Chapter 15: The Woman Behind the Photograph
Ethan stared at the photograph.
His hands were shaking.
Sarah.
His biological mother.
Alive.
The woman he had mourned without ever knowing her.
The woman Margaret had claimed was dead.
The woman whose existence had been buried beneath twenty years of lies.
And now a teenage boy was standing in front of him, holding proof that she had survived.
“Where is she?”
The boy didn't answer.
Ethan stepped closer.
“I asked you where my mother is.”
The boy's eyes remained fixed on him.
“She told me you'd ask that first.”
“Who?”
“Sarah.”
Ethan's heart slammed against his ribs.
“She really is alive?”
“Yes.”
“Where?”
The boy glanced toward the burning estate.
“Not here.”
Michael finally spoke.
“Ethan, we have to move.”
Ethan ignored him.
“Who is this boy?”
The boy answered himself.
“My name is Adrian.”
Ethan stared.
“Adrian what?”
“Cross.”
Silence.
Ethan's face hardened.
“Cross.”
Adrian nodded.
“Margaret's grandson.”
Ethan looked toward Clara.
“Another child.”
Clara shook her head.
“No.”
Adrian looked at her.
“She knows.”
Ethan's eyes narrowed.
“What does she know?”
Adrian took a step forward.
“The baby you're carrying isn't Margaret's first attempt.”
Clara's hand moved protectively over her stomach.
“What do you mean?”
“She tried before.”
“When?”
“Sixteen years ago.”
Ethan stared at him.
“You?”
Adrian nodded.
“I was born with the same sequence.”
“Then why did Margaret hide you?”
“Because I failed.”
Ethan frowned.
“Failed what?”
“The memory test.”
Daniel stepped forward.
“What memory test?”
Adrian looked at him.
“They wanted to know if a child could remember genetic memories before developing normal memories.”
“And?”
“I remembered.”
Daniel's expression changed.
“So they couldn't control you.”
“No.”
Adrian looked at Ethan.
“They tried to erase me.”
Ethan's stomach tightened.
“But it didn't work.”
“No.”
“Why?”
Adrian pointed at Ava.
“Because she was there.”
Everyone looked at the baby.
Ava was staring at Adrian.
She slowly reached toward him.
Adrian walked closer.
The moment his finger touched hers, Ava stopped crying.
Then she smiled.
Adrian's eyes filled with tears.
“I've been waiting for her.”
Ethan stepped between them.
“Why?”
“Because she remembers what happened to my mother.”
Ethan froze.
“Sarah?”
Adrian nodded.
“She was the only person who ever escaped the program.”
“Then why did she leave?”
“She didn't.”
Adrian looked toward Clara.
“She was taken.”
“By Margaret?”
“No.”
“Then who?”
Adrian's face became pale.
“By Helena.”
Ethan looked back toward the burning estate.
“But Helena is dead.”
Adrian shook his head.
“No.”
Daniel stepped forward.
“We saw her fall.”
“You saw her get shot.”
“Yes.”
“That doesn't mean she died.”
Ethan's mind raced.
“Where is Helena now?”
Adrian looked toward the mountain.
“Under the cemetery.”
Ethan stared.
“The chapel.”
Adrian nodded.
“That's where Sarah is.”
Clara suddenly doubled over.
Ethan caught her.
“Clara?”
She was shaking.
“She can hear us.”
“Who?”
“Margaret.”
Clara looked at him.
“She knows where we're going.”
A cold voice came from behind them.
“Of course I do.”
Everyone turned.
Margaret stood at the edge of the forest.
Blood covered one side of her face.
She looked exhausted.
But she was smiling.
Ethan raised his gun.
“Stay there.”
Margaret laughed.
“You still think you can stop me?”
“I can.”
“No.”
She looked at Clara.
“Your wife can.”
Clara froze.
Margaret continued.
“She has something inside her that you don't understand.”
Ethan tightened his grip.
“Leave her alone.”
“I can't.”
“Why?”
“Because the baby is almost ready.”
Clara looked horrified.
“Ready for what?”
Margaret smiled.
“Birth.”
Ethan stared.
“She isn't due for weeks.”
“Not anymore.”
Clara suddenly cried out.
Pain shot through her abdomen.
Ethan caught her.
“Clara!”
Her breathing became shallow.
Daniel rushed toward her.
“She's going into labor.”
Ethan stared.
“Now?”
Daniel nodded.
“But that's impossible.”
Margaret smiled.
“Nothing is impossible anymore.”
Adrian stepped forward.
“Don't let her take the baby.”
Margaret looked at him.
“You always were a disappointment.”
Adrian's expression hardened.
“You're afraid of me.”
Margaret laughed.
“I'm afraid of nothing.”
Adrian raised the photograph.
“You're afraid of Sarah.”
Margaret's smile disappeared.
For the first time, everyone saw real fear in her eyes.
Adrian turned toward Ethan.
“She's under the chapel.”
Margaret shouted:
“NO!”
The forest suddenly erupted with gunfire.
Michael tackled Ethan to the ground.
Daniel fired back.
Adrian dragged Clara behind a tree.
Lily held Noah.
Ava began crying.
Ethan looked toward Margaret.
She was running.
Not toward them.
Toward the chapel.
“She's going after Sarah.”
Ethan stood.
“We're going too.”
Daniel grabbed his shoulder.
“Your wife is in labor.”
Ethan looked at Clara.
She was pale.
Terrified.
But determined.
“Go.”
“What?”
“Find your mother.”
Ethan shook his head.
“I won't leave you.”
“You have to.”
“No.”
Clara grabbed his hand.
“If Sarah is alive, she knows how to stop this.”
Ethan hesitated.
Clara whispered:
“Bring her back.”
Ethan kissed her forehead.
“I will.”
He turned toward Daniel.
“Protect Clara.”
Daniel nodded.
“I will.”
Ethan, Adrian, and Michael ran toward the cemetery.
The snow was falling harder.
The chapel appeared through the trees.
An old stone building.
Half-buried beneath snow.
Its doors were open.
Inside, candles were burning.
Ethan stopped.
“Who's lighting these?”
Adrian shook his head.
“She knew we were coming.”
They entered.
A narrow staircase descended beneath the chapel.
Ethan followed Adrian.
At the bottom was a steel door.
Adrian entered a code.
The door opened.
Inside was a laboratory.
Old.
Abandoned.
But still powered.
Ethan saw photographs covering the walls.
Children.
Families.
Birth certificates.
Then he saw one photograph that made him stop.
Sarah.
Holding Ethan as a newborn.
Beside her was his biological father.
And Margaret.
But someone else stood in the corner.
A teenage girl.
Ethan stared.
“Who is that?”
Adrian looked at the photograph.
“My mother.”
Ethan froze.
“What?”
Adrian pointed.
“The woman standing beside Sarah.”
Ethan looked closer.
The girl had the same eyes as Adrian.
But she was much younger.
“That's not possible.”
“She was seventeen.”
“Your mother was seventeen?”
“Yes.”
“Then who is she?”
Adrian looked at him.
“Helena's daughter.”
Ethan's mind struggled to keep up.
“Your mother is Helena's daughter?”
“Yes.”
“Then your mother is…”
Adrian nodded.
“Sarah's sister.”
Ethan stared at the photograph.
Sarah had a sister.
A sister who had apparently been involved in the program.
A sister who was Adrian's mother.
And suddenly he understood why Margaret had been afraid.
“Where is your mother now?”
Adrian pointed toward another door.
“Inside.”
Ethan opened it.
A woman sat in a chair.
Older.
Weak.
Her hands were trembling.
Her hair was gray.
She slowly looked up.
Ethan stopped breathing.
The woman looked exactly like the teenage girl in the photograph.
Adrian ran to her.
“Mom.”
She looked at him.
Then at Ethan.
Her eyes filled with tears.
“Ethan.”
He couldn't move.
“You know me?”
She smiled sadly.
“I knew you before you knew yourself.”
“Where is Sarah?”
The woman looked toward the final door.
“She is waiting.”
Ethan's heart pounded.
He opened the door.
A woman stood by the window.
Her back was turned.
She was older now.
Her hair was streaked with gray.
But Ethan recognized her immediately.
He had spent twenty years staring at an old photograph of her.
“Mom?”
The woman slowly turned.
Tears filled her eyes.
“Ethan.”
He couldn't speak.
Sarah stepped forward.
“My son.”
Ethan broke.
He crossed the room and pulled her into his arms.
For a moment, the entire world disappeared.
He was ten years old again.
He was waiting beside a coffin.
He was asking why his mother had left.
He was crying into Margaret's arms.
All those years.
All those lies.
Sarah held him tightly.
“I tried to come back.”
“Why didn't you?”
“They wouldn't let me.”
“Who?”
“Helena.”
Ethan pulled away.
“Where is she?”
Sarah looked terrified.
“She isn't dead.”
“I know.”
“No.”
Sarah shook her head.
“You don't understand.”
She pointed toward the ceiling.
“Helena isn't in the laboratory.”
“Then where?”
Sarah whispered:
“She is inside the machine.”
Ethan froze.
Sarah continued:
“Helena transferred her consciousness into the system years ago.”
Adrian stepped forward.
“That's why she can't die.”
Sarah nodded.
“She doesn't need a body anymore.”
Ethan's blood turned cold.
“Then how do we stop her?”
Sarah looked at him.
“You can't.”
“Why?”
“Because the machine has already chosen its next host.”
Ethan stared.
“Who?”
Sarah's eyes moved toward the chapel entrance.
“Your unborn daughter.”
At that exact moment, Ethan's phone rang.
It was Daniel.
Ethan answered.
“What happened?”
Daniel's voice was frantic.
“Ethan, get back here.”
“What happened?”
“Clara's labor has started.”
“I know.”
“No.”
Daniel's breathing was heavy.
“That's not the worst part.”
Ethan froze.
“What?”
“We have a problem.”
“What problem?”
Daniel's voice dropped to a whisper.
“The baby isn't coming out.”
“Why?”
“Because something is holding her inside.”
Ethan's blood froze.
Then he heard another voice on the call.
Clara.
She was screaming.
And beneath her scream…
was Margaret's laughter.
Ethan looked at Sarah.
Sarah's face turned white.
“She found her.”
Ethan gripped the phone.
“Who?”
Sarah whispered:
“Helena.”
Then every light in the chapel went out.
And a woman's voice came from the darkness.
“Welcome home, Ethan.”
Helena.
She was speaking through the walls.
Through the machines.
Through the speakers.
And then she said the one thing that made Ethan's blood run cold:
“Your daughter is ready to be born.”
A pause.
“But she won't be born to you.”
May you like
The chapel doors slammed shut.
And somewhere far away, Clara screamed Ethan's name.
