor your genetic condition.”
I felt sick.
“So my wife was spying on me?”
“Not at first.”
“What changed?”
“She fell in love with you.”
I looked at Sarah.
She was crying.
“She chose you,” my mother whispered.
“And then?”
“Then she discovered the truth.”
“What truth?”
My mother looked at Emily.
“She discovered that Emily was not just a patient.”
I waited.
“She was the first child born naturally after the treatment.”
My mind struggled to understand.
“Meaning?”
“Daniel's treatment was used to create a genetic protocol.”
“Okay.”
“Emily inherited the protocol.”
“And?”
My mother looked terrified.
“Your wife discovered that the protocol was designed to be passed from one generation to another.”
I stared.
“So Emily wasn't the end.”
“No.”
“She was the beginning.”
My stomach dropped.
“Beginning of what?”
My mother whispered:
“A new bloodline.”
The lights flickered.
Sarah suddenly grabbed my arm.
“We have to go.”
“Why?”
“Because if Victor knows your mother is here…”
A gunshot exploded somewhere in the building.
Everyone froze.
Another shot.
Closer.
Daniel moved toward the door.
“Someone's coming.”
I grabbed Emily.
“Where do we go?”
Daniel pointed down the corridor.
“Service tunnel.”
My mother shook her head.
“No.”
“What?”
“The tunnel leads directly to the archive.”
“Good.”
“No.”
She looked at me.
“That's exactly where Victor wants you.”
I didn't care.
“My wife is there.”
Sarah stepped forward.
“I'll come with you.”
My mother grabbed her.
“No.”
Sarah pulled away.
“You've lied enough.”
My mother looked at her.
“You don't understand what you'll find.”
“I've already lost six years.”
Sarah's voice broke.
“I'll find out myself.”
We ran.
The service tunnel was narrow.
Water ran along the floor.
Old cables hung from the ceiling.
Daniel moved quickly.
He knew every turn.
I followed with Emily.
Sarah stayed behind us.
My mother came last.
After several minutes, Daniel stopped.
“What?”
He pointed ahead.
A steel door.
There was no handle.
Only a scanner.
Daniel looked at me.
“Your blood.”
I hesitated.
Then pressed my palm against it.
The scanner flashed.
IDENTITY CONFIRMED.
The door opened.
Beyond it was a massive underground chamber.
The archive.
Rows of steel cabinets stretched into darkness.
Computers.
Medical equipment.
Hundreds of locked files.
And at the center stood Victor.
He was holding Lily.
She wasn't crying.
She looked directly at me.
“Daddy.”
I stepped forward.
“Let her go.”
Victor smiled.
“First, you need to see something.”
He pointed behind him.
A large glass chamber.
Inside was a woman.
Connected to tubes.
Machines surrounded her.
Long hair.
Pale face.
Eyes closed.
I stopped breathing.
Sarah whispered:
“No…”
Victor looked at me.
“Six years.”
I stared through the glass.
“Sarah?”
Victor shook his head.
“No.”
He looked at me.
“Look closer.”
I stepped forward.
My knees nearly collapsed.
The woman opened her eyes.
She looked directly at me.
I knew her.
Every scar.
Every line.
Every feature.
My wife.
Alive.
I touched the glass.
“Emma…”
Her eyes filled with tears.
She lifted one trembling hand.
I pressed mine against the glass.
She mouthed something.
I couldn't hear.
Victor turned on the intercom.
Her voice came through.
“Run.”
I froze.
“What?”
“Run.”
Her voice was weak.
“Take Emily and run.”
I shook my head.
“No.”
She looked at Sarah.
Then at Daniel.
Then at my mother.
“You don't know what they did.”
I shouted:
“I'm getting you out.”
She shook her head.
“It's too late.”
Victor smiled.
“She's right.”
I turned.
“What did you do?”
“Nothing she wasn't already prepared for.”
My wife suddenly screamed.
The machines beside her began flashing.
Her body convulsed.
“Stop!”
I slammed my fist against the glass.
Victor pressed a button.
The machine stopped.
My wife collapsed.
I turned toward him.
“Touch her again and I'll kill you.”
Victor smiled.
“You still don't understand.”
He pointed toward Emily.
“She is the cure.”
I looked at my daughter.
“No.”
“She can save your wife.”
My heart stopped.
“What?”
Victor walked toward the glass.
“Your wife has been kept alive for six years because her condition is deteriorating.”
I looked at Emma.
She was barely conscious.
“Why?”
“Because she carries the original genetic marker.”
“What does Emily have?”
“The corrected version.”
I understood.
“They need Emily's blood.”
“Yes.”
“And mine.”
“Yes.”
“And Daniel's.”
“Yes.”
Victor smiled.
“Three generations.”
Daniel stepped forward.
“And what happens after you take it?”
Victor looked at him.
“We complete the treatment.”
“For who?”
Victor's expression changed.
“For everyone.”
Daniel laughed.
“You still believe that lie?”
Victor's eyes hardened.
“You have no idea what the world will pay for a cure.”
I looked at my wife.
“Why didn't you kill her?”
Victor smiled.
“Because she knew where the final sample was.”
“Where?”
He pointed at my mother.
She froze.
“Ask her.”
I turned.
“Mom?”
My mother began crying.
“I didn't know.”
“You knew everything.”
“No.”
“What final sample?”
She shook her head.
“I don't have it.”
Victor laughed.
“You've had it for twenty-seven years.”
I stared.
“What?”
Victor pointed toward me.
My mother whispered:
“No.”
Victor smiled.
“Your father didn't hide the final sample in a laboratory.”
He looked at me.
“He hid it inside his son.”
My body went numb.
“Me?”
Victor nodded.
“You were born with it.”
Daniel stepped forward.
“No.”
Victor looked at him.
“Yes.”
He turned toward me.
“Your entire life was part of the experiment.”
I felt the room spin.
My childhood.
My father's lies.
My mother's silence.
My brother.
My wife.
Emily.
Everything.
Victor continued:
“Your father didn't protect you.”
He smiled.
“He raised you so the experiment could continue.”
My mother collapsed to her knees.
“I’m sorry.”
I stared at her.
Then at my wife.
Then at Emily.
My daughter was crying.
“Daddy, I don't want them to hurt Mommy.”
I knelt beside her.
“They won't.”
Victor pressed a button.
The doors behind us locked.
Red lights appeared.
A countdown started on the wall.
10:00
Nine minutes.
Victor smiled.
“Give me the locket.”
I held it tightly.
“No.”
“Then your wife dies.”
The machines beside her began filling with red liquid.
Her heartbeat accelerated.
“Daddy…”
Emily's voice trembled.
I looked at the countdown.
09:31
I looked at Daniel.
He was staring at the machines.
Then he whispered:
“There is another way.”
“What?”
He pointed toward the archive.
“Your wife's file.”
“What about it?”
“It contains the shutdown code.”
I looked at the rows of files.
“How do we find it?”
Daniel pointed toward the oldest cabinet.
“Because your wife knew this day would come.”
I ran.
The countdown continued.
08:54
I opened the cabinet.
Thousands of files.
Then I saw one envelope.
My name.
I pulled it out.
Inside was a handwritten note.
My wife's handwriting.
I unfolded it.
Only one sentence:
If they ever force you to choose between saving me and saving Emily, save Emily.
I stared at the words.
Then something else fell from the envelope.
A small photograph.
My wife.
Holding a newborn baby.
But the baby wasn't Emily.
On the back was a name.
LILY.
My heart stopped.
I looked toward the glass chamber.
Then at the little girl Victor was holding.
And suddenly I understood.
Lily wasn't Subject 18.
She wasn't my second daughter.
She was my wife's first child.
And my wife had been hiding one final truth from me.
Victor looked at me.
“You finally understand.”
I raised the photograph.
“Who is Lily's father?”
My wife looked through the glass.
Her lips moved.
The intercom crackled.
She whispered:
“Your brother.”
I turned toward Daniel.
He went completely still.
Victor smiled.
May you like
And the countdown reached:
07:00.
