Chapter 9 - NUMBER 615The basement door was steel.
No handle.
No keypad.
Only a biometric scanner.
Elena placed her palm against it.
The door opened.
Cold air rolled over them.
Marlo shivered.
The corridor beyond was white.
Too white.
Hospital white.
Doors lined both sides.
Each carried a number.
Marlo stopped.
“What are those?”
Elena didn't answer.
Elias opened one.
Inside was a small metal bed.
Nothing else.
On the wall was a photograph.
A child.
A medical record.
A name.
Marlo covered her mouth.
“These were rooms.”
“Yes.”
“For children.”
“Yes.”
“How many?”
“Elena?”
“Six hundred and fourteen.”
Marlo's knees weakened.
Then she heard something.
A humming sound.
A child's humming.
She ran.
Elias followed.
At the end of the corridor was Room 615.
The door was open.
Poppy sat inside on the floor.
Alive.
Unharmed.
Marlo dropped to her knees.
“Poppy!”
Her daughter ran into her arms.
Marlo held her so tightly Poppy laughed.
“You came!”
“Of course I came.”
“I knew you would.”
“Who took you?”
Poppy looked at Elena.
“She did.”
Elena's face tightened.
“You're not angry?”
Poppy shook her head.
“She gave me hot chocolate.”
Elena almost smiled.
Marlo stood.
“You took my daughter.”
“To keep Vale from taking her.”
“Why didn't you tell me?”
“Because nobody trusts a woman who admits she works for the enemy.”
Elias stepped closer.
“Where is Vale?”
“Above us.”
“Preston?”
“Gone.”
Marlo's expression changed.
“Gone where?”
Elena looked at Elias.
“He ran.”
“Why?”
“Because he finally remembered what he did.”
A monitor flickered on.
A recording began.
Preston appeared on screen.
His face was pale.
“I don't know who will see this.”
Marlo's stomach tightened.
“I signed the transfer papers eleven years ago.”
Elias stared.
Preston continued.
“I was told the child would be used for experimental treatment.”
He looked directly into the camera.
“I was told it was legal.”
His voice cracked.
“It wasn't.”
A second video appeared.
A hospital room.
A nurse.
A younger Margaret.
A younger Bianca.
A younger Elias.
And on the bed...
Marlo saw herself.
Pregnant.
She had never seen the footage.
Then another person entered the room.
A man.
Marlo stared.
She didn't recognize him.
Elena did.
“Dad.”
Elias froze.
Their father stood beside the bed.
Alive.
He looked directly at the camera.
Then the recording ended.
Marlo whispered,
“He was there.”
Elena nodded.
“Yes.”
“Why didn't he save me?”
“He tried.”
“Then what happened?”
Elena looked at the screen.
“He made a deal.”
“With Victor?”
“No.”
“With your mother.”
Margaret appeared in the doorway.
Everyone turned.
Her voice trembled.
“I made the deal.”
Marlo stared at her.
“What deal?”
Margaret closed her eyes.
“To keep Elias alive.”
Elias frowned.
“I wasn't dying.”
“You were.”
“When?”
“The night Poppy was born.”
Marlo looked at Poppy.
Her daughter was watching them.
Confused.
Margaret whispered,
“They didn't want Poppy because she was a match.”
She looked at Elias.
“They wanted her because she carried his genetic marker.”
Elias's face hardened.
“What marker?”
Margaret answered,
“The one that could expose the entire program.”
Then the lights went red.
Elena looked up.
“That's bad.”
A siren sounded.
“What does that mean?” Marlo asked.
Elena grabbed Poppy.
“Vale just triggered the lockdown.”
The steel doors slammed shut.
May you like
And from the intercom came Victor's voice.
“Now nobody leaves.”
