Chapter 14 - The RabbitWe escaped through the service tunnel.
My husband was gone.
Victor's people were gone.
The facility was collapsing behind us.
But one sentence remained trapped in my mind.
The child with the rabbit.
Maya still clutched it.
I looked at the rabbit.
The missing ear.
The little stitched nose.
I had bought it when she was six months old.
Or thought I had.
The other Emma stared at it.
“Give me that.”
“No.”
“Emma.”
She sounded frightened.
“Please.”
I handed it over.
She turned the rabbit upside down.
Pulled the stuffing from one side.
Something metallic fell out.
A tiny capsule.
Alessandro picked it up.
Inside was a microchip.
The other Emma looked at me.
“Someone implanted this.”
“When?”
“Probably years ago.”
“What does it contain?”
She connected it to a portable reader.
A video appeared.
A woman holding a newborn.
Me.
I gasped.
The woman beside me was Dr. Vale.
And between us was a tiny baby.
Maya.
But the baby looked different from my daughter.
The video continued.
Dr. Vale said:
“Subject M will be transferred tonight.”
I whispered:
“Subject M?”
The recording showed another newborn.
Luca.
Then a third.
I stared.
Three babies.
Triplets.
The other Emma shook her head.
“No.”
“What?”
“They aren't triplets.”
“How?”
“Because they were born to three different mothers.”
I looked at the screen.
One baby had a tag.
MAYA.
Another:
LUCA.
The third:
EVE.
The recording ended.
I felt sick.
“Who is Eve?”
The other Emma looked at me.
“Me.”
Silence.
“You're the third?”
“Yes.”
“Then why do you look like me?”
She answered:
“Because I am your biological twin.”
My breath disappeared.
“What?”
“We were separated at birth.”
Alessandro stared.
“And your families?”
“Fabricated.”
“Why?”
“Because Dr. Vale needed three compatible genetic lines.”
I looked at Maya.
“Where is the real Maya?”
The other Emma's eyes filled with tears.
“We don't know.”
A siren sounded in the distance.
Police.
Then another sound.
A helicopter.
Alessandro checked his weapon.
“We're surrounded.”
I looked at the rabbit.
The capsule was still in my hand.
Then the device beeped.
A location appeared.
St. Catherine's Hospital.
Again.
But this time there was an additional code.
ROOM 17.
I whispered:
“That's where I worked.”
The other Emma nodded.
“You were never assigned there.”
I stared.
“What?”
“You volunteered to work in Room 17.”
“Why?”
She looked at Maya.
“To find the child.”
“The real Maya.”
“No.”
She pointed at the screen.
“To find Eve.”
My heart stopped.
“You're Eve.”
“Yes.”
“Then who is Maya?”
The other Emma's face collapsed.
“That is the question.”
A door slammed behind us.
My husband stood there.
Blood on his shirt.
Gun in his hand.
And beside him stood Dr. Vale.
May you like
She smiled.
“Now you're finally ready to remember.”
