Chapter 8 - Grant arrived at Blackthorne Sanatorium twenty minutes later.He was alone.
Exactly as instructed.
Rain hammered the broken windows.
The building smelled of mold, rust and old medicine.
His flashlight crossed abandoned hospital rooms.
Then he saw blood.
Fresh.
Grant raised his weapon.
“Lily?”
No answer.
He moved deeper.
A door stood open.
Inside was a child's drawing.
A black dog.
A little girl.
A tall man.
And underneath, written in shaky handwriting:
DADDY WILL FIND ME.
Grant's chest tightened.
He picked it up.
Then heard footsteps behind him.
He turned.
No one.
Suddenly every light in the building flickered on.
A speaker crackled.
“You came.”
Grant looked around.
“Show yourself.”
“Not yet.”
“Where is Lily?”
“Alive.”
“Then release her.”
“You haven't earned that.”
Grant's face hardened.
“What do you want?”
A photograph appeared on a monitor.
Evelyn.
Then another.
Grant's father.
Then another.
Grant's mother.
The three stood together in an old photograph.
On the back was a date.
Twenty years ago.
Grant stared.
“What happened?”
The speaker crackled.
“Ask yourself why your mother lied.”
Grant heard something behind the wall.
Three taps.
He approached.
Pressed his hand against it.
A hidden door opened.
Inside was a narrow chamber.
A tape recorder waited on a chair.
Grant pressed play.
His mother's voice returned.
“My son…”
Grant's eyes closed.
“If you found this room, then your father has already started the final stage.”
Grant listened.
“Evelyn was never his enemy.”
“She was his insurance.”
Grant frowned.
“Your father created the Archive to expose corrupt officials.”
“He believed it would save the city.”
“But power changes people.”
“He began using the information.”
First judges.
Then police.
Then rivals.
Finally, innocent people.
“I tried to stop him.”
Grant gripped the recorder.
“He tried to kill me.”
The tape paused.
“When he found out Evelyn was pregnant, he wanted the child.”
Grant whispered:
“No.”
“He believed Lily could unlock everything.”
The recorder clicked.
A final sentence.
“Grant, the reason Atlas chose Lily is because Atlas was the one who carried you out of the fire.”
Grant froze.
The tape ended.
The fire.
Grant remembered.
He had been nine.
A fire destroyed an old Whitmore warehouse.
He remembered smoke.
His mother's screams.
His father's hand.
Then a black dog pulling him through the flames.
Atlas.
But that Atlas would have been dead years ago.
Grant suddenly understood.
It wasn't Atlas.
It was Atlas's father.
A bloodline of trained guardian dogs.
The Whitmore family had bred them for generations.
Grant looked toward the corridor.
A voice whispered:
“That's correct.”
His father stepped from the darkness.
Grant raised his weapon.
“Don't.”
His father smiled.
“You finally remember.”
“I remember enough.”
“You remember nothing.”
Grant aimed.
“You took Lily.”
“I protected her.”
“You kidnapped her.”
“I removed her from a battlefield you created by being born.”
Grant's eyes hardened.
“Where is she?”
His father looked behind him.
A steel door opened.
Lily appeared.
Atlas stood beside her.
Alive.
Grant nearly collapsed with relief.
“Lily.”
She smiled.
“Daddy.”
He stepped forward.
His father blocked him.
“You want her?”
Grant lifted his gun.
“Move.”
His father smiled.
“Before you do, tell me something.”
“What?”
“Do you know why your mother really died?”
Grant's face went cold.
His father leaned closer.
“Because she chose you.”
Grant froze.
“Your mother sacrificed herself to keep the Archive away from me.”
Grant's gun trembled.
“You're lying.”
“Then ask Lily.”
Grant looked at the child.
She stared at him.
Then slowly shook her head.
“No.”
Grant frowned.
“What?”
Lily whispered:
“Grandpa is bad.”
His father laughed.
“She knows more than you.”
Then Lily suddenly pointed behind Grant.
“Mommy!”
Grant turned.
Claire was standing there.
And beside her was Evelyn.
Grant stared.
Evelyn looked at him.
“It's time.”
His father smiled.
“Now the whole family is together.”
The sanatorium doors slammed shut.
Every exit locked.
A red light began flashing.
The speaker announced:
ARCHIVE ACTIVATION IN 10 MINUTES.
Grant looked at Evelyn.
“What happens in ten minutes?”
May you like
Evelyn whispered:
“The city changes forever.”
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