Chapter 6 - My Mother's SecretWe survived because the ship's emergency pumps activated.
Barely.
By the time we escaped the lower deck, half the engine room was flooded.
Captain Mercer ordered an evacuation of the affected levels.
Passengers were moved upward.
Crew members ran through the corridors.
And yet somehow, the ship continued moving.
Daniel looked at the navigation screen.
“Autopilot.”
I nodded.
“Someone programmed the route.”
“Where are we going?”
I looked at the coordinates.
A place I hadn't heard in years.
Black Cay.
An abandoned island used by the military during classified exercises.
“That's where Blackfall began.”
Daniel stared.
“Why would Ethan take us there?”
“Because he wants the final ceremony.”
“What ceremony?”
I didn't answer.
I didn't know.
Not yet.
Lauren sat across from us in the medical bay.
Alive.
Barely.
She hadn't eaten properly in weeks.
She had been hiding aboard the ship.
Waiting for someone.
Waiting for me.
She stared at my wedding ring on the table.
“You should destroy it.”
“Why?”
“Because it's tagged.”
Daniel picked it up.
A tiny electronic component was embedded beneath the stone.
Tracking device.
He looked at me.
“Did Ethan know you would remove it?”
“Yes.”
Lauren shook her head.
“He expected it.”
Then she said something that made my blood freeze.
“Your husband didn't marry you to kill you.”
I looked at her.
“Then why?”
“To activate you.”
The room went silent.
“Activate what?”
Lauren looked at Daniel.
“Tell her.”
Daniel's jaw tightened.
“I don't know enough.”
Lauren laughed bitterly.
“You always know enough.”
Daniel looked away.
I stood.
“You're hiding something.”
He said nothing.
“Tell me.”
Finally, he whispered:
“Your mother worked for military intelligence.”
I stared.
“She didn't.”
“She did.”
“She was a schoolteacher.”
“That was her cover.”
My memories shattered.
My mother.
The woman who baked cookies on Sundays.
The woman who sang while doing laundry.
The woman who told me my father died in an accident.
All of it had been a lie.
Lauren looked at me.
“She created the first version of Blackfall.”
I shook my head.
“No.”
“She designed a system capable of removing people from every government database.”
“Why?”
“To protect witnesses.”
I stopped.
Lauren continued.
“But someone weaponized it.”
“Who?”
“Your father.”
Silence.
Daniel stepped forward.
“He wanted to use Blackfall to erase military assets who became liabilities.”
“And my mother?”
“She tried to stop him.”
I felt something cold settle in my chest.
“Did she survive?”
Lauren looked at me.
“She disappeared.”
“Where?”
Lauren hesitated.
Then pointed to my wedding ring.
“Ask your husband.”
I turned.
The medical bay television had switched on.
Ethan appeared on the screen.
Behind him was my childhood home.
The house where I had grown up.
He smiled.
“Remember this place, Elena?”
The video showed my mother standing in the kitchen.
Alive.
Then Ethan looked into the camera.
“She'll be waiting for you.”
He paused.
“Just like she was waiting for me.”
The screen went black.
Daniel whispered:
“Your mother isn't the prisoner.”
I looked at him.
“Then what is she?”
May you like
He swallowed.
“The person who built the prison.”
