CHAPTER 9 THE VOICE OF THE DEAD
“Come find me.”
Dominic Vale stood frozen.
He knew that voice.
There were sounds a man could forget.
A childhood song.
A school bell.
The first car he ever drove.
But a mother's voice lived somewhere deeper.
He had heard that voice every night when he was a child.
Every morning before school.
Every time he was sick.
Every time his father came home angry.
It was impossible.
His mother was dead.
Yet her voice had just spoken from beneath the estate.
“Mom?”
Nothing.
Then the voice came again.
“Dominic.”
Harper squeezed his hand.
“That's Grandma.”
Dominic looked down at her.
“How do you know?”
“She told me.”
“When?”
Harper pointed toward the empty glass chamber.
“She was here.”
Dominic's eyes narrowed.
“When?”
“Before you came.”
Mia stepped forward.
“Dominic…”
He looked at her.
“Get Harper upstairs.”
Mia shook her head.
“No.”
“What?”
“She won't go.”
Dominic looked at Harper.
The little girl was staring into the darkness.
“Daddy,” she whispered.
“What?”
“She wants me to come.”
Dominic's jaw tightened.
“Who's she?”
Harper pointed toward the corridor.
“Grandma.”
A violent explosion shook the underground chamber.
The ceiling cracked.
Dust fell.
Elias shouted:
“Two minutes!”
Dominic grabbed Harper.
“We're leaving.”
Harper screamed.
“No!”
She fought against him.
“Grandma is down there!”
Dominic held her tightly.
“She isn't your grandmother.”
“She is!”
“How do you know?”
“Because she showed me.”
“What did she show you?”
Harper's eyes filled with tears.
“The night she died.”
Dominic froze.
“What happened that night?”
Harper looked toward the darkness.
“She wasn't alone.”
Dominic's heart raced.
“Who was with her?”
“Daddy.”
Dominic's face changed.
“My father?”
Harper nodded.
“He was crying.”
Mia covered her mouth.
Elias looked at Dominic.
“Your mother may have recorded something.”
Dominic frowned.
“What?”
“The Archive.”
Elias pointed toward the black door.
“Maybe her memories were stored there.”
Dominic stared.
The countdown continued.
01:42
01:41
“We don't have time.”
Elias rushed toward the control panel.
“I can shut down the explosives.”
“How?”
“By opening the Archive.”
Dominic looked at the door.
The black metal surface had changed.
A small screen appeared.
GENETIC AUTHENTICATION REQUIRED.
Then another line appeared.
TWO SUBJECTS REQUIRED.
Dominic looked at Harper.
Then Emily.
The two girls were standing beside each other.
“Put their hands on the panel,” Elias said.
Mia hesitated.
Dominic nodded.
“Do it.”
Mia brought Harper forward.
Elias helped Emily.
The girls placed their hands against the black surface.
Nothing happened.
Then…
A deep mechanical sound shook the chamber.
The door opened.
Not outward.
It split down the middle.
Beyond it was a vast underground archive.
Rows of shelves disappeared into darkness.
Thousands of black boxes.
Hundreds of computer terminals.
Documents.
Photographs.
Hard drives.
And at the center of the room…
A single chair.
A woman sat in it.
Her back was turned.
Dominic stopped breathing.
Long dark hair.
White dress.
Hands resting on the chair.
He knew that silhouette.
He had seen it in dreams for twenty years.
“Mom?”
The woman slowly turned.
Dominic dropped his gun.
His knees almost gave out.
The woman looked exactly as she had when he was six.
Not older.
Not younger.
Alive.
Her eyes filled with tears.
“Dominic.”
He couldn't move.
Elias whispered:
“That's impossible.”
The woman stood.
“Elias.”
Elias stared at her.
“Mother?”
She nodded.
Eleanor Vale walked toward them.
Dominic finally moved.
He crossed the room in seconds.
Then stopped inches from her.
He was afraid to touch her.
Afraid she would disappear.
“Are you real?”
Eleanor smiled.
“Touch me.”
Dominic slowly raised his hand.
His fingers touched her cheek.
Warm.
Real.
His mother's eyes filled with tears.
“My son.”
Dominic broke.
He pulled her into his arms.
For the first time in twenty years, Dominic Vale cried like a child.
“I thought you were dead.”
“I know.”
“Why did you leave me?”
“I didn't.”
Dominic pulled away.
“What?”
Eleanor looked toward Victor's direction.
“Your father made sure you believed I was dead.”
“Why?”
“Because I discovered the truth.”
“About the Black Archive?”
“Yes.”
“About Harper?”
Eleanor looked at the little girl.
“Yes.”
Dominic stared.
“You knew she existed.”
“I helped create her.”
Mia gasped.
Dominic's expression hardened.
“What?”
Eleanor took a breath.
“Your father wanted to create an heir who could access the Archive.”
“Why?”
“Because he believed our family would eventually collapse.”
Dominic looked around.
“And he was right.”
Eleanor shook her head.
“No.”
She looked at Harper.
“He was wrong.”
“Why?”
“Because Harper was never meant to inherit the Archive.”
Dominic frowned.
“Then what was she created for?”
Eleanor's eyes became serious.
“To destroy it.”
Silence.
Dominic stared.
“My father created Harper to destroy the Black Archive?”
“No.”
Eleanor looked at him.
“I created her.”
Dominic's face changed.
“You?”
“Yes.”
“With whose DNA?”
Eleanor hesitated.
“Yours.”
Dominic stared.
“And Elias?”
Eleanor nodded.
“And yours?”
“Yes.”
Dominic looked at Harper.
“Why three?”
“Because the Archive requires three generations of Vale blood.”
Elias stepped forward.
“Then why Emily?”
Eleanor looked at the second girl.
“Because she was the backup.”
Dominic's eyes narrowed.
“Backup for what?”
“To replace Harper if she failed.”
Emily's face went pale.
Dominic immediately stepped toward her.
“She isn't a machine.”
“I know.”
“Then why did you allow this?”
“I didn't.”
Eleanor's expression hardened.
“Alexander took control after your father disappeared.”
Dominic looked at her.
“Alexander is alive.”
“Yes.”
“Where?”
Eleanor pointed deeper into the Archive.
“He's here.”
The lights suddenly turned on.
At the end of the room stood a man.
Old.
Tall.
White hair.
A silver cane.
Alexander Vale.
He smiled.
“Mother.”
Eleanor turned.
“Alexander.”
Dominic raised his weapon.
Alexander laughed.
“You finally found her.”
Dominic's voice was cold.
“You killed her.”
“No.”
Alexander shook his head.
“I kept her alive.”
Eleanor looked at him.
“You imprisoned me.”
“I protected you.”
“You destroyed my life.”
“I preserved the family.”
Dominic stepped forward.
“What happened the night she died?”
Alexander smiled.
“Ask your mother.”
Dominic looked at Eleanor.
She closed her eyes.
“I was shot.”
“By whom?”
Eleanor looked at Alexander.
“Your father.”
Dominic's jaw tightened.
“Victor.”
“Yes.”
“But Victor is dead.”
Eleanor shook her head.
“The man you met tonight wasn't Victor.”
“We know.”
“No.”
Eleanor looked at Dominic.
“You still don't understand.”
She stepped closer.
“The real Victor is alive.”
Dominic froze.
“Where?”
Eleanor looked toward the far end of the Archive.
A door opened.
A man walked out.
Older.
Scarred.
Weak.
But unmistakable.
Dominic stared.
His entire body went cold.
Victor Vale.
His real father.
Alive.
He looked at Dominic.
Then at Harper.
And whispered:
“My son…”
Dominic couldn't speak.
Victor's eyes filled with tears.
“I've been waiting twenty years to tell you the truth.”
Suddenly, every alarm in the Archive began screaming.
Eleanor turned toward the ceiling.
“No.”
“What?”
“Alexander activated the purge.”
Elias looked at the monitors.
“What's the purge?”
Eleanor's face went pale.
“It destroys every record.”
Dominic looked at Alexander.
Alexander smiled.
“Exactly.”
The countdown appeared again.
00:59
00:58
00:57
Dominic shouted:
“How do we stop it?”
Eleanor pointed at Harper and Emily.
“The girls.”
“What about them?”
“They must enter the central chamber.”
“Why?”
Eleanor looked directly at Dominic.
“Because the Archive isn't storing information anymore.”
A pause.
“It's storing memories.”
Dominic stared.
“Whose memories?”
Eleanor's eyes filled with fear.
“Everyone we've ever killed.”
The countdown continued.
00:31
00:30
Then the Archive doors slammed shut.
Alexander raised his cane.
And smiled.
May you like
“Now, Dominic…”
“Let's see which daughter survives.”
