Chapter 2 - THE ROOM WITHOUT WINDOWSThe gunshot sent me crashing into the wall.
“LILY!”
I ran blindly toward her scream.
Ethan grabbed my shoulder.
“Not that way.”
“Get your hands off me!”
“If you open that door, they will kill her.”
I stopped.
My daughter screamed again.
“Daddy!”
Every instinct in me demanded that I charge forward.
But Ethan pulled me into a side corridor.
We slipped into a small room.
He locked the door.
“What is this place?”
“A containment facility.”
“For what?”
Ethan looked at me.
“Children.”
My stomach turned.
“What?”
“Not kidnapped children. Not exactly.”
He walked toward a metal cabinet.
Inside were folders.
Hundreds.
Each labeled with a child's name.
I pulled one free.
LILY MERCER. AGE 7.
I opened it.
The first page contained her medical history.
All of it.
Vaccinations.
Allergies.
Blood tests.
Hospital records.
Then I saw something that made my hands shake.
A genetic analysis.
At the bottom was a phrase highlighted in red.
SUBJECT POSSESSES UNIQUE MARKER.
I looked at Ethan.
“What is this?”
“You.”
I stared.
“What?”
“The marker didn't come from Sarah.”
My mouth went dry.
“It came from you.”
I laughed once.
A short, broken sound.
“That doesn't make sense.”
“It will.”
He opened another file.
Mine.
Daniel Mercer.
Age forty-two.
Born in Connecticut.
Father: Anthony Mercer.
Mother: deceased.
But beneath the normal information was another section.
One I had never seen.
PROJECT LUCENT
I stared at the words.
“What is Project Lucent?”
Ethan didn't answer.
Instead, he asked, “What does your company acquire?”
“Biotech companies. Software. Medical patents.”
“Your Chicago acquisition?”
“Vespera BioSystems.”
His face went pale.
“You need to cancel it.”
“I already did.”
“Good.”
“Why?”
“Because Vespera is not what you think it is.”
I flipped through the file.
Photos.
Children.
Medical equipment.
Brain scans.
Children sitting alone in white rooms.
“Jesus.”
“They call it developmental research.”
“What is it really?”
Ethan looked toward the locked door.
“They're searching for people who can survive a neurological procedure that kills almost everyone else.”
I stared at him.
“Why?”
“To control memory.”
My throat tightened.
“That sounds insane.”
“You'll think it sounds less insane when you understand why your daughter is here.”
“What did they do to Lily?”
“Nothing yet.”
“Yet?”
Ethan hesitated.
“They needed you to authorize something.”
“What?”
“A procedure.”
I felt my pulse hammering.
“What procedure?”
“To remove a memory.”
I stared at him.
“Whose memory?”
Ethan didn't answer.
The door behind us suddenly clicked.
Ethan spun around.
A woman's voice came through the intercom.
“Mr. Mercer.”
Sarah.
My wife.
“Bring Ethan to the third floor.”
I stared at the speaker.
Her voice was cold.
Emotionless.
Not the woman I had kissed that morning.
“Sarah,” I whispered.
Ethan grabbed my arm.
“Don't answer.”
Her voice came again.
“Daniel, I know you found the files.”
I stepped toward the speaker.
“What did you do to our daughter?”
Silence.
Then:
“Nothing.”
A pause.
“Because she's not our only child in that building.”
My heart stopped.
Ethan looked at me.
Then the intercom crackled.
“Daniel…”
Sarah's voice trembled now.
“There is something I need to tell you.”
A long pause.
“I lied about Ethan being dead.”
Another pause.
“I lied about why Lily comes here.”
May you like
Then her final words came through the speaker.
“And I lied about who her father is.”
Related Stories
