Chapter 7 - Ryan opened the third door.Inside was a room unlike anything else beneath the house.
It looked almost normal.
A child's bedroom.
Wallpaper.
Books.
Stuffed animals.
A small bed.
Pictures on the wall.
Except there were no windows.
And one sentence had been written repeatedly across the wallpaper.
I AM NOT YOUR DAUGHTER.
Ryan stared at it.
Emily stood beside him.
“What is this?”
“I've never seen it.”
Ryan looked at the bed.
Someone had been sleeping there recently.
A small red ribbon lay on the pillow.
Ryan picked it up.
Lily used to wear red ribbons.
He remembered because Emily had tied them in her hair when she was little.
Ryan swallowed.
Then he noticed a small voice recorder.
He pressed play.
Lily's voice filled the room.
“Daddy, if you found this, you're close.”
Ryan's eyes burned.
“I couldn't tell you everything because they were listening.”
A pause.
“They told me you would come.”
Ryan looked at Emily.
Lily continued.
“There are two girls.”
Another pause.
“But only one of us is Lily.”
Ryan frowned.
“We look the same.”
The recording crackled.
“We have the same memories.”
Ryan stopped breathing.
“Sometimes I remember things that happened to her.”
The voice trembled.
“Sometimes she remembers things that happened to me.”
Emily whispered:
“What did they do to them?”
Ryan didn't answer.
The recorder continued.
“They made us believe we were the same person.”
The tape stopped.
Ryan stared at the device.
“What?”
Emily looked horrified.
A second recording started automatically.
Victor's voice.
“Identity is not biological.”
He spoke calmly.
“Identity is memory.”
Ryan felt sick.
Victor continued.
“The twins were separated before they formed stable personal identity. Their memories were recorded and selectively transferred.”
Ryan stepped backward.
“They experimented with them,” he whispered.
Emily nodded.
“Why?”
Victor's recording continued.
“The objective is simple. If a person's memories can be transferred, death becomes negotiable.”
Ryan stared at the speaker.
Then it clicked.
Lily.
Grace.
The girl beneath the floor.
The girl in the footage.
Maybe the question wasn't which child was his daughter.
Maybe both believed they were.
Ryan turned to Emily.
“Where is Victor?”
“I don't know.”
“Who was the stranger in our family photos?”
Emily's expression changed.
Ryan noticed.
“You do know.”
She hesitated.
“Victor had people everywhere.”
“That doesn't answer me.”
Emily finally whispered:
“Daniel.”
Ryan froze.
“He was working for Victor.”
“My brother?”
“Yes.”
“For how long?”
“Before you met me.”
Ryan stepped back.
Then the door behind them slammed shut.
Ryan spun around.
Emily was holding the handle.
“It's locked.”
Ryan tried it.
Nothing.
Then the room's monitor switched on.
A live feed appeared.
Noah was sitting in a chair.
His hands were tied.
Lily sat beside him.
Across from them stood a third child.
The same girl from the camera.
Ryan rushed toward the screen.
“NOAH!”
The children couldn't hear him.
A man entered the frame.
Daniel.
Ryan's anger exploded.
He hit the monitor.
“Daniel!”
The screen displayed a countdown.
00:59:59
Emily stared.
“What is that?”
Ryan looked at her.
“One hour.”
A speaker crackled.
Daniel's voice filled the room.
“Ryan.”
Ryan stepped toward it.
“Give them back.”
“You still don't understand.”
“Then explain.”
Daniel laughed softly.
“You're asking the wrong question.”
“What question?”
“Who is your daughter?”
Ryan stared at the screen.
Daniel continued.
“The correct question is…”
The countdown changed.
00:58:42
“…which one is your daughter?”
Ryan looked at the two girls.
Then at Noah.
Daniel's voice came again.
“One of those girls remembers everything.”
“The other remembers nothing.”
“But both believe they are Lily.”
Ryan felt his blood run cold.
“And in fifty-eight minutes…”
Daniel paused.
“One of them will remember why you were chosen.”
Ryan stepped closer.
“Chosen for what?”
Daniel smiled at the camera.
“To be their father.”
The screen went black.
May you like
Then a final sentence appeared.
YOUR MARRIAGE WAS NEVER AN ACCIDENT.
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