Chapter 11 - I didn't know which reality to trust.My father alive.
Maya allegedly dead.
A K9 warning me through behavior rather than words.
And a child calling me Dad.
“Jonathan,” my father said, “you can't trust what you hear.”
I moved toward the corridor.
“Then tell me what is real.”
He had no answer.
Another scream.
“Dad!”
This time it was clearly Maya.
I ran.
Jax stayed beside me.
My father followed.
The corridor ended at a glass room.
Maya stood inside.
A man had his hand around her shoulder.
Dr. Voss.
He smiled at me.
“Perfect timing.”
I raised my weapon.
“Let her go.”
“You still haven't figured it out.”
“Figured what out?”
Voss looked at my father.
“Tell him.”
My father said nothing.
Voss sighed.
“Fine.”
He looked at me.
“Maya is not Maya Collins.”
The girl screamed.
“Don't listen to him!”
“She was created from records.”
“What?”
“A new identity.”
He pointed toward her.
“The real Maya Collins died during the St. Luke's fire.”
Evan arrived behind me.
“No!”
Voss looked at him.
“You were too young to remember.”
Evan shook his head.
“She was my sister.”
“She was the girl who kept you alive.”
I stared.
“What do you mean?”
Voss smiled.
“Evan is not a kidnapping victim.”
I felt something snap inside my chest.
“Then what is he?”
“Evidence.”
Maya looked terrified.
“Jonathan, don't believe him.”
Voss continued.
“The children were part of an experimental witness program.”
My stomach turned.
“Experimental?”
“Children who had seen something they weren't supposed to see.”
“What?”
“The network.”
“So you kidnapped them?”
“We protected them.”
“By locking them underground?”
“By keeping them alive.”
I looked at my father.
“Is this true?”
He closed his eyes.
“Yes.”
I felt betrayed.
“All these years…”
“I tried to stop them.”
“But you became part of it.”
He looked broken.
“I became what I had to become.”
Voss nodded.
“Exactly.”
Then the fire alarms began.
Again.
But this time there was no hospital announcement.
No evacuation.
Only smoke.
Black smoke poured into the corridor.
Voss shoved Maya toward me.
“Take her.”
I caught her.
“Why?”
He smiled.
“Because now you need her.”
The smoke thickened.
Voss disappeared.
My father grabbed Evan.
“Move!”
We ran.
Jax stayed behind.
He was staring at Voss.
Then the dog turned.
He ran toward us.
A door slammed behind him.
Something exploded.
Jax disappeared in the smoke.
I screamed his name.
“JAX!”
No response.
I tried to go back.
My father stopped me.
“He's gone.”
“No.”
“He sacrificed himself.”
I broke free.
Then, through the smoke, I heard a single bark.
Not from behind us.
From below.
I looked at the floor.
There was a metal hatch.
Jax was beneath it.
Alive.
But trapped.
May you like
And someone was standing beside the hatch.
Holding a lighter.
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