Chapter 7 - The IslandBlack Cay appeared at dawn.
A black silhouette against a gray sky.
The ship slowed.
Then stopped.
No port.
No harbor.
Just deep water.
A small boat approached.
A man stood inside it.
Ethan.
He raised a loudspeaker.
“Elena, come ashore.”
I stood at the railing.
“Bring my mother.”
“She's already waiting.”
Daniel stood beside me.
“This is a trap.”
“I know.”
“Then don't go.”
I looked at him.
“I'm done running.”
We took a small boat.
Lauren came with us.
Daniel followed.
Three boats.
Six security officers.
The island was silent.
We reached an abandoned military facility.
Rust covered the fences.
Concrete bunkers disappeared beneath vegetation.
A faded sign read:
RESTRICTED AREA.
I remembered this place.
Eight years ago.
My team had arrived here before Blackfall.
We had been told we were conducting a hostage recovery exercise.
We weren't.
We were the test subjects.
The facility doors opened.
Ethan waited inside.
He wore a clean white shirt.
No weapon.
No fear.
“Welcome home.”
I stepped forward.
“You married me to activate Blackfall.”
He smiled.
“Not exactly.”
“Then explain.”
“You were never inactive.”
I stared.
“What?”
“You've been living under a behavioral lock.”
My blood went cold.
He continued.
“Your memories were altered after the operation.”
Daniel raised his weapon.
“Don't listen to him.”
Ethan laughed.
“You still think you're protecting her?”
He turned to Daniel.
“Tell her where you found her.”
Daniel didn't answer.
Ethan smiled.
“She wasn't rescued after Blackfall.”
He looked at me.
“She was extracted.”
“By whom?”
“Your father.”
I felt dizzy.
Then the doors behind us closed.
A woman stepped from the darkness.
Gray hair.
Thin face.
Familiar eyes.
My mother.
I couldn't breathe.
“Mom?”
She looked at me.
For a moment, she seemed to be the woman I remembered.
Then she whispered:
“Run.”
Ethan's smile vanished.
My mother looked toward him.
“She remembered too early.”
Ethan cursed.
Security officers raised their weapons.
My mother reached into her coat.
Daniel shouted:
“Don't!”
She pulled out a small device.
A red button.
“Mom?”
She looked at me.
“Forgive me.”
She pressed it.
Every light in the facility turned red.
Alarms screamed.
Steel shutters dropped.
And a voice announced through the speakers:
BLACKFALL PROTOCOL: FINAL SUBJECT ACTIVATED.
I looked at Ethan.
His face had changed.
For the first time since our wedding night, he looked afraid.
My mother whispered:
“Now you know why he was terrified of you.”
May you like
Then the floor beneath us opened.
And we fell.
