Chapter 11 - The Truth About Dad"Dad!"
He hit the ground.
Blood spread across his shirt.
Maya fired back.
The garage erupted in gunfire.
We ran.
Jake pulled Dad behind a vehicle.
"He's alive."
I pressed my hands against the wound.
"Stay with me."
Dad opened his eyes.
"There isn't time."
"Yes, there is."
"Evan..."
"No."
He grabbed my wrist.
"Listen."
I leaned closer.
"The facility is beneath St. Agnes."
"What?"
"The old hospital."
Maya froze.
"That's where your mother was transferred."
Dad nodded.
"Yes."
Jake looked at him.
"How do you know?"
"Because I built the entrance."
My blood went cold.
"You built it?"
"Before I realized what they were doing."
I stared at him.
All those years.
All that guilt.
All those lies.
"And Mom?"
He swallowed.
"She's been there."
A gunshot echoed.
Maya looked toward the garage entrance.
"They're coming."
Dad grabbed my hand.
"There's a control room."
"Then we'll get Mom."
He shook his head.
"Not just Mom."
He looked at Jake.
"Everyone."
"What?"
"Halcyon has a list."
"A list of what?"
"People they disappeared."
Jake's expression changed.
"How many?"
Dad whispered:
"Four hundred and twelve."
Silence.
Victims.
Witnesses.
Families.
People erased from records.
The world had forgotten them.
But someone hadn't.
My mother.
She had spent ten years trying to bring them back.
That's why Halcyon had hunted her.
That's why Dad had lied.
That's why Jake had disappeared.
And suddenly the story of my life made sense.
It wasn't about makeup.
It wasn't about Jake.
It wasn't even about Dad.
It was about faces.
People.
Names.
Memory.
I looked at Maya.
"We go to St. Agnes."
She nodded.
Jake helped Dad stand.
We escaped through a maintenance exit.
Before we left, Dad stopped me.
"There is one thing I never told you."
"What?"
He looked into my eyes.
"Your mother made me promise never to let you see her again."
"Why?"
"Because she believed one of your memories was the key to destroying Halcyon."
"What memory?"
May you like
His voice dropped.
"The night she disappeared."
