Chapter 14: The Secret Inside Clara
For several seconds, Ethan couldn't hear anything.
Not the collapsing ceiling.
Not Daniel shouting.
Not the alarms.
Not even the crying children.
He could only hear Margaret's final words repeating inside his head.
“The baby she's carrying isn't yours.”
Ethan looked at Clara.
She stood frozen beneath the emergency lights, one hand protectively covering her stomach.
Her eyes wouldn't meet his.
That was all it took.
Ethan's heart sank.
“Clara.”
She remained silent.
“Look at me.”
Slowly, she raised her eyes.
There were tears in them.
Ethan felt something inside him crack.
“Is it true?”
Clara's lips trembled.
“Ethan…”
“Is the baby mine?”
She closed her eyes.
That hesitation hurt more than any answer could have.
Daniel stepped forward.
“We don't have time for this. The building is collapsing.”
Ethan didn't move.
“Is the baby mine?”
Clara whispered:
“I don't know.”
The words hit him like a punch.
“You don't know?”
“I thought she was.”
“You thought?”
“I was told…”
“By who?”
Clara looked toward the rubble where Margaret had disappeared.
“Her.”
Ethan stared at her.
“Margaret told you?”
Clara nodded.
“She told me the baby was yours.”
“Then why did you look afraid when she said otherwise?”
Clara wiped her tears.
“Because she told me something else.”
“What?”
Clara looked at the three children.
Then at Ethan.
“She told me that if I ever told you the truth, you would lose all of them.”
Ethan's expression hardened.
“That's what she does. She lies.”
“I know.”
“Then why didn't you tell me?”
“Because I was afraid.”
“Of me?”
“No.”
Clara stepped closer.
“Of what they would do to you.”
Another explosion shook the building.
Daniel shouted:
“We have thirty seconds!”
Ethan grabbed Clara's hand.
“We're leaving.”
He didn't wait for an answer.
They ran.
The corridor behind them collapsed.
Concrete crashed down.
Sparks filled the air.
Daniel led the way.
“Left!”
They turned.
A metal door blocked the corridor.
Daniel kicked it.
Nothing.
Again.
Still nothing.
Ethan looked around.
“There's another way.”
His father pointed toward a ventilation shaft.
“Through there.”
“You're kidding.”
“No.”
Ethan lifted Lily.
His father carried Noah.
Clara followed with Ava.
They crawled through the narrow passage as the facility shook around them.
Behind them, something enormous collapsed.
Then silence.
They emerged into the snow behind the estate.
Ethan fell onto his knees.
Fresh air hit his lungs.
Clara collapsed beside him.
Lily ran into her arms.
Noah cried.
Ava stared silently at the burning estate.
Ethan looked back.
The old Parker house was engulfed in flames.
But Margaret was nowhere to be seen.
Daniel approached.
“She got out.”
Ethan looked at him.
“You saw her?”
“No.”
“Then how do you know?”
Daniel pointed toward the snow.
A trail of footprints disappeared into the forest.
Ethan stood.
“We have to find her.”
His father grabbed his arm.
“No.”
Ethan turned.
“She knows where my daughter came from.”
“She also knows where you came from.”
“Exactly.”
His father shook his head.
“That's why she's dangerous.”
Ava suddenly began crying.
Ethan looked down.
The baby was staring toward the forest.
Her tiny hand pointed at the trees.
Everyone followed her gaze.
A figure stood between the trees.
Margaret.
She was bleeding.
But she was smiling.
Then she turned and disappeared.
Ethan started after her.
Clara grabbed his coat.
“Don't.”
“Why?”
“She wants you to follow.”
Ethan stopped.
“How do you know?”
Clara looked terrified.
“Because I know where she's going.”
“Where?”
“The old chapel.”
His father went pale.
“What chapel?”
Clara looked at him.
“The one beneath the cemetery.”
Ethan stared.
“There is no chapel.”
“There is.”
Clara's voice became quieter.
“I've been there.”
“When?”
“Before I met you.”
Ethan's eyes narrowed.
“What?”
Clara swallowed.
“I don't remember everything.”
“Tell me.”
“I was driving home one night.”
She looked toward the burning estate.
“Margaret's car stopped beside mine.”
“She took me.”
Ethan's face hardened.
“Where?”
“To the chapel.”
“What happened?”
Clara shook her head.
“I don't know.”
“Try.”
She closed her eyes.
A memory surfaced.
A stone staircase.
Candles.
A wooden table.
Margaret.
Helena.
A doctor.
Clara lying unconscious.
And a machine.
Then another image.
A vial of blood.
A label.
ETHAN PARKER.
Clara opened her eyes.
“She used your blood.”
Ethan froze.
“For what?”
“I don't know.”
His father suddenly spoke.
“To create the baby.”
Everyone turned.
Ethan stared at him.
“What?”
His father looked at Clara.
“The pregnancy wasn't natural.”
Clara's face went white.
“No.”
“She used Ethan's genetic material.”
“Then the baby is mine.”
His father shook his head.
“Not completely.”
Ethan's confusion deepened.
“What does that mean?”
“She combined your DNA with something else.”
“What?”
His father looked toward Ava.
“The original sequence.”
Silence.
Ethan looked at Clara's stomach.
“The baby is a combination of me and…”
“Ava.”
Clara's face crumpled.
“They used Ava to create my baby?”
“Yes.”
Ava suddenly reached toward Clara's stomach.
The unborn baby kicked.
Ava smiled.
“She's awake.”
Everyone froze.
Ethan stared at her.
“What did you say?”
“She knows me.”
Clara placed her hand over her stomach.
The baby kicked again.
Then a strange sound came from Clara's body.
A faint heartbeat.
Not one.
Two.
Ethan looked at the monitor Daniel had brought from the facility.
Daniel connected it.
The screen lit up.
One heartbeat.
Then another.
Then another.
Daniel's face went pale.
“That's impossible.”
“What?”
“There are three heartbeats.”
Clara stared at the screen.
“No…”
Ethan looked at her.
“Three?”
Daniel nodded.
“One is the baby.”
He pointed.
“The second is…”
He stopped.
“What?”
“Another fetus.”
Clara's face drained of color.
“No.”
Ethan looked at her.
“Twins?”
Daniel shook his head.
“No.”
He pointed to the third signal.
“That isn't a fetus.”
“What is it?”
Daniel looked toward Ava.
“It's a neural signal.”
Ethan frowned.
“What does that mean?”
Daniel whispered:
“Something is connected to the baby's brain.”
Clara stepped backward.
“Remove it.”
“We can't.”
“Then do something!”
Daniel shook his head.
“It's not an implant.”
Ethan's father suddenly understood.
“Oh God.”
“What?”
He looked at Ethan.
“The baby isn't connected to Ava.”
Ethan stared.
“Then what?”
His father pointed toward the forest.
“To Margaret.”
Silence.
Clara's breathing stopped.
“That's impossible.”
“No.”
His father shook his head.
“Margaret used the same technology on herself.”
Ethan's face hardened.
“She connected her consciousness to the baby.”
Clara covered her stomach.
“Get her out of me.”
His father shook his head.
“It's not that simple.”
“Why?”
“Because if Margaret is connected to the baby…”
He looked toward the burning estate.
“…then she can hear everything.”
Everyone became silent.
Ethan slowly looked around.
“Margaret?”
No response.
Then Clara's unborn baby kicked.
Once.
Twice.
Three times.
Clara gasped.
A woman's voice whispered from somewhere nearby.
“Hello, Ethan.”
Everyone froze.
It wasn't coming from the forest.
It wasn't coming from the house.
It was coming from Clara.
Clara's mouth had moved.
But the voice wasn't hers.
Ethan stared at his wife.
“Margaret?”
Clara's eyes opened.
For a moment, they were completely emotionless.
Then she smiled.
A cold, unfamiliar smile.
“Did you really think the fire would kill me?”
Ethan stepped backward.
“Get out of my wife.”
Margaret laughed through Clara's voice.
“I don't have to.”
She placed Clara's hand over her stomach.
“I'm already inside.”
Ethan's father raised his gun.
Margaret laughed again.
“Shoot me.”
He froze.
“You'll kill Clara.”
The gun slowly lowered.
Margaret smiled.
“Exactly.”
Then Clara suddenly screamed.
Her body stiffened.
The unborn baby began moving violently.
Ethan rushed toward her.
“Clara!”
She grabbed his hand.
Her eyes returned to normal.
“Ethan…”
“I'm here.”
“Don't let her…”
She gasped.
“Don't let her take…”
“What?”
Clara looked directly at him.
Then whispered:
“Our daughter isn't the only thing she's hiding.”
Ethan stared.
“What else?”
Clara's eyes widened in terror.
“She has another child.”
“Who?”
Before Clara could answer, a voice came from the darkness behind them.
A man's voice.
Calm.
Familiar.
“Me.”
Ethan turned.
A figure stepped out of the trees.
Michael.
But he wasn't alone.
Beside him stood a teenage boy.
Sixteen or seventeen years old.
Dark hair.
Same eyes as Ethan.
Same scar above the eyebrow.
Ethan stopped breathing.
Michael looked at him.
“This is the son Margaret never told you about.”
The boy stared at Ethan.
Then slowly smiled.
“Hello, brother.”
Ethan couldn't speak.
Clara covered her mouth.
Ava began crying.
Lily stepped behind Daniel.
And from somewhere inside Clara's stomach…
Margaret laughed.
The teenage boy looked at Ethan and whispered:
“She said you'd come looking for me eventually.”
Then he raised his hand.
In it was a photograph.
Ethan took one step forward.
The photograph showed Margaret holding the boy as a newborn.
But beside her stood Sarah, Ethan's biological mother.
And Sarah was alive.
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On the back of the photograph were six words:
SHE'S BEEN WAITING FOR YOU, ETHAN.
