CHAPTER 9 — THE FIFTH CHILD
The photograph slipped from Julian's fingers.
It landed face-up on the concrete floor.
Nobody moved.
The words on the back seemed to glow beneath the dim underground lights.
THE FOURTH WAS NEVER THE LAST.
Emily stared at Julian.
"You said your name is Julian."
The boy nodded.
"Yes."
"And you're Richard's son."
Julian looked toward Eleanor.
"I was."
Eleanor's face twisted with pain.
"What do you mean?"
Julian's eyes filled with tears.
"Richard told me he wasn't my father."
Daniel stepped closer.
"Then who was?"
Julian looked at Emily.
"Thomas."
Thomas.
The name seemed to echo through the underground chamber.
Emily's eyes widened.
"But Thomas was Margaret's husband."
Julian shook his head.
"He wasn't."
Adrian suddenly turned pale.
"Julian..."
The boy looked at him.
"You knew?"
Adrian remained silent.
Daniel noticed.
"You knew?"
Adrian finally nodded.
"Yes."
Daniel's jaw tightened.
"How?"
"Because I was there."
"When?"
"When Julian was born."
Emily looked at Julian.
"How old are you?"
Julian hesitated.
"Thirty."
Daniel's face went pale.
"Then you're the same age as us."
Julian nodded.
"But you look ten."
Julian lowered his eyes.
"That's because Richard kept me here."
Emily felt sick.
"For thirty years?"
"Not here."
Julian pointed toward the room.
"Not always."
He touched the wall.
"Sometimes upstairs."
Emily looked around.
"Why?"
"Because Richard wanted to study us."
"Study?"
Julian nodded.
"He wanted to know what would happen if children grew up without knowing who their parents were."
Daniel stared.
"Why?"
"Because he believed blood could be controlled."
Adrian stepped forward.
"Julian, stop."
The boy looked at him.
"You told them there were four."
Adrian's face hardened.
"There were."
Julian shook his head.
"There were five."
Emily's heart stopped.
"No."
Julian pointed toward the photograph.
"The fifth child."
Daniel picked it up.
The baby's face had been scratched away.
"Who is this?"
Julian didn't answer.
Eleanor suddenly whispered:
"That's impossible."
Julian looked at her.
"You knew."
Eleanor shook her head.
"I didn't."
"You saw her."
"Her?"
Emily froze.
"The fifth child was a girl?"
Julian nodded.
"Yes."
"Where is she?"
Julian looked at Emily.
"You know her."
Emily's blood turned cold.
"Who?"
Julian slowly raised his hand.
And pointed at Eleanor.
Emily stared.
"Mother?"
Eleanor looked horrified.
"No."
Julian whispered:
"The fifth child is Eleanor."
Silence.
Daniel stared.
"What?"
Julian nodded.
"She wasn't born into the Whitmore family."
Emily shook her head.
"That doesn't make sense."
Julian looked at her.
"Eleanor was adopted."
Eleanor closed her eyes.
"Stop."
"She was adopted by Richard's father."
"No."
"He raised her."
"No."
"He trained her."
Eleanor screamed:
"Stop!"
Her voice echoed through the underground room.
Everyone froze.
Eleanor was crying.
Julian stared at her.
"You remember now."
Eleanor shook her head.
"I was a child."
"Exactly."
Daniel looked at Eleanor.
"How old were you?"
Eleanor whispered:
"Seven."
Emily's heart sank.
"You were seven?"
Eleanor nodded.
"I was taken from my parents."
"By Richard's father?"
"Yes."
"Why?"
Eleanor looked at Julian.
"Because he wanted an heir."
Daniel frowned.
"But why would he need a seven-year-old?"
Eleanor's eyes darkened.
"Because he believed blood could be replaced."
Adrian nodded.
"That's where it started."
Emily stared at him.
"What?"
"The experiment."
He pointed toward the photograph.
"Richard didn't invent it."
"He inherited it."
"From his father."
Eleanor whispered:
"And I was the first."
Emily felt a chill.
"What did they do to you?"
Eleanor shook her head.
"I don't remember everything."
Julian interrupted.
"They erased it."
Eleanor stared at him.
"Who told you?"
"Richard."
"He lied."
"He showed me the records."
Julian walked toward the wall.
He pressed a hidden button.
A panel opened.
Inside were dozens of files.
Birth records.
Adoption papers.
Photographs.
Medical reports.
Emily pulled one out.
Her name was on it.
SUBJECT 01.
Daniel pulled another.
SUBJECT 02.
Adrian found one.
SUBJECT 03.
Julian held up his own.
SUBJECT 04.
Emily looked at the empty slot beside Julian's file.
SUBJECT 05.
Daniel's eyes widened.
"The fifth child."
Julian nodded.
"Yes."
"Where is she?"
Julian looked at Eleanor.
"She escaped."
Eleanor's face went white.
"She didn't escape."
Julian shook his head.
"She did."
"How?"
"Someone helped her."
"Who?"
Julian hesitated.
"Margaret."
Emily's heart stopped.
"My mother?"
Julian nodded.
"Margaret found the fifth child."
"Where?"
"Here."
Emily stared.
"This facility?"
"Yes."
"Then where did she take her?"
Julian looked toward the ceiling.
"Outside."
"Where?"
"Somewhere Richard couldn't find."
Emily's voice trembled.
"Is she alive?"
Julian didn't answer.
Daniel stepped closer.
"Tell us."
Julian finally said:
"She is."
Emily closed her eyes.
Another impossible person alive.
Another lie.
Another secret.
Then she noticed something.
The fifth child's file was not empty.
It had a photograph attached.
Emily pulled it out.
She looked at the face.
Her breath stopped.
The girl looked familiar.
Very familiar.
Emily turned toward Eleanor.
"Who is she?"
Eleanor stared at the photograph.
Her expression changed.
"That's..."
She couldn't finish.
Emily looked closer.
The girl had the same eyes as Emily.
The same dark hair.
The same crescent-shaped birthmark.
Daniel stepped beside her.
"She looks like you."
Emily's fingers trembled.
Julian whispered:
"Because she's your twin."
Emily stared.
"No."
Julian nodded.
"You had a twin sister."
Daniel looked at Eleanor.
"You had twins?"
Eleanor shook her head.
"No."
Julian corrected her.
"Triplets."
Silence.
Emily couldn't breathe.
"Triplets?"
Julian nodded.
"You were the first."
He pointed at Daniel.
"He was the second."
Then at the photograph.
"She was the third."
Emily stared at the girl.
"What's her name?"
Julian looked down.
"Sarah."
Emily whispered:
"Sarah."
The name felt strangely familiar.
Then a memory flashed through her mind.
A little girl standing beside her.
Holding her hand.
Singing a lullaby.
Emily gasped.
"I remember her."
Daniel looked at her.
"What?"
"I remember Sarah."
The room fell silent.
Emily pressed her hands against her temples.
"We were little."
She closed her eyes.
"She was crying."
Daniel stared.
"I remember."
Adrian looked stunned.
"You both remember?"
Daniel nodded.
"We were in the red room."
Julian's expression changed.
"The red room."
Emily looked at him.
"What?"
Julian whispered:
"That's where Sarah disappeared."
Emily's eyes widened.
"What happened?"
Julian shook his head.
"I don't know."
"Who took her?"
"Richard."
"But you said Margaret helped her escape."
"Later."
Emily stepped closer.
"What happened first?"
Julian looked terrified.
"Richard found out the three of you remembered each other."
Daniel's face hardened.
"What did he do?"
"He separated you."
"And Sarah?"
Julian's eyes filled with tears.
"She refused."
Emily felt her heart break.
"What did she refuse?"
"She refused to forget you."
The room became silent.
Julian continued.
"Richard gave her a choice."
"What choice?"
"Forget Rose and Daniel..."
He swallowed.
"...or lose everything."
Emily whispered:
"She chose us."
Julian nodded.
"She did."
Daniel clenched his fists.
"Where is she now?"
Julian pointed toward the file.
"Look at the last page."
Emily opened it.
There was a handwritten note.
TRANSFERRED TO HOUSE 17.
Below it was an address.
Emily read it.
Her face went pale.
"I know this place."
Daniel looked at her.
"Where?"
"My childhood home."
Adrian stepped forward.
"No."
Emily nodded.
"Yes."
"The house where you grew up?"
"Yes."
Julian's face changed.
"Then Richard never lost her."
Emily looked at him.
"What do you mean?"
Julian whispered:
"He put Sarah in the house with you."
Emily stopped breathing.
"What?"
"She was there."
"When?"
"Your entire childhood."
Emily shook her head.
"I would've known."
Julian stared at her.
"Not if Richard erased your memory."
Daniel's face went pale.
"Then who did Emily grow up with?"
Julian didn't answer.
Instead, he pulled another photograph from the file.
He handed it to Emily.
It showed Emily at age six.
She was sitting on a porch.
Beside her stood another little girl.
Same face.
Same eyes.
Same birthmark.
Emily stared at the photograph.
Then she saw the woman standing behind them.
Her supposed mother.
Margaret.
Except there was something wrong.
Margaret was smiling at the camera.
But her hand was covering the little girl's mouth.
Emily's blood turned cold.
On the back of the photograph was one sentence:
SARAH NEVER LEFT THE HOUSE.
Emily dropped the photograph.
Then the lights suddenly went out.
A child's voice whispered from the darkness.
"Rose."
Emily froze.
The voice came again.
"Daniel."
Daniel turned.
Then:
"Julian."
The three siblings looked toward the same corridor.
A small figure stood at the end.
A girl.
Long dark hair.
White dress.
Bare feet.
Emily couldn't breathe.
The girl slowly stepped into the light.
She looked exactly like Emily.
Exactly.
The girl smiled.
"Why did you take so long?"
Emily whispered:
"Sarah?"
The girl nodded.
Then she looked toward Eleanor.
Her smile disappeared.
"You lied to them."
Eleanor began shaking.
Sarah raised one hand.
And pointed at her.
"You told them I was dead."
Eleanor whispered:
"I'm sorry."
Sarah's eyes filled with tears.
"You should be."
Then she turned toward Emily.
"Because I wasn't the only one you thought was dead."
Emily stared.
"What do you mean?"
Sarah looked behind them.
Someone was standing in the corridor.
A tall man.
Older.
Carrying a cane.
He stepped into the light.
Emily's heart stopped.
Thomas.
But Thomas was supposed to have been taken by Richard's men.
And the man standing there wasn't Thomas.
It was someone else.
Someone Emily had seen only once.
In an old family portrait.
The man who had started the entire experiment.
Richard Whitmore's father.
Still alive.
He smiled at them.
May you like
"Welcome home, children."
Then he locked the underground door from the outside.
