Chapter 12 - THE ORIGINAL PATIENTMy father led us deeper into Blackwood.

The walls changed.

Old hospital plaster became reinforced steel.

There were cameras everywhere.

We entered a room filled with monitors.

Hundreds of patient files appeared on screens.

I saw my name.

Then Emily's.

Then dozens of others.

Jonathan sat down.

“You think this is an organ trafficking operation.”

“It is.”

“Partly.”

He pulled up an old file.

A neurological study.

Patients underwent trauma, surgery, medication and memory manipulation.

“They wanted to discover whether memory could be altered.”

I stared at him.

“You experimented on people.”

“Yes.”

“Why?”

“To create witnesses who could not remember what they saw.”

My stomach turned.

The women weren't just victims.

They were test subjects.

People had been erased.

Their identities changed.

Their memories manipulated.

The hospital wasn't simply hiding crimes.

It was manufacturing forgetfulness.

Jonathan continued.

“You and Emily were the first successful long-term subjects.”

“Why us?”

“Because sisters share genetic markers.”

He looked at Emily.

“Your sister resisted the treatment.”

“You killed her.”

“No.”

Jonathan looked at me.

“She escaped.”

I froze.

“Ariana escaped?”

“Yes.”

“Then who died?”

Jonathan hesitated.

“Your mother.”

Emily covered her mouth.

“Our mother took her place.”

I felt tears burning my eyes.

“So Ariana was alive?”

Jonathan nodded.

“Until recently.”

My world shifted.

“Where is she?”

He didn't answer.

Instead he opened another file.

The subject was labeled:

PATIENT ZERO.

The photograph showed a young woman.

I stared.

It was Ariana.

Alive.

The date was recent.

She had been undergoing treatment.

“Where?”

Jonathan stood.

“She was recovered three months ago.”

“Where is she now?”

He looked toward a sealed glass room.

I turned.

There was someone inside.

A woman.

Pale.

Thin.

Connected to machines.

She lifted her head.

Her eyes met mine.

Emily screamed.

“Ariana!”

The woman inside looked between us.

She began crying.

I ran to the glass.

“You're alive.”

Ariana pressed her hand against the window.

She mouthed one word.

RUN.

Then every door locked.

Jonathan's expression changed.

“I am sorry.”

“What did you do?”

He looked at Ariana.

“She remembers everything.”

A red light began flashing.

The building entered lockdown.

Jonathan turned toward us.

“Because she remembers the one thing that can destroy all of us.”

“What?”

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He whispered:

“The names.”