Chapter 12 - The First ChildThe walls began shaking.
A hidden door opened behind the fireplace.
Elliot stepped inside.
Claire followed.
Noah limped behind them.
They descended beneath the facility into a chamber older than the house.
At the center stood a child's bed.
On it sat a photograph.
A little girl.
Blonde hair.
Blue eyes.
Seven years old.
Evelyn stood beside her.
Claire whispered:
“That's her.”
“Who?”
“The first child.”
Elliot looked at the photograph.
“What was her name?”
Claire swallowed.
“Anna.”
A small voice came from the darkness.
“Elliot.”
He turned.
The girl from the photograph stood there.
Older now.
Not physically.
She still looked seven.
But her eyes contained decades of sadness.
“You found me.”
Elliot approached carefully.
“Are you Anna?”
She nodded.
“Evelyn's daughter?”
“Yes.”
“Then why are you here?”
Anna smiled.
“Because I died first.”
She touched the wall.
“I was the first consciousness the machine tried to preserve.”
“What happened?”
“They failed.”
“And then?”
“They learned from me.”
Elliot stared.
“You created all this?”
Anna shook her head.
“Evelyn did.”
“Then why does she need me?”
“Because she cannot survive without a living mind to connect the dead.”
Elliot understood.
“I am the connection.”
Anna nodded.
“Your body can hold all of them.”
“Then kill me.”
Claire screamed.
“No!”
Anna shook her head.
“That won't work.”
“Why?”
“Because if you die, everyone connected to you dies.”
Elliot looked at Noah.
“And you?”
Noah smiled.
“I was already dead.”
Elliot shook his head.
“You're standing right here.”
“Not anymore.”
Noah's body began fading.
Elliot grabbed him.
“No!”
Noah smiled.
“It's okay.”
“Don't leave.”
“You already knew me once.”
Elliot cried.
“When?”
Noah touched his forehead.
“You were my little brother.”
The memory shattered through Elliot's mind.
Noah holding him.
Noah teaching him to push the red toy car.
Noah promising:
“I'll always protect you.”
Then Evelyn took Noah.
Then Claire used the machine.
Then Elliot was born from the fragments.
Noah was buried inside the system.
Waiting.
Elliot finally remembered.
“My brother.”
Noah smiled.
“Yes.”
Evelyn appeared behind Anna.
“You remember.”
Elliot turned.
“You stole him.”
“I improved him.”
“You killed him.”
“He gave himself to save you.”
Elliot looked at Noah.
Then at Evelyn.
He finally understood the truth.
The house wasn't feeding on fear.
It was feeding on memories.
And every memory it consumed made Evelyn stronger.
Elliot raised the red toy car.
“What happens if I remember everything?”
Evelyn's expression changed.
Anna whispered:
“Then she disappears.”
The entire facility went dark.
Evelyn screamed.
May you like
“NO!”
And every dead person inside the house opened their eyes.
