CHAPTER 7: THE SECRET IN HER BLOOD
“Ask your wife who the real father is.”
Victor's words echoed through the cemetery.
I stared at Sarah.
She didn't look at me.
She looked at Emily.
My daughter was still trapped against Victor's chest, her tiny shoulders shaking.
“Daddy…”
“I’m here.”
I kept my eyes on Victor.
“Let her go.”
Victor smiled.
“You still don't understand.”
“I understand enough.”
“No. You understand betrayal. You don't understand why everyone lied to you.”
I looked at Sarah.
“Tell me.”
She closed her eyes.
“Please.”
“Tell me.”
Sarah finally looked at me.
Her face was wet with rain and tears.
“You are Emily's father.”
My chest tightened.
“What?”
“You are.”
Victor laughed.
“That's not the whole truth.”
Sarah turned toward him.
“Stop.”
“You wanted him to know.”
“Not like this.”
Victor raised the gun slightly.
“Then tell him everything.”
I stepped closer.
“Sarah, what is he talking about?”
She swallowed.
“When Emily was born, there was a medical procedure.”
“What procedure?”
“A treatment.”
“For what?”
“She was sick.”
I stared at her.
“Emily was born healthy.”
“She appeared healthy.”
“What does that mean?”
Sarah looked at Victor.
Then back at me.
“Her blood had an abnormal marker.”
My mind raced.
“What marker?”
“I don't know the scientific name.”
Victor interrupted.
“Because you weren't supposed to know.”
I ignored him.
“Sarah, why did you hide this from me?”
“Because I was afraid.”
“Of what?”
“That they would take her.”
I looked at Emily.
Victor's grip tightened.
“You should be asking who funded the program.”
I turned toward him.
“Who?”
He smiled.
“Your family.”
The words struck me like a punch.
“My family?”
“Your father.”
I froze.
My father had been dead for eight years.
He had always been a businessman.
Nothing more.
Victor continued.
“Your father invested in Blackridge.”
“No.”
“He didn't know what they were doing.”
Sarah shook her head.
“He knew.”
I looked at her.
“You're saying my father knew?”
“Yes.”
“Then why didn't you tell me?”
“Because your father threatened me.”
I couldn't breathe.
“What did he threaten?”
“To take Emily.”
Victor laughed softly.
“Your father wasn't the only one.”
My eyes moved toward my mother.
She was standing beside him.
Crying.
“Mom?”
She couldn't look at me.
“Did you know?”
She whispered:
“Yes.”
The answer destroyed something inside me.
“How long?”
“Since before Emily was born.”
I stared at her.
“You knew my daughter was being watched?”
“Yes.”
“And you never told me?”
“I was protecting you.”
“Everyone keeps saying that.”
My voice broke.
“Everyone keeps saying they're protecting me while they lie to me.”
Emily began crying.
“Daddy…”
I looked at her.
“I'm coming.”
Victor shook his head.
“Not yet.”
I looked back at him.
“What do you want?”
“The locket.”
I instinctively touched my pocket.
“You said the locket.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because it contains the access key.”
“To what?”
Victor smiled.
“The archive.”
Sarah suddenly shouted:
“No!”
Victor looked at her.
“You've already lost.”
She stepped toward him.
“Victor, please.”
“You had six years.”
“I tried.”
“You failed.”
I looked at Sarah.
“What archive?”
She whispered:
“The original records.”
“Records about Emily?”
“About all of them.”
Victor extended his hand.
“The locket.”
I slowly removed it.
Emily watched me.
Her eyes were fixed on the silver object.
I held it up.
“Let her go first.”
Victor laughed.
“You still think you're negotiating.”
I took another step.
“Let her go.”
“No.”
“Then you don't get this.”
Victor's smile disappeared.
For the first time, he looked angry.
“Give it to me.”
“No.”
Sarah looked at me.
“Don't.”
I understood.
The locket was important.
More important than Victor was admitting.
I closed my hand around it.
Victor raised the gun.
“Last chance.”
A gunshot exploded.
But it didn't come from Victor.
The bullet struck the ground beside him.
Victor turned.
Everyone froze.
Another shot.
This one struck the gun from his hand.
Victor stumbled.
Emily fell free.
I ran.
“Emily!”
She ran into my arms.
I pulled her against me.
She was crying uncontrollably.
“I've got you.”
“Daddy!”
I covered her head with my hand.
Mark appeared from behind a row of graves.
He was holding a gun.
I stared at him.
“Where did you get that?”
“Police officer.”
“You followed us?”
“Obviously.”
Victor disappeared behind a stone wall.
“Move!” Mark shouted.
Sarah grabbed my arm.
“Get Emily out of here.”
“What about you?”
“I have to stop him.”
“No.”
She looked at me.
“You still don't understand.”
“What?”
“If Victor gets the locket, he can open the archive.”
“What happens then?”
“He'll erase everything.”
My stomach dropped.
“Everything?”
“The records. The evidence. The identities.”
“And Emily?”
Sarah looked at my daughter.
“They'll erase her too.”
I held Emily tighter.
“We're leaving.”
We ran toward the cemetery gate.
Then my mother called out.
“Wait!”
I turned.
She was standing alone.
No Victor.
No gun.
Just tears.
She held out her hands.
“Please.”
I stopped.
“Why?”
“I need to tell you the truth.”
“You've had six years.”
“I know.”
“Why should I believe you now?”
She looked at Emily.
“Because I was there the night she was born.”
I froze.
“You weren't.”
“I was.”
Sarah looked at my mother.
“Tell him.”
My mother nodded.
“Emily wasn't supposed to survive.”
I felt Emily's fingers tighten around mine.
“What happened?”
“She was born with a rare blood condition.”
“What condition?”
“We didn't know.”
“Then what did you do?”
“Your father contacted Blackridge.”
My blood ran cold.
“He wanted them to study her.”
Sarah interrupted.
“And I refused.”
“You didn't refuse,” my mother said.
Sarah went silent.
My mother continued.
“You signed the papers.”
I looked at Sarah.
She shook her head.
“I had no choice.”
“You always had a choice.”
Sarah looked at me.
“I signed them because they promised to save Emily.”
“Save her from what?”
“From dying.”
I stared at my daughter.
She looked completely confused.
“Why don't I remember being sick?”
“Because they treated you before you were old enough to remember.”
I felt sick.
“What did they do?”
Sarah's voice cracked.
“They changed something.”
“What?”
“I don't know.”
Victor's voice came from behind us.
“They changed everything.”
We turned.
He was standing beside the cemetery wall.
Blood ran down his hand.
But he was smiling.
“Your daughter was the first successful subject.”
Sarah stepped forward.
“Don't call her a subject.”
Victor ignored her.
“She carries a genetic modification that was designed to repair damaged cells.”
I stared at him.
“What?”
“She can heal faster than normal.”
“That isn't possible.”
Victor smiled.
“You've seen it.”
I remembered.
Emily had broken her arm when she was five.
The doctor had been shocked by how quickly it healed.
A deep cut on her knee had disappeared in days.
Bruises vanished unusually fast.
I had thought she was lucky.
Victor continued.
“She isn't a miracle.”
He pointed toward Emily.
“She is the result.”
I pulled Emily behind me.
“What do you want from her?”
“Blood.”
I felt rage explode inside me.
“She is a child.”
“To you.”
Victor's expression became cold.
“To us, she is proof.”
Mark raised his gun.
“Drop the weapon.”
Victor laughed.
“I don't have one.”
Then the cemetery lights went out.
Darkness swallowed us.
I heard footsteps.
A scream.
Emily's hand disappeared from mine.
“EMILY!”
I lunged.
My fingers caught her sleeve.
Someone pulled from the other side.
I held on.
“Daddy!”
I grabbed her wrist.
“Don't let go!”
“Daddy!”
Something struck my shoulder.
I fell.
Emily screamed.
Then a hand covered her mouth.
I reached forward.
My fingers brushed hers.
Then she was gone.
The lights came back.
Victor was gone.
So was Emily.
Only the silver locket remained on the ground.
I picked it up.
My hands were shaking.
Then I heard a voice behind me.
Sarah.
She was staring at the locket.
“No.”
“What?”
Her face went white.
“He didn't take Emily.”
I turned.
“What do you mean?”
Sarah pointed toward the grave.
“He took her because he knows where the archive is.”
“Where?”
She swallowed.
“Inside your wife's grave.”
I stared at the tombstone.
Then I noticed something I'd never seen before.
A small metal plate beneath my wife's name.
Three numbers were engraved on it.
17-06-24.
Sarah whispered:
“The date Emily was born.”
I looked at her.
“What does it unlock?”
She didn't answer.
Then my phone buzzed.
A new message.
Unknown number.
A photograph appeared.
Emily was sitting in a white room.
Alive.
Terrified.
Behind her stood Victor.
And beside him was a woman.
A woman I recognized immediately.
My mother.
Under the photograph were six words:
SHE KNOWS WHY EMILY WAS CHOSEN.
I slowly looked at my mother.
She was crying.
Then she whispered:
“Because Emily wasn't the first child I gave them.”
My heart stopped.
“What?”
My mother looked at Sarah.
Then at me.
“I gave them your brother first.”
I stared at her.
“My brother?”
May you like
I had been an only child my entire life.
Or so I thought.
