CHAPTER 11 THE SECOND BABY
I couldn't breathe.
The woman stood beneath the house, holding a newborn who looked exactly like Amelia.
Same tiny face.
Same dark hair.
Same eyes.
And behind her left ear was the same black mark.
17.
I looked down at my daughter.
Then at the other baby.
Then back at the woman.
“You said I gave birth to two.”
My voice barely existed.
The woman smiled.
“You did.”
“No.”
“You just didn't know.”
Luka stepped in front of me.
“Who are you?”
The woman ignored him.
She looked directly at me.
“My name is Dr. Nora Voss.”
Daniel whispered behind us,
“Voss…”
Luka turned sharply.
“You know her?”
Daniel's face had gone white.
“She was the chief researcher.”
Nora smiled.
“Still am.”
I stared at the second baby.
“Where did she come from?”
Nora looked down.
“From you.”
My stomach twisted.
“That isn't possible.”
“It is.”
“You're lying.”
“No.”
She walked closer.
“Your body produced two embryos.”
I shook my head.
“The doctors told me there was only one.”
“They were instructed to tell you that.”
I looked at Daniel.
“Did you know?”
He couldn't answer.
“Daniel.”
His eyes dropped.
“Yes.”
The word destroyed what little trust I had left.
“You knew I was carrying twins?”
“I knew there was a second fetus.”
“And you said nothing?”
“I wasn't allowed.”
“You weren't allowed?”
He looked at me desperately.
“They told me if I told you, they would kill you.”
I laughed.
A broken, disbelieving laugh.
“Everyone knew.”
“No.”
“Everyone knew except me.”
Luka stepped closer.
“Emma…”
“Don't.”
I looked at him.
“You knew too.”
He didn't deny it.
“How long?”
“Since the ultrasound.”
My chest tightened.
“You knew there were two.”
“Yes.”
“And you let me believe Amelia was the only baby.”
“I thought the second child was stillborn.”
Nora laughed softly.
“She wasn't.”
She lifted the newborn slightly.
“She was taken before delivery.”
I stared at her.
“How?”
“Your husband signed the transfer order.”
I turned toward Daniel.
He stumbled backward.
“I didn't know what it meant.”
“You signed it?”
“They told me it was a neonatal preservation form.”
Nora smiled.
“He knew enough.”
Daniel shook his head.
“I thought the baby was going to die.”
“You knew nothing,” Nora said.
Daniel looked at me.
“I swear.”
I couldn't look at him.
Nora continued.
“The second child was removed during your delivery.”
My hand went instinctively to my stomach.
“I remember the birth.”
“You remember the first delivery.”
My blood ran cold.
“What happened to the second?”
Nora's expression became almost proud.
“She was transferred directly into the M-17 chamber.”
I stared at the baby.
“She was experimented on?”
“No.”
Nora looked at me.
“She was prepared.”
“For what?”
“For consciousness.”
The lights beneath the house flickered.
Gabriel stepped forward.
“Enough.”
Nora looked at him.
“You've already lost.”
He shook his head.
“Not yet.”
Luka raised his gun.
“Stay back.”
Gabriel looked at me.
“You need to understand what happened in that hospital.”
“I don't want to hear another lie.”
“This isn't a lie.”
He pointed toward Amelia.
“She wasn't supposed to survive the transfer.”
I looked down at her.
“What transfer?”
“The consciousness transfer.”
My mother suddenly appeared behind us.
She had followed us down the staircase.
“Gabriel, stop.”
He turned.
“Sarah.”
She stepped toward me.
“Emma, don't listen to him.”
I stared at her.
“You knew about the twins.”
She froze.
“Yes.”
My voice broke.
“You knew.”
“Yes.”
“You let them take one of my babies.”
Her eyes filled with tears.
“I tried to stop them.”
“You failed.”
“I know.”
“Why didn't you tell me?”
“Because if you knew, they would have killed you.”
I pointed at Amelia.
“They already took her sister.”
My mother closed her eyes.
“I know.”
I stared at her.
“Then tell me the truth.”
She looked at Nora.
Then Gabriel.
Then Luka.
Finally, she said:
“Your pregnancy was never natural.”
I froze.
“What?”
“Your father altered your reproductive system when you were a child.”
My stomach turned.
“He made you capable of producing genetically identical embryos.”
I looked down at Amelia.
“And the second baby?”
“She was genetically identical to the first.”
Nora corrected her.
“Not identical.”
She held the second baby closer.
“She is superior.”
I felt rage rising.
“She is a child.”
Nora smiled.
“She is the perfected host.”
Luka fired.
The bullet struck the wall beside Nora.
“Take one more step toward them.”
Nora didn't flinch.
“You still don't understand.”
She looked at Amelia.
“She isn't the perfected host.”
Then she looked at the second baby.
“She is.”
My mother whispered,
“No.”
Nora smiled.
“The first child inherited Emma's neurological architecture.”
She pointed at Amelia.
“But the second inherited something else.”
“What?”
“Gabriel's.”
My father looked at the baby.
His expression was almost reverent.
“She has my consciousness.”
I stared at him.
“No.”
Gabriel nodded.
“The first child was the bridge.”
He looked at Amelia.
“The second is the vessel.”
My blood ran cold.
“You want to put him inside her.”
“Not want.”
He looked at me.
“Already did.”
The room went silent.
Amelia suddenly stopped moving.
Her tiny body became completely still.
I panicked.
“Amelia?”
No response.
“Amelia!”
Her eyes opened.
They weren't the eyes of a newborn.
They were cold.
Focused.
Then she looked at Gabriel.
“Father.”
My entire body froze.
Gabriel smiled.
“Yes.”
Luka stepped forward.
“Emma, give me the baby.”
I tightened my arms around her.
“No.”
“She's not herself.”
“I don't care.”
“Look at her.”
I did.
Amelia was staring at me.
Then her expression softened.
“Mommy.”
I started crying.
“Amelia?”
She smiled.
“Don't let him take me.”
My heart shattered.
Gabriel's smile disappeared.
“That's impossible.”
Amelia turned toward him.
“You forgot.”
Gabriel stepped backward.
“What?”
She smiled.
“You forgot what happened before.”
My father looked genuinely frightened.
“What did you say?”
Amelia's voice changed.
For a second, it sounded like my mother.
“You didn't create me.”
Gabriel's face went pale.
Then it became my voice.
“You copied me.”
He shook his head.
“No.”
Then it became a man's voice.
A voice I had never heard.
“You copied the wrong person.”
Gabriel backed away.
“Who are you?”
Amelia smiled.
“Your mistake.”
Every light in the underground facility exploded.
Darkness swallowed us.
Then dozens of emergency screens turned on.
One message appeared:
M-17 PRIMARY HOST REJECTED.
Another:
SECONDARY HOST UNSTABLE.
Then:
ORIGINAL CONSCIOUSNESS RETURNING.
Nora screamed.
“No!”
She ran toward the control panel.
Luka tackled her.
The second baby began crying.
The sound was piercing.
Every person in the chamber suddenly dropped to their knees.
I stared in horror.
“What is happening?”
My mother whispered,
“The twins are connected.”
“To what?”
“To each other.”
A violent pulse moved through the floor.
The two babies cried at exactly the same time.
Then stopped.
I looked at Amelia.
She was smiling.
The second baby opened her eyes.
For one terrifying second, both girls looked directly at each other.
Then they spoke simultaneously.
“Find the third.”
Silence.
I looked at my mother.
“What third?”
She didn't answer.
I turned toward Gabriel.
He was staring at the babies.
His face had gone completely white.
“There were only two,” he whispered.
Nora shook her head.
“No.”
She looked at me.
“There were three.”
I felt the world disappear beneath my feet.
“What?”
Nora laughed despite the blood on her forehead.
“The first embryo became Amelia.”
She pointed toward the second baby.
“The second became her.”
Then she looked directly at me.
“The third never left your body.”
My hand moved instinctively to my stomach.
“That’s impossible.”
Nora's smile widened.
“You've been carrying the third consciousness for twenty years.”
I couldn't breathe.
Luka stared at her.
“Explain.”
Nora looked at me.
“The third was never implanted in a child.”
“Then where?”
She pointed at my head.
“Inside Emma.”
My vision blurred.
“No.”
“Yes.”
“You're saying there's another consciousness inside me?”
Nora nodded.
“And it has been waiting.”
A sudden pain exploded inside my skull.
I screamed.
The room vanished.
I saw my childhood bedroom.
Then the laboratory.
Then the hospital.
Then the night I first met Daniel.
Then the moment I married him.
Then the day I discovered I was pregnant.
Every memory began playing backward.
Until I reached a memory I had never seen.
I was five years old.
My father was standing over me.
My mother was crying.
Luka was beside the machine.
And another man stood behind them.
I couldn't see his face.
My father said:
“Once the third consciousness is inside her, she will never know.”
The unknown man asked:
“And when she becomes pregnant?”
My father answered:
“The twins will awaken it.”
I opened my eyes.
I was back beneath the house.
Everyone was staring at me.
My mother was crying.
“Emma…”
I touched my head.
“Who was that man?”
Nobody answered.
Then the unknown man's voice came through the speakers.
“You finally remembered.”
Every screen turned on.
A man appeared.
Black suit.
Gray hair.
Scar across his cheek.
But it wasn't Gabriel.
It wasn't anyone I recognized.
He looked directly into the camera.
“Hello, Emma.”
Luka raised his gun toward the screen.
“Who are you?”
The man smiled.
“I'm the man your father was afraid of.”
Gabriel stepped backward.
“No.”
The man continued.
“And I'm the reason your mother never really died.”
My mother collapsed to her knees.
I stared at the screen.
“Where is my mother?”
The man smiled.
“She's standing beside you.”
I turned.
My mother was staring at me.
Then the man said:
“Ask her what happened the night she gave birth to you.”
My mother began sobbing.
I looked at her.
“Mom?”
She whispered:
“I didn't give birth to you.”
My blood froze.
The man on the screen smiled.
“Now we're finally getting somewhere.”
May you like
The lights went out.
And somewhere above us, the house began to burn.
