Chapter 5 - Tomorrow's GraveI stared at the drawing until the letters blurred.
JACK.
Tomorrow's date.
A grave with my name.
Evan's hand trembled.
"Who told you to draw that?"
"Nobody."
"Then why did you?"
He looked frightened.
"I saw it."
"Saw what?"
"In a room."
"What room?"
"The room under the house."
I crouched.
"There's another room?"
He nodded.
I felt the same cold sensation return.
The basement wasn't the end.
It was only the entrance.
"Take me there."
Bennett objected.
"No."
I turned.
"We need answers."
"And you need to stay alive long enough to get them."
He was right.
But the drawing had already changed something.
Someone knew tomorrow was dangerous.
Maybe they weren't predicting my death.
Maybe they were planning it.
We moved Evan to a secure children's facility.
He refused to go unless I went with him.
So I stayed.
That night, just after midnight, a nurse knocked on my door.
"You have a visitor."
"Who?"
"She wouldn't give her name."
I stepped into the hallway.
A woman stood at the end.
Dark hair.
Gray coat.
Pale face.
I recognized her from the photograph.
Evan's mother.
She looked directly at me.
"My name is Claire."
I nearly drew my weapon.
"Where is Evan's father?"
Her expression broke.
"Daniel."
"You know him?"
"I was married to him."
"Ryan said you were his wife."
"Ryan lied."
"Where is Daniel?"
She looked around.
"Not here."
"Then where?"
Her eyes filled with tears.
"He's been watching you."
My pulse accelerated.
"Where is he?"
"I can't tell you."
"Why?"
"Because if I tell you, they will kill Evan."
I stepped closer.
"Who are they?"
Claire whispered:
"The people who erased your brother."
"What does that mean?"
"They didn't kill him."
"Then where is he?"
She reached into her coat and handed me a small envelope.
Inside was a photograph.
Daniel.
Older.
Thinner.
Standing behind prison glass.
My hands shook.
"Where was this taken?"
"Federal psychiatric facility."
I looked at her.
"What?"
"They kept him there under another name."
"Why?"
"Because he found out what they were doing."
"What were they doing?"
Claire's eyes moved toward the security camera.
"Creating children."
My blood turned cold.
"What?"
She grabbed my arm.
"Evan is not the only child."
A gunshot cracked through the hallway.
Claire collapsed.
I caught her.
Blood spread across her coat.
The nurse screamed.
Security officers rushed in.
I looked toward the window.
Broken glass.
The shooter was gone.
Claire grabbed my wrist.
"Find Room 314."
"Where?"
"Saint Mercy."
"What's there?"
She struggled for breath.
"Daniel."
Then her eyes closed.
I screamed for a medic.
Within minutes, the hospital became chaos.
But I couldn't stop thinking about her last words.
Room 314.
Saint Mercy.
I knew that hospital.
Because Saint Mercy had treated my mother before she died.
And according to the records, there was no psychiatric ward there.
I checked anyway.
The hospital administrator looked confused.
"We haven't had a Room 314 in years."
"Why?"
"It was sealed."
"Why?"
He hesitated.
"Renovation."
"Since when?"
He checked the system.
"Nine years ago."
I stared at him.
Nine years.
Exactly when Daniel disappeared.
That wasn't coincidence anymore.
It was a trail.
And someone had been leaving it specifically for me.
We drove to Saint Mercy before dawn.
The third floor was abandoned.
Dust.
Plastic sheets.
Empty rooms.
Then we found 314.
The door was welded shut.
But the brass key opened it.
Inside was a single hospital bed.
No patient.
No equipment.
Just a wall covered in names.
Hundreds of them.
Children.
Dates.
Birthplaces.
And beside every name was a number.
One name near the bottom made me stop.
EVAN CARTER.
Beside it:
SUBJECT 47.
Then I saw another name.
DANIEL MILLER.
Beside it:
SUBJECT 01.
At that exact moment, the hospital's lights flickered.
A speaker crackled overhead.
A man's voice filled the hallway.
"Congratulations, Detective Miller."
A pause.
May you like
"You've finally found the beginning."
Then the lights went out.
