Chapter 9 - The world seemed to stop.Ryan stared at the screen.
Noah looked terrified.
Daniel stood behind him.
“What did you do to my son?”
Daniel shook his head.
“I didn't do anything.”
Ryan shouted:
“Then what did he mean?”
Daniel looked at Noah.
“He remembers.”
Emily whispered:
“No.”
Ryan turned toward her.
“Remembers what?”
Emily shook her head.
“Noah is Noah.”
Daniel laughed.
“That is what you were told.”
Ryan stared.
Emily looked broken.
“Noah was born normally.”
“Was he?”
She turned toward Daniel on the monitor.
“Stop.”
Daniel leaned closer to the camera.
“Tell him.”
Emily couldn't.
Ryan grabbed her shoulders.
“Tell me.”
She closed her eyes.
“There was a complication.”
“With Noah?”
“Yes.”
“What complication?”
“He was born without a heartbeat.”
Ryan froze.
He remembered the delivery room.
He remembered Emily screaming.
He remembered doctors rushing around.
He remembered being told the baby had stopped breathing.
Then the doctor announcing a heartbeat.
Ryan had thought it was a miracle.
Emily had thought so too.
Or had she?
“What happened?”
Emily whispered:
“They brought him back.”
Ryan said nothing.
Daniel corrected her.
“They replaced him.”
Ryan looked at the screen.
“What does that mean?”
Daniel smiled.
“You've heard of memory transfer.”
Ryan's stomach twisted.
“They transferred something into him?”
“Someone.”
Emily screamed:
“Daniel, stop!”
The screen flickered.
Noah looked into the camera.
“Dad…”
Ryan stepped closer.
“I'm here.”
Noah began crying.
“I remember the room.”
“What room?”
“The white room.”
Ryan looked at Emily.
Noah continued.
“They put wires on my head.”
“You were a newborn.”
“I know.”
Ryan felt sick.
Noah pressed his eyes shut.
“I remember another little boy.”
Ryan whispered:
“What boy?”
“He was crying.”
“Who?”
“I don't know.”
Noah suddenly held his head.
Daniel grabbed him.
“That's enough.”
Ryan yelled:
“LET HIM GO!”
Daniel looked calm.
“Your son wasn't the beginning of the experiment.”
He glanced at Noah.
“He was the correction.”
Ryan stared.
“Correction?”
Daniel nodded.
“The twins developed a problem.”
“What problem?”
“They both remembered the same things.”
Ryan's blood ran cold.
“So?”
Daniel smiled.
“They started remembering people who were supposed to be dead.”
Ryan thought of himself.
Daniel.
Victor.
The hospital.
Emily.
Then he understood.
“What did they remember?”
Daniel said:
“Your mother.”
Ryan froze.
His mother had died when he was fourteen.
The official cause was an aneurysm.
Daniel continued.
“Your mother didn't die naturally.”
Ryan stepped closer.
“What are you saying?”
“She discovered what Victor was doing.”
Emily looked at Ryan.
“She tried to expose him.”
Ryan stared.
Daniel continued.
“She was killed because of it.”
Ryan's breath stopped.
“You knew?”
Daniel nodded.
“I was there.”
Ryan's rage exploded.
“You watched?”
“I was sixteen.”
“You watched her die?”
“I tried to save her.”
“Liar.”
Daniel said nothing.
Noah suddenly looked directly into the camera.
“Dad.”
Ryan stared.
Noah whispered:
“Grandpa is coming.”
Emily's face went white.
“Victor.”
The lights in the basement flickered.
Then the entire house went dark.
Ryan heard the front door open.
Footsteps.
Slow.
Measured.
Coming down the stairs.
Emily grabbed Ryan's arm.
“Don't move.”
Ryan reached for the gun.
A man's voice echoed from the darkness.
“Ryan.”
Victor.
He appeared at the bottom of the stairs.
Older than Ryan remembered.
But very much alive.
Victor smiled.
“It's been a long time.”
Ryan raised the gun.
“You killed my mother.”
Victor looked amused.
“No.”
He stepped forward.
“Your brother did.”
Ryan's gun shook.
Daniel's face appeared on the monitor.
Victor turned toward it.
Then back to Ryan.
“Daniel never understood why.”
Ryan stared.
Victor smiled.
“Because your mother wasn't investigating the project.”
He paused.
“She was one of the first subjects.”
Ryan felt the blood drain from his face.
His mother had known Victor.
She had been part of his experiments.
Then Victor looked toward the floor.
“And your daughter isn't beneath this house anymore.”
Ryan turned.
The basement was empty.
Lily was gone.
May you like
Victor smiled.
“She is with her sister.”
Related Stories
