Chapter 7 - The RecordingWhen the lights returned, Emily was gone.
Sarah ran toward the door.
Locked.
Her father was on the floor again.
Her mother sat beside him.
“Where did she go?”
Her mother shook her head.
“I don't know.”
Sarah looked at the USB drive in her hand.
A laptop sat on a desk nearby.
She inserted the drive.
One file appeared.
NIGHT_17_FINAL.mp4
Sarah clicked it.
Static.
Then a date.
Twenty-three years earlier.
The video showed the same mansion.
A younger Richard walked into the foyer carrying a baby.
Another man followed him.
Sarah's father.
He looked terrified.
Richard placed the baby on a table.
Then Sarah's mother entered.
She screamed.
Sarah paused the video.
“That's me.”
Her mother shook her head.
“No.”
Sarah looked at her.
“What?”
“That isn't you.”
Sarah looked again.
The baby had a small birthmark on her wrist.
Sarah looked at her own wrist.
No birthmark.
Her mother's face collapsed.
“That was Emily.”
Sarah's heart pounded.
“Then where was I?”
Her mother whispered:
“Outside.”
The video continued.
Sarah's father carried another baby into the room.
This one had no birthmark.
Richard looked at him.
“Which one?”
Her father answered.
“Sarah.”
Richard smiled.
Then the screen froze.
Sarah replayed the scene.
“What did they mean?”
Her mother closed her eyes.
“They were deciding which child would remain free.”
Sarah felt cold.
“And they chose me.”
Her mother nodded.
“Why?”
“Because Emily was sick.”
Sarah stared.
“What?”
“She had a condition.”
“Was she dying?”
“No.”
Her mother looked toward the door.
“She was a carrier.”
“For what?”
Her mother didn't answer.
Sarah pressed her.
“For what?”
Her mother whispered:
“A genetic trait the Foundation wanted.”
Sarah stepped backward.
“This is insane.”
The laptop suddenly played another recording.
This one was recent.
Emily stood in a dark room.
She was speaking to someone off camera.
“Sarah thinks she escaped the family.”
A male voice replied:
“She never escaped.”
Sarah recognized the voice.
Richard.
Emily smiled.
“She was raised outside the program.”
Sarah's breath caught.
Program.
“What program?”
The recording continued.
“She's the control.”
Emily looked directly into the camera.
“And I'm the experiment.”
Sarah's mother began sobbing.
Sarah turned toward her.
“You knew.”
Her mother covered her face.
Then the laptop screen went black.
A message appeared.
YOU HAVE 30 MINUTES.
Sarah stared.
A countdown started.
29:59.
29:58.
Her father suddenly grabbed her wrist.
“Get out.”
“Why?”
“Because when it reaches zero…”
He swallowed.
“They'll erase everyone in this house.”
Sarah looked toward the sealed doors.
“Who are they?”
May you like
Her father whispered:
“The people who built the cameras.”
