Chapter 10 - Victor did not resist when Ryan pointed the gun at him.That frightened Ryan more than resistance would have.
Victor simply stood there.
Calm.
Patient.
As if he had been waiting for this moment for years.
“Where are the children?”
Victor said nothing.
Ryan stepped closer.
“Where are Lily and Noah?”
Victor looked at Emily.
“You never told him the whole story.”
Emily cried.
“Don't.”
Victor smiled.
“Your wife has always been good at survival.”
Ryan's finger tightened around the trigger.
“Answer me.”
Victor finally looked at him.
“They are safe.”
“Where?”
“Somewhere you cannot reach.”
Ryan's anger rose.
“You built a laboratory beneath my house.”
Victor corrected him.
“Beneath your house was the last location.”
“The last?”
“We moved the project thirteen times.”
Ryan froze.
Victor continued.
“You thought you were living in a family home.”
“You were living above a laboratory.”
Ryan stared at him.
“Why me?”
Victor sighed.
“Because your family was unusually suitable.”
“My family?”
“Your mother.”
Ryan's eyes narrowed.
“What does she have to do with this?”
Victor stepped closer.
“She had a remarkable memory.”
Ryan said nothing.
“She could remember details with extraordinary accuracy. Faces. Voices. Places. Emotional states.”
Victor smiled.
“We inherited that trait from her.”
“Who inherited it?”
“Lily.”
Ryan felt his heart pound.
“And Grace?”
“Different expression.”
“What expression?”
Victor's smile disappeared.
“Adaptation.”
Ryan lowered the gun slightly.
“What does that mean?”
Victor looked at Emily.
“She knows.”
Ryan turned toward his wife.
Emily shook her head.
“Ryan, listen to me.”
“You knew.”
“I knew fragments.”
“You knew my mother was part of this.”
“Yes.”
“You knew the twins were experiments.”
“Yes.”
“You knew Daniel was alive.”
“Yes.”
“You knew Noah was part of it.”
“Yes.”
Ryan backed away.
“Then what don't you know?”
Emily started crying.
“The ending.”
Victor laughed.
“You still think there is an ending.”
Suddenly a siren sounded outside.
Victor looked toward the ceiling.
Ryan frowned.
“Did you call the police?”
“No.”
Victor smiled.
“Someone else did.”
The basement door burst open.
Police officers stormed in.
Ryan raised his hands.
But before the officers could reach Victor, every light came on.
Victor was gone.
Ryan stared.
Impossible.
A hidden panel behind the wall stood open.
The officers rushed through.
Nothing.
Just an empty tunnel.
Ryan turned toward Emily.
A detective approached.
“Mr. Mercer?”
“Yes.”
“I'm Detective Cole.”
“What happened?”
“We received an anonymous call about children being held beneath this address.”
Ryan's blood ran cold.
“Did the caller say who made the call?”
The detective shook his head.
“No.”
Then his expression changed.
“But we found something outside.”
He handed Ryan a clear evidence bag.
Inside was a small bracelet.
Ryan recognized it.
Lily had worn it at the hospital.
The bracelet had her name.
LILY MERCER.
Ryan stared.
“What does this mean?”
Detective Cole looked uncomfortable.
“We found it beside a second bracelet.”
He handed him another bag.
Ryan looked.
The second bracelet read:
GRACE MERCER.
Then the detective said:
“Mr. Mercer, there's something else.”
“What?”
“The DNA records.”
Ryan looked up.
“We ran the hospital records from seven years ago.”
“And?”
“Both bracelets belonged to the same biological child.”
Ryan didn't understand.
“What?”
“The DNA on both is identical.”
Ryan stared.
“That’s impossible.”
Detective Cole nodded.
“That’s what we thought.”
He took a breath.
“There weren't twins.”
Emily's face turned pale.
Ryan looked at her.
The detective continued.
“There was one baby.”
Ryan felt the room disappear around him.
“One baby?”
“Yes.”
“What happened to the second one?”
The detective looked toward the basement.
“We don't think there ever was a second baby.”
Emily suddenly collapsed.
Ryan caught her.
She whispered:
“We made them.”
Ryan stared at her.
“What?”
Emily cried.
“The twins were never twins.”
The detective looked confused.
Ryan didn't.
He finally understood why Victor had asked the wrong question.
Which one is your daughter?
Because maybe there had never been two girls.
Maybe there had always been one.
One child.
May you like
Two identities.
And somewhere beneath the house, that child had learned how to become both.
Related Stories
