Chapter 10 - The cabin became a prison of silence.Jonathan stared at the children.
Michael.
Emma.
Noah.
Lily.
One of them was the seventh subject.
But which one?
Kane wouldn't answer.
Marcus loaded his gun.
"You knew about the seventh."
Kane smiled.
"I knew there was one."
Jonathan stepped forward.
"You brought us here because you want me to choose."
"No."
Kane shook his head.
"I brought you here because you already chose."
Jonathan frowned.
Kane pointed at Michael.
"Ask him what happened the first time Lily touched his mother."
Michael froze.
Jonathan looked at him.
"Michael?"
The boy lowered his head.
"She was dying."
"What did Lily do?"
"She touched her."
"And?"
"She got better."
Jonathan waited.
Michael's voice became quiet.
"Then she changed."
"How?"
Michael swallowed.
"She remembered things that weren't hers."
Jonathan looked at Marcus.
Marcus understood immediately.
"Memory transfer."
Kane nodded.
"Exactly."
Jonathan stepped backward.
"What does Lily remember?"
Kane smiled.
"Everything."
The baby woke.
Her silver eyes opened.
She looked at Jonathan.
Then she began crying.
The cabin lights flickered.
Every light turned on.
One by one, the children began speaking.
But not with their own voices.
Emma whispered in a man's voice.
Noah spoke in an old woman's voice.
Michael began speaking in Evelyn's voice.
Jonathan staggered backward.
"Stop."
Michael's eyes filled with tears.
"Jonathan."
It was Evelyn's voice.
"I tried to save you."
Jonathan stared.
"You can hear her?"
Michael nodded.
"Kane made us absorb memories."
Jonathan turned toward Kane.
"You experimented on them."
"I studied them."
"You tortured them."
Kane's face remained calm.
"Sometimes those words are the same thing."
Jonathan raised his gun.
"You are sick."
Kane smiled.
"Maybe."
Then Marcus screamed.
Everyone turned.
Marcus had collapsed.
Blood ran from his nose.
Lily was reaching toward him.
Jonathan grabbed her.
The moment Lily touched Marcus's hand, the room exploded into light.
Jonathan saw images.
A laboratory.
A young Evelyn.
Marcus as a teenager.
Their mother.
Six children in glass chambers.
And a seventh room.
Empty.
Then a newborn baby.
Jonathan's daughter.
But behind Lily's crib stood another infant.
A boy.
The same silver crescent.
Jonathan recognized the face.
Michael.
The vision vanished.
Jonathan stared at the boy.
"You."
Michael didn't understand.
Jonathan whispered:
"You're the seventh."
Michael's face went white.
Kane nodded.
"Yes."
Jonathan looked at Lily.
"Then why did the records say six?"
"Because Lily was counted as Subject Six."
Kane pointed at Michael.
"He was Subject Seven."
Jonathan struggled to breathe.
"But Michael isn't a baby."
"No."
"He grew."
"Rapidly."
"How?"
Kane replied:
"Because his regenerative system is unstable."
Michael backed away.
"I don't want to hurt anyone."
Jonathan knelt in front of him.
"You won't."
Kane laughed.
"Too late."
Michael suddenly screamed.
His body convulsed.
Veins appeared beneath his skin.
His eyes turned silver.
Jonathan grabbed him.
Michael shouted:
"GET AWAY!"
A shockwave threw everyone across the room.
Windows shattered.
The cabin shook.
Kane watched with fascination.
"Beautiful."
Marcus fired at him.
Kane disappeared behind the smoke.
When the smoke cleared, he was gone.
Jonathan crawled toward Michael.
The boy was unconscious.
Lily cried beside him.
Jonathan picked her up.
Then he noticed something.
Michael's silver mark was glowing.
And the mark on Lily's neck was glowing too.
Marcus whispered:
"They're connecting."
Jonathan looked at him.
"What happens next?"
Marcus stared at the children.
"The project begins again."
Outside, helicopters appeared in the sky.
Not one.
Not two.
Seven.
Jonathan looked toward the horizon.
They were surrounded.
Then his phone rang.
Unknown number.
He answered.
A man's voice said:
"Mr. Vale."
Jonathan knew it immediately.
His father.
The father who had supposedly been dead for twenty-two years.
"Your children are waiting for you."
Jonathan's blood froze.
"What children?"
The voice laughed.
May you like
"Your real children."
Then the call ended.
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