Chapter 10 - The House Beneath the HouseElizabeth had been hit in the shoulder.
Alive.
Barely.
Sarah dragged her behind a steel cabinet while Hank covered the corridor.
Frank fired at Unit Three.
The copy disappeared again.
“Move!” Frank shouted.
They escaped through a maintenance tunnel.
An hour later, they reached Elizabeth's old house.
Sarah had not been there since childhood.
Nothing looked familiar.
Except one thing.
A red door.
She stared at it.
“No.”
Frank stopped behind her.
“You remember.”
Sarah touched the handle.
Memory struck her like lightning.
A hospital bed.
Her mother crying.
Frank holding a metal box.
A little girl screaming.
Then a needle.
Sarah pulled her hand away.
“What is behind that door?”
Elizabeth answered weakly.
“The basement.”
They opened it.
Stairs descended into darkness.
Hank went first.
The basement looked ordinary.
Old furniture.
Broken shelves.
Boxes.
Then Frank moved toward the far wall.
He pressed one brick.
A section of concrete opened.
Behind it was a hidden room.
Inside stood a glass cabinet.
Sarah stepped closer.
A small black notebook sat inside.
Frank said:
“That is the second archive.”
Sarah stared.
“A notebook?”
“Not everything has to look important.”
She opened it.
Every page contained handwritten names.
But there was something else.
Next to each name was a date.
And next to each date was a red mark.
Sarah recognized several names.
Judges.
Police chiefs.
Senators.
One was Robert Vale.
Another was Dale Cutter.
Another was Elias Monroe.
Then she saw a name she did not recognize.
MICHAEL MITCHELL.
Sarah frowned.
“Who is Michael?”
Frank looked away.
Sarah turned.
“Dad.”
He said nothing.
Elizabeth started crying.
“Michael was your older brother.”
Sarah froze.
“I don't have a brother.”
“You did.”
“What happened?”
“He died.”
“How?”
Elizabeth looked at Frank.
Frank finally answered.
“He didn't.”
Sarah stared.
“What?”
“Michael disappeared before you were born.”
“Why?”
Frank looked at the notebook.
“Because he was Unit Two.”
Sarah's hands trembled.
“But Unit Two was you.”
“No.”
Frank shook his head.
“I was Unit One.”
“Michael was Unit Two.”
“Then who is Unit Three?”
Nobody answered.
A slow clap echoed from the doorway.
Everyone turned.
Cutter stood there.
Alone.
Unarmed.
Smiling.
“You finally found it.”
Frank raised his weapon.
Cutter lifted both hands.
“Relax.”
Sarah stared at him.
“You killed Monroe.”
“No.”
“You shot Vale.”
“No.”
“You tried to kill us.”
Cutter smiled.
“Sometimes.”
Sarah narrowed her eyes.
“What do you want?”
Cutter looked at the notebook.
“To tell you what Frank won't.”
He stepped inside.
“Unit Three isn't your enemy.”
Frank fired.
Cutter ducked.
“You see?” Cutter said.
“He's still afraid of the truth.”
Sarah stepped between them.
“Tell me.”
Cutter looked at her.
“Your father didn't create the archive.”
Sarah frowned.
“Then who did?”
“Your brother.”
“Michael?”
Cutter nodded.
“Michael discovered the Directorate years before Frank did.”
Sarah stared.
“He built the second archive because he knew the government would destroy physical evidence.”
Cutter's expression hardened.
“So he buried the evidence inside people.”
Sarah whispered:
“Inside me.”
“Yes.”
Frank stepped forward.
“That wasn't his plan.”
“It became his plan.”
Cutter reached into his coat.
He pulled out a photograph.
A little boy standing beside Sarah.
She recognized herself.
And him.
Sarah gasped.
“Michael.”
The boy had the same eyes.
Same face.
But behind them stood another person.
Robert Vale.
Cutter looked at Sarah.
“You were both taken from the same facility.”
Sarah stared at the picture.
“When?”
“Twenty-six years ago.”
“But I was only born twenty-four years ago.”
Cutter smiled.
“Exactly.”
Sarah's stomach dropped.
Cutter whispered:
“You weren't born twenty-four years ago, Sarah.”
“You were created.”
The lights went out.
May you like
And someone locked the basement door from the outside.
THE SECOND ARCHIVE
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