CHAPTER 3: SUBJECT EIGHT
The room fell into absolute silence.
No one spoke.
No one even seemed to breathe.
Daniel stared at the handwritten note pinned to the center of the corkboard.
SUBJECT LILY HAS BEEN COMPROMISED. PREPARE SUBJECT EIGHT.
Fresh ink.
Still slightly glossy.
It had been written only hours ago.
Not years.
Today.
Whoever was behind this operation knew something had gone wrong.
And they had already moved on.
"Photograph everything."
Daniel's voice cut through the silence.
"No one touches anything unless forensics clears it."
The officers immediately began sealing off the room.
Evidence markers appeared one after another.
Camera.
Chair.
Notebook.
Hard drives.
The board.
Every detail mattered now.
Daniel pulled on a fresh pair of gloves before lifting the notebook again.
The handwriting was precise, almost elegant.
No emotion.
No hesitation.
The pages were organized like scientific research.
Not the journal of a disturbed individual.
The work of someone methodical.
Someone educated.
He flipped to another page.
Session 39
Objective: Eliminate confidence.
Method:
Remove mirrors.
Discourage standing attempts.
Repeat verbal reinforcement:
"Your legs are broken."
"Standing hurts people."
"Good girls stay seated."
Outcome:
Subject cried for twenty-two minutes. Compliance improved.
Daniel's stomach tightened.
He kept reading.
Session 81
Introduce fear association.
When Subject attempts to stand:
Raise voice.
Remove food.
Isolate overnight.
Outcome:
Subject apologized for trying to walk.
Emma stepped beside him.
"She apologized..."
Daniel nodded grimly.
"They didn't just lie to her."
"They rewrote her reality."
One of the forensic technicians called from across the room.
"Investigator Carter."
"You should see this."
He walked over.
The technician pointed toward a cabinet hidden behind the recording lights.
Inside were rows of medical files.
Each bearing the logo of different hospitals.
Different states.
Different doctors.
At first glance they looked authentic.
Then Daniel noticed something impossible.
The signatures.
The same handwriting appeared beneath every doctor's name.
Forged.
Every diagnosis.
Every recommendation.
Every disability assessment.
Fake.
Someone had built an entire fictional medical history for Lily.
Another technician opened a locked drawer.
His expression immediately changed.
"There are passports."
Daniel looked inside.
Not one.
Nine.
Each belonging to a different child.
Different names.
Different birthdays.
Different photographs.
Lily's passport listed her birthplace as somewhere she'd never lived.
Another child...
Missing from Ohio.
Another...
Missing from Arizona.
Another...
Listed as deceased.
Emma whispered,
"This isn't fostering."
Daniel answered quietly.
"No."
"It's trafficking."
Just then, Daniel's phone vibrated.
Caller ID:
Children's Hospital.
He answered immediately.
"Carter."
The voice on the other end belonged to Dr. Helen Brooks.
"We've completed Lily's preliminary examination."
"And?"
A pause.
Then...
"You need to sit down."
"I'm standing."
"That'll have to do."
She took a slow breath.
"Her legs are perfectly healthy."
Daniel closed his eyes.
He already suspected.
But hearing it confirmed made the truth somehow worse.
"What else?"
"She's severely malnourished."
"Vitamin deficiencies."
"Muscle atrophy from prolonged inactivity."
"Psychological trauma."
"But neurologically?"
"Normal."
"So she could've walked all these years?"
"Yes."
Silence.
Then Dr. Brooks spoke again.
"Daniel..."
"There's something else."
His pulse quickened.
"What?"
"We found evidence of repeated sedation."
His grip tightened around the phone.
"Sedation?"
"Regular injections."
"Small doses."
"Over years."
"Someone wanted her sleepy."
"Compliant."
"Easier to control."
Daniel slowly lowered the phone.
The room around him suddenly felt much smaller.
Three years.
Three years of chemical control.
Three years of lies.
Three years stolen.
Outside...
Rain began falling.
Soft at first.
Then harder.
Thunder rolled across the sky.
One officer entered the basement carrying a sealed evidence bag.
"We found this in the garage."
Inside lay dozens of children's shoes.
Tiny sneakers.
Sandals.
Winter boots.
Different sizes.
Different brands.
Some muddy.
Some nearly new.
Daniel frowned.
"Lily only wears one size."
The officer nodded.
"There are at least eight different sizes here."
Eight.
Daniel looked back at the note.
Subject Eight.
Not a name.
A number.
Meanwhile...
At Children's Hospital...
Lily sat wrapped in a blanket, staring at the television without really seeing it.
Emma sat nearby.
Neither had spoken for several minutes.
Finally Emma smiled gently.
"Would you like some hot chocolate?"
Lily hesitated.
"Can I?"
"Of course."
"...Even if I didn't earn it?"
Emma froze.
"What do you mean?"
Lily looked confused.
"We only got treats when we were good."
"We?"
The little girl's eyes widened.
She immediately covered her mouth.
Too late.
Emma leaned closer.
"Lily..."
"You said 'we.'"
The girl looked terrified.
She shook her head.
"I wasn't supposed to say that."
Emma kept her voice calm.
"It's okay."
"Were there other children?"
Lily began crying.
"I can't."
"She said bad things happen."
"No one's going to hurt you."
"You don't know her."
Emma reached for Lily's hand.
The child grabbed it desperately.
Then whispered six words.
"So many kids never came back."
Emma's blood ran cold.
Across town...
The foster mother sat inside an interrogation room.
Still calm.
Still composed.
Detective Alvarez entered carrying a thick folder.
He placed it on the table.
"We searched your house."
No response.
"We found the recording room."
Silence.
"We found Lily's files."
Nothing.
"We found forged medical records."
The woman smiled faintly.
"You think you understand."
Alvarez leaned forward.
"Help me."
"Help those children."
She slowly looked up.
"You've already lost."
"What does Subject Eight mean?"
No answer.
"Who are you working for?"
Still silence.
Then...
She laughed.
Not loudly.
Softly.
Almost sadly.
"You keep calling Lily a victim."
"She wasn't."
Alvarez frowned.
"What does that mean?"
The woman tilted her head.
"She was the lucky one."
Before Alvarez could respond...
She suddenly began coughing violently.
Blood splattered across the interrogation table.
The guards rushed inside.
"Medic!"
She collapsed to the floor.
Foam formed at the corner of her mouth.
Poison.
She had taken poison before the arrest.
Within seconds...
She was dead.
Without revealing a single name.
Back in the basement...
One forensic technician carefully powered on a computer recovered from the recording studio.
The screen flickered to life.
A password prompt appeared.
Then, unexpectedly...
It unlocked automatically.
Someone had disabled the security.
The desktop contained only one folder.
Its name was:
NEXT DELIVERY
Daniel opened it.
Inside were eight files.
Seven had green checkmarks.
The eighth flashed red.
He clicked the red file.
A child's school photograph appeared.
A smiling little boy with messy brown hair.
Below the picture were four lines of text.
Name: Ethan Cole
Age: 6
Location: Brookside Elementary
Status: Acquisition scheduled tomorrow.
Daniel's heart lurched.
Tomorrow.
The operation hadn't ended.
It was already targeting another child.
He looked at the officers.
"We move now."
As they rushed from the basement, the computer screen suddenly changed on its own.
The folder closed.
A black screen appeared.
White letters slowly typed themselves across the monitor.
YOU WERE NEVER SUPPOSED TO FIND LILY.
Then another line appeared.
NOW WE KNOW WHO YOU ARE.
The screen went black.
May you like
Somewhere...
Someone was watching them.
