Chapter 15 - The Husband Who Came BackI didn't go alone.
I never do that anymore.
I went with Daniel.
We traveled to a small European city where Ethan's call had originated.
The address led us to an abandoned hotel.
Room 214.
The door was open.
Inside was a table.
Two chairs.
A bottle of champagne.
And a wedding invitation.
My name was printed on it.
So was Ethan's.
Wedding date.
Tomorrow.
Daniel stared at the invitation.
“This isn't possible.”
I picked it up.
Under the names was one sentence.
SOME MARRIAGES ARE NEVER ALLOWED TO END.
A door opened behind us.
I turned.
Ethan stood there.
Older.
Thinner.
A scar crossed his face.
But it was him.
Or something wearing him.
He smiled.
“You came.”
I raised my gun.
“Hands where I can see them.”
He raised them.
“Still suspicious.”
“Still alive.”
“Unfortunately.”
Daniel stepped forward.
“Who is controlling you?”
Ethan shook his head.
“No one.”
“Then explain.”
He looked at me.
“I woke up three months ago.”
“Where?”
“In a hospital.”
“Who treated you?”
“No one knows.”
“Why?”
“Because the hospital didn't exist.”
Daniel frowned.
Ethan pulled a photograph from his coat.
It showed a laboratory.
Rows of rooms.
Hundreds of people.
Every room contained someone who looked exactly like another person.
Copies.
Not identities.
Bodies.
I stared.
“This isn't Blackfall.”
“No.”
Ethan's voice dropped.
“This is what Blackfall became.”
My stomach tightened.
“Who built it?”
He looked at me.
“You.”
I almost laughed.
“No.”
“You designed the reversal algorithm.”
“I shut Blackfall down.”
“You shut down the network.”
He pointed toward the photograph.
“You didn't shut down the manufacturing system.”
Daniel looked horrified.
“How many?”
Ethan answered:
“Six hundred and twelve.”
I stared at the photographs.
Six hundred and twelve people.
Created from the identities of real humans.
Duplicates.
Weapons.
Replacements.
Then Ethan placed one final photograph on the table.
A woman in a wedding dress.
Me.
But younger.
Impossible.
“What is that?”
Ethan swallowed.
“Your first replacement.”
My blood went cold.
“She died before you escaped Blackfall.”
I shook my head.
“I never had a replacement.”
“You did.”
He placed another photograph down.
The woman was standing beside my mother.
My mother was smiling.
My father stood behind them.
And holding the woman's hand was Ethan.
I looked at him.
“You knew.”
“Yes.”
“When?”
“Before our wedding.”
I felt sick.
“You married me because you thought I was the original.”
Ethan shook his head.
“No.”
He stepped closer.
“I married you because I knew you were the only one who wasn't.”
Silence.
Daniel whispered:
“Then who are you?”
Ethan looked at me.
“I don't know.”
He pulled another photograph from the envelope.
It showed two women.
One was me.
The other looked exactly like me.
Underneath them were two labels.
ORIGINAL.
COPY.
But someone had scratched them out.
Then written a single word across both:
UNKNOWN.
A sound came from the hallway.
Footsteps.
Hundreds.
Daniel raised his gun.
The door opened.
A woman entered.
She was wearing a white dress.
She had my face.
My voice.
My eyes.
She looked at Ethan.
Then at me.
Then smiled.
“Finally.”
I couldn't move.
The woman pointed at me.
“You're the copy.”
I shook my head.
“No.”
She laughed.
“You always say that.”
Daniel stared at both of us.
“How do we know which one is real?”
Neither of us answered.
The lights went out.
In the darkness, someone screamed.
When the emergency lights came on, Ethan was gone.
So was the other woman.
Only one thing remained on the table.
A wedding ring.
I picked it up.
Inside was an engraving.
Eight years ago, I had been told Blackfall was a program.
Now I understood.
It had never been a program.
It had been a family business.
My family business.
And somewhere in the world, hundreds of people were walking around with my face.
I looked at Daniel.
“What do we do now?”
He stared at the darkness beyond the hotel window.
“We find out which Elena survived Blackfall.”
Then my phone rang.
Unknown number.
I answered.
A woman's voice whispered:
“Don't trust Daniel.”
The call ended.
Daniel's phone immediately rang.
He answered.
His face changed.
He slowly looked at me.
“It's your mother.”
I froze.
“My mother is dead.”
Daniel listened.
Then he whispered:
“She says that's what she wanted us to believe.”
Outside the hotel, hundreds of footsteps stopped at once.
A light appeared beneath the door.
Then another.
Then dozens.
Someone knocked.
Three slow knocks.
My heart pounded.
The voice outside spoke.
“Open the door, Elena.”
It was Ethan.
Then another voice spoke from the opposite hallway.
Also Ethan.
Then another.
And another.
Hundreds of voices.
All identical.
All saying the same thing.
“Your marriage has one rule left.”
I looked at the ring in my hand.
“What rule?”
May you like
The voices answered together.
“Only one of us gets to survive.”
