Chapter 12: Where They Buried My Father
The room went silent.
Deborah stood beneath the flashing emergency lights with her hands raised.
For years, I had known her as the woman who criticized everything I did.
My clothes.
My cooking.
My pregnancy.
My marriage.
Even the way I held my own children.
She had called me dramatic when I was sick.
She had told me I was lucky Travis had chosen me.
She had treated my pregnancy like an inconvenience.
And now she was standing in front of me, claiming she had been protecting me.
I stared at her.
“You?”
Deborah nodded.
“I know how this looks.”
“You locked me in my own house.”
“I was trying to keep Elias from reaching you.”
“You took my husband to the mall while I was in labor.”
Her face tightened.
“That wasn't my decision.”
“Then whose was it?”
She looked at Elias.
“His.”
Elias was still on the floor.
The monitors continued flashing around him.
His eyes were open.
But he looked confused.
Almost broken.
Deborah took one step forward.
“I knew something was wrong with this family long before you did.”
My mother stepped between us.
“You knew?”
Deborah looked at her.
“I knew enough.”
My mother shook her head.
“You were part of it.”
“Yes.”
My stomach dropped.
Deborah continued.
“I was.”
She looked at me.
“But I left.”
“When?”
“Sixteen years ago.”
“Why?”
“Because I found out what they were doing to the children.”
My sister stared at her.
“You knew about me.”
Deborah nodded.
“I knew.”
My sister's expression hardened.
“You watched them torture me.”
“I tried to stop it.”
“You did nothing.”
“I couldn't.”
“Everyone says that.”
Deborah's eyes filled with tears.
“I was pregnant with Travis.”
I looked at her.
She continued.
“They told me my child would be taken after birth.”
My heart stopped.
“What?”
“They wanted his DNA.”
Travis stared at his mother.
“You never told me.”
“I was trying to keep you alive.”
She looked at him.
“I agreed to everything they asked.”
“Why?”
“Because I thought obedience would protect you.”
Her voice cracked.
“It didn't.”
Travis looked away.
I looked at Deborah.
“Then why did you hate me?”
She swallowed.
“Because I blamed you.”
My stomach tightened.
“For what?”
“For bringing the program back into my life.”
I stared.
“When I realized who you were, I was terrified.”
“So you punished me.”
“Yes.”
She lowered her head.
“I was wrong.”
A police officer stepped forward.
“Mrs. Hale, step away from the suspects.”
Deborah looked at him.
“I know where the body is.”
Everyone froze.
My heart stopped.
“My father's body.”
She nodded.
“Yes.”
“Where?”
“Under the old Hale estate.”
My mother gasped.
“That house burned down.”
“Not completely.”
Deborah looked at me.
“There is a basement.”
I stared.
“What kind?”
“A laboratory.”
My sister whispered:
“Elias's original lab.”
Deborah nodded.
“That's where they buried him.”
My hands began shaking.
“Why?”
“Because your father discovered the archive.”
I looked at the monitors.
“What archive?”
“The original one.”
I stared at my daughter.
“The one inside her?”
Deborah shook her head.
“No.”
She pointed toward me.
“The one inside you.”
My blood ran cold.
My mother closed her eyes.
“Claire…”
I turned toward her.
“You knew.”
She nodded.
“Your father hid the archive inside your memory.”
“But I don't remember.”
“Elias erased parts of it.”
My sister interrupted.
“He didn't erase them.”
Everyone looked at her.
“He fragmented them.”
“What does that mean?”
She pointed toward the two babies.
“The twins are reconnecting them.”
I looked down.
My daughter was asleep.
The second baby moved inside me.
My heart tightened.
“What happens when they're born?”
My sister looked at Deborah.
Deborah answered.
“The archive completes.”
“And then?”
“Every person involved will be exposed.”
I looked at Elias.
He was watching me.
For the first time, I saw fear in his eyes.
“What about him?”
Deborah shook her head.
“He'll lose everything.”
“His memories?”
“No.”
She looked at the monitors.
“His identity.”
Elias suddenly laughed.
“You don't understand.”
Deborah turned toward him.
“Don't.”
“You think the archive is a weapon.”
He smiled.
“It isn't.”
My sister raised her gun.
“Then what is it?”
Elias looked at me.
“It's a map.”
“To what?”
“The original subject.”
I felt a chill.
“Who?”
He pointed at my daughter.
“The first one.”
My mother stepped backward.
“No.”
I looked at her.
“What does he mean?”
She wouldn't answer.
Elias smiled.
“Ask your mother.”
I turned toward her.
“Mom?”
She began crying.
“The first child wasn't you.”
I froze.
“What?”
“You had an older sister.”
My breath stopped.
My mother continued.
“She was born before you.”
I stared.
“You told me my sister was the one who disappeared.”
“That was another sister.”
I couldn't breathe.
“How many siblings do I have?”
My mother looked toward the woman who looked exactly like me.
“Four.”
I stared.
“Four?”
The woman nodded.
“I was the third.”
My sister stepped forward.
“I was the second.”
My mother whispered:
“And the first…”
She looked at me.
“Was never human.”
Silence.
I stared at her.
“What does that mean?”
“She was the first successful experiment.”
My stomach turned.
“Where is she?”
My mother looked toward Elias.
He smiled.
“She never left.”
I felt cold.
“Where is she?”
Elias pointed toward the floor.
“Under the clinic.”
Everyone went silent.
My sister looked down.
“No.”
Elias laughed.
“You've been standing above her this entire time.”
My mother collapsed into a chair.
“Elias…”
He continued.
“She was the prototype.”
My daughter suddenly opened her eyes.
The silver ring appeared again.
She looked toward the floor.
Then she pointed.
I stared at her tiny hand.
“What does she see?”
The woman who looked like me whispered:
“She sees her.”
I felt another contraction.
Hard.
My body shook.
“I can't…”
My sister rushed toward me.
“She's coming.”
“Already?”
“Yes.”
The police began clearing the room.
Travis took my hand.
“I've got you.”
I looked at him.
“Don't leave me.”
“Never.”
He squeezed my hand.
Then the floor shook.
A deep vibration rolled beneath us.
The lights flickered.
The monitor screamed.
My daughter started crying.
My mother shouted:
“Everyone back!”
A crack appeared across the floor.
Then another.
Concrete split apart.
Something metallic rose from beneath it.
A hidden platform.
A steel door.
And carved into the center were three words:
PROJECT FIRST CHILD
The woman who looked like me stared at it.
“I thought she was dead.”
Deborah whispered:
“She was never alive.”
I looked at her.
“What?”
Deborah shook her head.
“She was preserved.”
The steel door opened.
Cold air rushed out.
Inside was a glass chamber.
And inside the chamber...
A woman was lying perfectly still.
She looked about twenty years old.
Her eyes were closed.
Her skin was pale.
Wires covered her body.
My daughter suddenly stopped crying.
The woman in the chamber opened her eyes.
Silver.
Exactly like my daughter's.
She looked directly at me.
Then she smiled.
My mother whispered:
“That's your first sister.”
The woman behind me stepped forward.
“She's awake.”
The chamber glass cracked.
Once.
Twice.
Then shattered.
The woman stepped out.
Barefoot.
Silent.
She looked at me.
Then at the baby in my arms.
And finally at my pregnant stomach.
Her expression changed.
She whispered:
“Two children.”
I couldn't move.
She took one step toward me.
“Just like they promised.”
My sister raised her gun.
“Stay back.”
The woman ignored her.
She looked at Elias.
“You failed.”
Elias's face turned white.
“You were never supposed to wake.”
She smiled.
“I was waiting.”
“For what?”
She looked at me.
“For her.”
I tightened my grip on my baby.
“Why?”
She whispered:
“Because she is the only one who can finish what our father started.”
My mother suddenly screamed:
“NO!”
The woman turned.
“What?”
My mother stared at her.
“You can't tell her.”
“Tell me what?”
The woman looked at me.
Then she smiled.
“Your father didn't bury me because I was dangerous.”
She paused.
“He buried me because I knew who your real father was.”
My heart stopped.
I stared at my mother.
She couldn't meet my eyes.
The woman pointed at Elias.
“He isn't your uncle.”
Then she pointed toward Travis.
“And he isn't your husband.”
Her eyes returned to me.
“Your real father is standing right there.”
I turned slowly.
Everyone looked at Travis.
Travis went completely pale.
“I don't understand.”
The woman smiled.
“You will.”
Then the second baby kicked.
The woman closed her eyes.
May you like
And whispered:
“She's remembering him.”
