Chapter 6 - Jake's SecretWe escaped through a maintenance tunnel that led into an abandoned subway station.
No trains had run there in decades.
At least, that was what I thought.
Then a light appeared.
A train.
Old.
Unmarked.
Moving slowly through the darkness.
Maya waved.
The train stopped.
The doors opened.
Inside sat one person.
Jake.
I forgot how to breathe.
He stood.
For a moment, neither of us moved.
Then he crossed the carriage.
"Ev."
I hit him.
My fist connected with his jaw.
He stumbled.
Then I hit him again.
Maya shouted my name.
Jake didn't defend himself.
"You deserve that."
I grabbed his jacket.
"You were alive."
"I know."
"You were alive for ten years."
"I know."
"You watched me disappear."
"I didn't watch."
"You never called."
"I tried."
"You knew Mom was alive."
His eyes filled with tears.
"I knew."
"Why?"
He looked toward the floor.
"Because Dad made me promise."
I laughed bitterly.
"Dad made you promise."
"He said if I contacted you, they would find you."
"You could have trusted me."
"I was eighteen."
"So was I."
"I couldn't risk it."
"What happened?"
Jake looked at Maya.
"Three weeks ago, we found Mom."
Dad stepped forward.
"You found her?"
Jake nodded.
"At the Hawthorne facility."
He gave me a look.
"We freed her."
"Then where is she?"
"She escaped from us."
"What?"
"She was sick."
"How?"
"She remembered something."
Maya added, "Something from the night she disappeared."
Jake looked at Dad.
"She remembered Dad's betrayal."
I turned.
"What betrayal?"
Dad looked exhausted.
"Years ago, I agreed to help Halcyon identify vulnerable families."
My stomach dropped.
"You helped them?"
"I thought I was protecting ours."
"You gave them names."
"Yes."
"And Mom?"
"She found out."
"What happened?"
Dad lowered his head.
"She threatened to expose everything."
Jake continued.
"Halcyon took her."
Dad closed his eyes.
"I tried to get her back."
"But?"
"I failed."
Maya stepped closer.
"Your father didn't just fail."
She held up another photograph.
"He made a deal."
I stared at the image.
It showed Dad standing beside a man in a suit.
I recognized the man.
Our former family doctor.
Dr. Adrian Vale.
The doctor who had signed Mom's death certificate.
"What does he have to do with this?"
Jake's expression hardened.
"He runs Halcyon's memory program."
I felt sick.
"Then why is Mom free?"
Jake shook his head.
"Because she isn't."
I stared at him.
"What do you mean?"
He handed me a note.
I opened it.
Three words.
FIND THE MIRROR.
"What is the mirror?"
Maya looked at Dad.
Dad went pale.
"The mirror isn't a place."
"Then what?"
He whispered:
"It's a person."
"Who?"
May you like
Dad looked at me.
"You."
