Chapter 12 - GraceEmergency lights flashed red.
Alarms screamed.
Smoke filled the corridor.
Ethan stumbled through the darkness.
“Grace!”
Claire grabbed his arm.
“Don't!”
“I saw her.”
“I know.”
“You knew she was alive.”
“Yes.”
Ethan pulled away.
“How long?”
“Two years.”
He stared at her.
“You watched me grieve.”
“I was trying to protect you.”
“You let me bury an empty coffin.”
Tears filled Claire's eyes.
“Because if Hale knew you were looking for her, he would have killed her.”
Ethan turned.
“Where is she now?”
“We need to move.”
Daniel fired at the lock.
The door opened.
They ran.
At the end of the corridor, another door led to the chamber.
Ethan entered.
Grace was gone.
Only restraints remained.
A monitor flashed:
SUBJECT G-01 TRANSFERRED.
Ethan turned toward Claire.
“Where?”
She shook her head.
“I don't know.”
Then his father's voice came over a speaker.
“Ethan.”
He looked up.
“Your mother knows.”
Eleanor was still behind the glass.
She was crying.
“I'm sorry.”
“You know where Grace is?”
“Yes.”
“Tell me.”
Eleanor hesitated.
“She went underground.”
“We are underground.”
“Not here.”
She stared at him.
“Below the city.”
Daniel looked shocked.
“The old Caldwell research facility?”
Eleanor nodded.
“It was closed thirty years ago.”
“Where?”
“Under the river.”
Ethan frowned.
“There’s no facility there.”
“There is.”
Hale appeared on the monitor.
“Of course there is.”
A map appeared.
A red dot blinked beneath Manhattan.
Ethan stared.
“How long has it been there?”
“Since before you were born.”
Hale smiled.
“Your father built it.”
Ethan turned to Eleanor.
“Why?”
“To disappear.”
Then the building shook.
Dust fell from the ceiling.
Daniel looked up.
“We need to leave.”
“Not without Grace.”
“We won't.”
Claire took Ethan's hand.
“There's a service tunnel.”
She led them through the corridor.
At the end was an old elevator.
Daniel entered a code.
Nothing happened.
Claire stepped forward.
She pressed her palm against the scanner.
The doors opened.
Ethan stared at her.
“You worked here.”
“Yes.”
“How long?”
“Three years.”
“And Grace?”
Claire looked away.
“Two years.”
The elevator began descending.
No floor numbers appeared.
Only a single red light.
Ethan stared at the floor.
Then the elevator stopped.
The doors opened.
A man stood waiting.
Dr. Pierce.
He was holding a gun.
Daniel raised his weapon.
But Pierce didn't aim at them.
He aimed behind them.
At Claire.
“I’m sorry,” he said.
Claire froze.
“What?”
Pierce’s face crumpled.
“Hale knows everything.”
Then he shot her.
Ethan caught her as she fell.
Blood spread across her dress.
Claire looked up at him.
“Don't…”
Her voice was barely audible.
“Don't let him make you forget.”
Then her eyes closed.
The elevator doors opened again.
May you like
And somewhere in the darkness beyond them…
Grace screamed.
