Chapter 10: The Boy Beneath the Hospital
“Please…”
Elias's voice came from beneath the floor.
I hadn't heard it in twenty-one years.
Yet I knew it instantly.
My knees almost gave out.
“Elias?”
The crying stopped.
Then came a whisper.
“Daniel…”
I rushed toward the basement door.
Detective Collins grabbed my arm.
“Wait.”
“That's my brother.”
“You don't know that.”
“I know his voice.”
“You were nine.”
“I know his voice!”
The words exploded out of me.
Lily flinched.
I immediately lowered my voice.
“I'm sorry.”
Collins looked at me.
Her face was still pale.
“You need to understand something.”
“What?”
“If Elias is alive, everything we believed about 2005 is wrong.”
“Then let's find him.”
She nodded.
We moved toward the basement.
The house was completely dark.
Collins switched on her flashlight.
The beam cut through the hallway.
Nothing.
No Michael.
No intruder.
Just darkness.
Then the crying came again.
“Daniel…”
It was beneath us.
I followed the sound.
The basement stairs creaked under my feet.
At the bottom was an old storage room.
Boxes.
Broken furniture.
Anna's old suitcases.
I looked around.
“Where?”
Collins listened.
“Behind the wall.”
I turned.
A concrete wall stood at the back of the room.
There was no door.
Then Lily spoke.
“It's there.”
She pointed.
“Behind the red paint.”
I stared.
The wall had a faded red section.
I walked toward it.
My fingers brushed the paint.
Something clicked.
A hidden panel opened.
Behind it was a staircase.
Descending.
Collins looked at me.
“This wasn't on any property plan.”
“Neither was the room upstairs.”
We descended.
The air became colder.
After twenty steps, we reached another corridor.
At the end was a steel door.
And painted across it:
17.
My heart hammered.
I touched the handle.
Locked.
Then a voice came from behind it.
“Daniel?”
I froze.
“Elias?”
“Yes.”
I looked at Collins.
She whispered:
“Ask him something only your brother would know.”
I thought.
Something from childhood.
Something nobody else knew.
“Elias…”
“Yes?”
“What did you steal from Dad's desk when we were eight?”
Silence.
Then a quiet laugh.
“His red fountain pen.”
My chest tightened.
I remembered.
We had stolen it together.
Elias had hidden it inside my schoolbag.
Our father had searched the entire house.
We never told anyone.
I looked at Collins.
“It's him.”
She nodded.
I unlocked the door.
It opened slowly.
A man sat inside.
He was thin.
Pale.
His hair was longer than I remembered.
But his eyes were the same.
My brother.
Elias.
Alive.
I couldn't move.
He stood.
We stared at each other.
Then he whispered:
“Daniel.”
I crossed the room.
He grabbed me.
We held each other.
For twenty-one years, I had believed my brother was dead.
Now I was holding him.
Alive.
Shaking.
Crying.
“I thought you were dead.”
“I know.”
“Why didn't you come home?”
“I couldn't.”
“Who kept you here?”
He looked toward Collins.
Then Lily.
His expression changed.
“She's here.”
“Who?”
“Anna.”
I froze.
“Where?”
Elias pointed to the corner.
There was a small monitor.
A live video.
Anna appeared on the screen.
Alive.
Older.
Her hair shorter.
Her face thinner.
But unmistakably Anna.
“Daniel.”
My breath caught.
“Anna?”
She smiled sadly.
“I knew you'd find him.”
I stepped toward the monitor.
“Where are you?”
“Not yet.”
“Not yet what?”
“Not yet safe.”
Elias looked away.
I turned toward him.
“You knew she was alive?”
“Yes.”
“For how long?”
“Two years.”
My heart broke.
“You knew my wife was alive and you never told me?”
“I tried.”
“When?”
“After she disappeared.”
“Why didn't you come?”
“Because they were watching you.”
“Who?”
Elias looked at Collins.
“Your mother knows.”
I turned toward Collins.
She said nothing.
“Tell me.”
She sighed.
“Your father was part of a group.”
“What group?”
“The Black Compass.”
The name sounded familiar.
I had seen it in Anna's files.
A symbol.
A black circle with four lines.
“What did they do?”
“Money laundering. Identity manipulation. Covert custody transfers.”
“Custody transfers?”
“They moved children between families.”
My stomach turned.
“Why?”
“Because some children were heirs.”
I looked at Lily.
“Lily.”
Collins nodded.
“Exactly.”
Elias spoke.
“Your daughter was never supposed to be born.”
I stared at him.
“What?”
“Anna was pregnant before you met her.”
I felt the room disappear.
“No.”
“She was carrying a child connected to the trust.”
“What trust?”
“The original Carter trust.”
“Whose money?”
“Your grandfather's.”
My head spun.
“Then why did Anna marry me?”
Elias looked at me.
“Because she needed protection.”
“From whom?”
“Your father.”
Silence.
Then Lily stepped closer.
“Uncle Elias?”
He looked at her.
His eyes filled with tears.
“You're so big.”
“You know me?”
“I knew you before you were born.”
Lily looked confused.
“How?”
Elias smiled sadly.
“Your mother used to show me your ultrasound pictures.”
I stared at him.
“When?”
“Before she disappeared.”
“Why didn't she tell me?”
“Because she knew your father was listening.”
I looked at Collins.
“My father is dead.”
“Yes.”
“But you keep talking about him.”
Elias shook his head.
“He isn't dead.”
My heart stopped.
“What?”
“He changed his identity.”
“That isn't possible.”
“He changed his face too.”
I felt sick.
“Where is he?”
Elias looked at the door.
“He's closer than you think.”
Suddenly the monitor went black.
Anna disappeared.
I turned to Collins.
“What happened?”
She checked the equipment.
“Someone cut the signal.”
Then the steel door slammed shut.
Elias froze.
“It's him.”
“Who?”
“The man who came for me.”
“Michael?”
“No.”
His face went pale.
“Michael works for him.”
I heard footsteps in the corridor.
Slow.
Heavy.
Approaching.
Collins raised her weapon.
“Everyone behind me.”
The footsteps stopped outside the door.
A man's voice spoke.
“You always were difficult to find, Elias.”
Elias stepped backward.
I recognized the voice.
Not Michael.
Not Anna.
My father's voice.
The voice from the tapes.
The voice from my childhood.
“Dad?”
Silence.
Then the man outside laughed.
“You finally remember.”
I felt Lily grab my hand.
The door began opening.
Collins aimed her weapon.
“Don't move.”
The door opened another inch.
Then a man's hand appeared.
Older.
Scarred.
Wearing a silver watch.
The same watch from the photograph.
The door opened fully.
A man stood there.
His hair was gray.
His face was unfamiliar.
But his eyes were mine.
He looked at me.
Then at Lily.
And smiled.
“Hello, Daniel.”
My entire body went cold.
“Who are you?”
He smiled again.
“Your father.”
Collins raised her gun.
“Put your hands up!”
He ignored her.
Instead, he looked at Lily.
“Come here, sweetheart.”
Lily hid behind me.
He laughed softly.
“She doesn't remember me.”
I stared at him.
“You're supposed to be dead.”
“So was Anna.”
My heart stopped.
“You know where she is.”
“Yes.”
“Where?”
He stepped closer.
“Ask your mother.”
I looked at Collins.
She lowered her weapon slightly.
My father smiled.
“You see, Daniel…”
He pointed toward Collins.
“She never told you the most important part.”
“What?”
He looked at Lily.
“Your daughter isn't Anna's first child.”
Silence.
I felt Lily's fingers tighten around mine.
My father continued:
“She had another daughter.”
I couldn't breathe.
“Who?”
He smiled.
Then said:
“Your sister.”
My world went silent.
“And she's the woman you've been calling Detective Collins.”
I looked at Collins.
She was crying.
My father stepped backward.
“Now you finally know.”
Then the lights went out.
A gunshot exploded in the darkness.
Lily screamed.
When the emergency lights came back on, my father was gone.
So was Detective Collins.
Only Elias remained.
And on the floor was a single photograph.
It showed Anna holding a newborn baby.
May you like
On the back were three words:
SISTER. SUBJECT 18.
