Chapter 12 - Project Lazarus had begun forty years earlier.The Ferraro family had been experimenting with genetics.
Not for medicine.
For power.
The goal was simple.
Create descendants who could survive injuries, resist disease, and remain mentally stable under extreme stress.
Soldiers.
Leaders.
Heirs.
My grandfather funded the project.
My father participated.
My mother eventually took control.
And Adrian had been the first successful subject.
Except something went wrong.
The mutation accelerated.
Every generation inherited it.
The supposed family curse was nothing supernatural.
It was genetic.
And Grace's family carried the missing piece.
Her blood could stabilize it.
Our son was the first complete genetic match.
My mother wanted him because he represented the future of everything they had built.
I stared at her.
“You kidnapped my wife for a science experiment.”
She shook her head.
“For an empire.”
Then a loud explosion shook the mausoleum.
Stone cracked.
Everyone ducked.
Armed men stormed through the side entrance.
But they weren't my mother's men.
They wore federal insignia.
I looked at Adrian.
“Who are they?”
He shook his head.
“I don't know.”
The lead agent approached.
“Luca Ferraro.”
I aimed my gun.
“What do you want?”
“The child.”
Of course.
The baby.
Everyone wanted the baby.
My father suddenly fired.
The agent dropped.
Chaos exploded.
I grabbed Grace.
“Run!”
We sprinted through the underground tunnel.
Adrian followed.
My father and mother stayed behind.
Gunfire echoed behind us.
We reached an old bunker.
The door locked automatically.
Grace held the baby.
“He's awake.”
The child stared at me.
His tiny hand wrapped around my finger.
Then he cried.
Not from fear.
From pain.
A dark mark appeared across his wrist.
The symbol changed.
The circle split in two.
Adrian stared.
“That has never happened.”
“What does it mean?”
He shook his head.
“Your son is activating.”
“Activating what?”
A monitor on the wall suddenly powered on.
A voice spoke.
“Subject L-17 has reached developmental threshold.”
I stared at the screen.
A medical interface appeared.
SUBJECT: LUCA FERRARO
I froze.
“What?”
Adrian stepped closer.
The screen showed genetic data.
My birth certificate.
Medical history.
Then photographs of me as a child.
Everything.
I had been monitored my entire life.
I wasn't the father of the experiment.
I was part of it.
A hidden camera in the room activated.
My grandfather appeared.
He looked directly into the lens.
“Luca.”
I couldn't breathe.
“If you're watching this, the project has entered its final stage.”
He paused.
“You were not born naturally.”
Grace cried out.
I stared at the screen.
“That’s impossible.”
My grandfather continued.
“You were created.”
Adrian stepped backward.
“No…”
My grandfather smiled.
“Subject L-16.”
The room went silent.
Grace looked at me.
“Luca…”
I felt like the floor had disappeared.
My whole life was manufactured.
My childhood.
My scars.
My memories.
My family.
Everything.
Then the video showed one final image.
A woman lying in a hospital bed.
Pregnant.
It was my mother.
Beside her stood my grandfather.
But she wasn't pregnant with me.
She was pregnant with another child.
Two embryos.
My grandfather spoke.
“One survived.”
The screen changed.
SUBJECT L-16: LUCA
SUBJECT L-17: ADRIAN
I turned toward Adrian.
He stared at me.
“We weren't brothers by accident.”
May you like
My blood ran cold.
“We were twins.”
