CHAPTER 6 The Woman Who Returned From the Dead
Lightning split the night sky.
For a brief instant, the woman in the white lab coat stood illuminated in the rain, her silver-streaked hair framing a face Samuel Hayes had buried fifteen years earlier.
He took one unsteady step forward.
"No..."
His voice cracked.
"My mother died in a car accident."
The woman smiled sadly.
"That's what they wanted you to believe."
Samuel's knees nearly gave way.
"Mom?"
She looked at him for several long seconds.
Then she whispered the nickname only she had ever used when he was a little boy.
"My little Sammy."
Samuel stopped breathing.
Nobody else knew that name.
Not even Ethan.
Daniel immediately raised his pistol.
"Don't move."
The woman slowly lifted both hands.
"My name is Dr. Eleanor Hayes."
"I am not your enemy."
Twenty soldiers in white uniforms stood behind her.
Unlike Victor's black-clad mercenaries, these men kept their rifles lowered.
Their discipline was unmistakable.
Professional.
Controlled.
Watching.
Not threatening.
Arthur frowned.
"They changed the uniforms..."
Eleanor turned toward him.
"It's been a long time, Arthur."
"You've aged."
Arthur let out a bitter laugh.
"Unlike you."
Ethan stepped between Lily and the newcomers.
"I don't care who you are."
"Tell me where my wife is."
Eleanor's expression softened.
"Alive."
"Is she conscious?"
"For short periods."
"Why hasn't she escaped?"
Eleanor hesitated.
Then answered with painful honesty.
"Because she doesn't remember how."
The words hit Ethan like ice.
"What do you mean?"
"Victor damaged her memory."
Samuel stared at his mother.
"That's impossible."
She looked at him.
"You know it isn't."
Samuel did know.
Certain drugs.
Repeated trauma.
Electroconvulsive procedures.
Years of psychological conditioning.
Together...
They could erase pieces of a person's identity.
Not completely.
But enough to imprison them inside their own mind.
Ethan clenched his fists.
"Seven years..."
Eleanor nodded.
"Seven years of isolation."
Lily tugged at Ethan's sleeve.
"Daddy..."
"I remember the room."
Everyone looked at her.
"It smelled like flowers."
Eleanor closed her eyes.
"Lavender."
Lily nodded.
"They always used lavender."
Samuel's face darkened.
"To hide the smell of antiseptics."
Eleanor looked at him with quiet pride.
"You've become a good doctor."
Samuel didn't smile.
"You let me think you were dead."
A shadow crossed Eleanor's face.
"I didn't have a choice."
Daniel interrupted.
"We're wasting time."
He glanced at Ethan's phone.
00:18:47
Less than nineteen minutes remained.
"If Victor's deadline means anything..."
"...we move now."
Arthur shook his head.
"No."
"We move smart."
He pointed toward the shattered greenhouse.
"The tunnel's still open."
Eleanor disagreed.
"Not anymore."
She pulled a tablet from her medical bag.
The screen displayed a live thermal scan beneath the estate.
Red dots.
Dozens of them.
"They're flooding the tunnel with nerve gas."
Daniel stared at the display.
"How do you have this?"
Eleanor answered calmly.
"Because I built their ventilation system."
Silence settled over the group.
Ethan's patience finally snapped.
"Enough secrets!"
His voice thundered across the rain-soaked garden.
"For seven years everyone has lied to me."
"My uncle."
"Nora."
"The hospital."
"The board."
"You."
He looked directly at Eleanor.
"If you're telling the truth..."
"...prove it."
She nodded once.
Then reached into the pocket of her lab coat.
Daniel tensed again.
Instead of a weapon...
She removed a faded cassette tape.
Its handwritten label read:
AMELIA. 32 WEEKS.
Ethan stared.
He recognized Amelia's handwriting immediately.
Eleanor handed him the tape.
"You should hear it."
Inside the mansion library, an old cassette player still sat on a shelf.
Ethan inserted the tape.
Static crackled.
Then...
Amelia's voice.
Soft.
Warm.
Alive.
"Hello, little Lily."
Ethan closed his eyes.
Tears filled them instantly.
He had not heard Amelia's voice in seven years.
"If you're listening to this one day..."
"...it means something went wrong."
A long pause.
Then Amelia laughed quietly.
"Your father keeps pretending he isn't scared about becoming a dad."
Ethan looked down.
He remembered that day.
He had denied being nervous.
Amelia had teased him for hours.
Nobody else knew.
The recording continued.
"Eleanor says the research must stop."
"She thinks Victor has changed."
"If anything happens..."
"...never let Lily into the laboratory."
The tape ended abruptly.
No goodbye.
Only static.
Nobody spoke.
Ethan slowly removed the cassette.
His hands shook.
He turned toward Eleanor.
"What laboratory?"
Eleanor inhaled deeply.
"The original Blackwood Genetics Laboratory."
Samuel frowned.
"The one under Saint Gabriel?"
She shook her head.
"No."
"There were always two."
Arthur's expression changed.
"No..."
"You can't mean..."
Eleanor nodded.
"The first laboratory."
"The hidden one."
Daniel leaned over the blueprint.
"Where?"
Eleanor looked directly at Lily.
"She knows."
Lily blinked in confusion.
"I do?"
"You've been there."
"I don't remember."
"You do."
Eleanor knelt before the little girl.
"Close your eyes."
Lily obeyed.
"What do you hear?"
For several seconds...
Nothing.
Then Lily whispered,
"Water."
"What else?"
"A train."
Samuel frowned.
"There aren't any train tracks near Saint Gabriel."
Arthur suddenly looked up.
"There used to be."
Everyone turned.
Arthur pointed toward the oldest part of the estate.
"The abandoned wine cellar."
Ethan stared.
"The cellar hasn't been opened since my grandfather died."
Arthur nodded slowly.
"Exactly."
Suddenly...
The countdown on Ethan's phone disappeared.
The screen turned black.
Then Victor appeared live.
Not from the hospital.
Not from the laboratory.
From somewhere underground.
He smiled.
"I see Eleanor finally found you."
Eleanor's expression hardened.
Victor looked almost amused.
"My dear sister..."
"...still trying to save the world?"
The room froze.
Samuel's eyes widened.
"Sister?"
Victor smiled.
"Surprised?"
He looked directly into the camera.
"Yes."
"Dr. Eleanor Hayes."
"My little sister."
Samuel felt the world collapse beneath him.
Victor Blackwood...
Was his uncle.
Which meant...
Samuel wasn't just Ethan's family physician.
He was blood-related to the man who had destroyed Ethan's life.
Victor leaned closer to the camera.
"Family reunions are beautiful."
"Now..."
"...let me ruin another one."
He pressed a button.
The live feed split into two screens.
On the left...
Amelia remained tied to the hospital bed.
On the right...
Another room appeared.
Six frightened children.
All wearing identical gray pajamas.
Each had a number stitched onto the sleeve.
One...
Three...
Five...
Eight...
Nine...
Eleven.
They looked no older than ten.
Victor smiled.
"You've been asking about the other subjects."
"There they are."
Lily gasped.
"I know them..."
A little boy on the screen suddenly looked directly into the camera.
His eyes filled with hope.
"Lily?"
He stood up.
"You came back?"
Before anyone could react...
The door behind the children burst open.
Masked guards stormed inside.
Victor's voice echoed through the room.
"You have exactly fifteen minutes."
"Save your wife..."
"...or save the children."
"You don't have time for both."
The screen went black.
Ethan stared at the blank display.
For the first time in years...
May you like
He had no idea which choice would destroy him more.
END OF CHAPTER 6
