CHAPTER 10: THE FIRST MORGAN
Daniel stood frozen beside the shattered memory chamber.
The emergency lights pulsed overhead.
Red.
Dark.
Red.
Dark.
Every pulse revealed something different.
Broken glass.
Burning wires.
The seven duplicates lying unconscious across the floor.
The empty passage where Sarah had been standing.
The place where David had disappeared.
And Emily.
His four-year-old daughter was gripping his shirt with both hands.
“Daddy.”
Daniel looked down.
“I'm here.”
“Where's Mommy?”
He couldn't answer.
“Where's David?”
Still nothing.
Emily's lower lip trembled.
Daniel knelt and pulled her into his arms.
“We're going to find them.”
A deep voice came from behind him.
“You won't.”
Daniel spun around.
The man stood beside the broken machine.
Thomas Morgan's face.
Thomas's body.
But not Thomas's eyes.
They were black.
Completely black.
Daniel instinctively moved Emily behind him.
“Stay away from my daughter.”
The man smiled.
“You still call her your daughter.”
“She is.”
“No.”
Daniel's jaw tightened.
“Who are you?”
The man took one slow step forward.
“I already told you.”
“You're not my father.”
“No.”
“Then what are you?”
The man smiled.
“The beginning.”
Daniel looked at the broken chamber.
“What does that mean?”
“I was here before your family.”
Daniel stared.
“Before the Morgans?”
“Yes.”
“What are you?”
The man tilted his head.
“Your family gave me many names.”
“Which one is true?”
“None.”
Daniel felt a chill.
“Then I'll call you whatever I want.”
The man's smile vanished.
“You sound like Evelyn.”
Daniel's eyes narrowed.
“What did you do to her?”
“She ran.”
“Where?”
“Below.”
Daniel looked at the cracked floor.
“You took Sarah and David too.”
“No.”
“Then where are they?”
The man pointed toward the darkness.
“They followed her.”
Daniel tightened his grip around Emily.
“Why?”
“Because Evelyn believes she can still escape.”
“Escape what?”
“Me.”
A faint scream echoed beneath the floor.
Daniel recognized the voice.
Evelyn.
“DANIEL!”
He turned toward the crack.
“Evelyn!”
Her voice came again.
“DON'T TRUST HIM!”
The man laughed.
“She always says that.”
Daniel looked at him.
“What happened between you?”
The man looked almost amused.
“She was my daughter.”
Daniel froze.
“Evelyn?”
“Yes.”
“You're her father?”
“One of them.”
Daniel's eyes narrowed.
“One of them?”
The man walked toward the broken chamber.
“Your family has always been obsessed with blood.”
He touched the cracked metal.
“But blood is only the beginning.”
Daniel said nothing.
The man continued.
“Evelyn wanted immortality.”
“She found it.”
“No.”
He shook his head.
“She found repetition.”
Daniel frowned.
“What's the difference?”
“Immortality means you remain yourself.”
He pointed toward the seven duplicates.
“Repetition means pieces of you survive.”
Daniel looked at the unconscious men.
“They're pieces of Evelyn.”
“Yes.”
“And Sarah?”
“Pieces of several people.”
“And Emily?”
The man looked directly at the little girl.
“She is different.”
Daniel moved closer.
“Don't look at her.”
The man's eyes remained fixed on Emily.
“She can carry memory without losing herself.”
Daniel's heart sank.
“That's what Evelyn wants.”
“Yes.”
“What happens if she gets it?”
“She becomes permanent.”
Daniel stared.
“You mean she can't die.”
“She already knows how to survive death.”
“But she can't keep her identity.”
“No.”
“And Emily can.”
“Yes.”
Daniel looked at his daughter.
“So Emily is the key.”
The man smiled.
“She is the door.”
Daniel's stomach tightened.
“To what?”
The man didn't answer.
Instead, he looked toward the ceiling.
“Do you hear that?”
Daniel listened.
At first, nothing.
Then he heard it.
A faint mechanical clicking.
Click.
Click.
Click.
Coming from the walls.
The man smiled.
“The house is waking.”
Daniel looked around.
“What does that mean?”
“The memories are returning.”
The seven unconscious duplicates suddenly gasped.
One sat upright.
Then another.
Then another.
All seven looked at Daniel.
But their faces were different now.
Confused.
Frightened.
One of them whispered:
“Where am I?”
Another looked at his hands.
“I don't remember.”
The third stared at Daniel.
“Why do you look like me?”
Daniel backed away.
The man said:
“They're empty now.”
Daniel frowned.
“What?”
“They've lost Evelyn's memories.”
“So they're themselves again?”
The man nodded.
Daniel looked at the seven men.
“Do they have names?”
One of them looked at him.
“My name is Michael.”
Another said:
“Jacob.”
Another:
“Ethan.”
Daniel's chest tightened.
These weren't copies.
They were people.
Real people.
And Evelyn had erased them.
Daniel turned toward the man.
“You knew.”
“Yes.”
“You let her do this.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
The man smiled.
“Because she was useful.”
Daniel's expression hardened.
“You're worse than she is.”
The man's smile disappeared.
“Careful.”
Daniel stepped forward.
“You destroyed my family.”
“No.”
He pointed toward Emily.
“Your family destroyed itself.”
Daniel suddenly heard footsteps.
Behind him.
He turned.
Sarah emerged from the darkness.
Daniel's heart jumped.
“Sarah!”
She was carrying David.
Daniel rushed toward them.
David was unconscious.
“What's wrong with him?”
Sarah shook her head.
“He's breathing.”
Daniel took his son.
“David!”
The boy didn't respond.
Sarah looked terrified.
“He won't wake up.”
“Why?”
“I don't know.”
The man looked at David.
“He's asleep.”
Daniel glared at him.
“Wake him.”
“I can't.”
“Then who can?”
The man looked toward Emily.
“She can.”
Daniel shook his head.
“No.”
“She is the only one who can.”
Daniel held David tighter.
“You're not touching my daughter.”
The man smiled.
“Then your son stays asleep.”
Sarah stepped closer.
“Daniel.”
He looked at her.
“She may be right.”
“You don't know that.”
“I've seen this before.”
“Where?”
Sarah looked toward the broken chamber.
“Inside the memory room.”
Daniel's expression hardened.
“What did you see?”
“David wasn't trapped in the freezer.”
“I know.”
“He was being protected.”
“From what?”
Sarah looked at the man.
“From himself.”
Daniel's heart sank.
“What does that mean?”
Sarah knelt beside David.
“He's carrying a memory that doesn't belong to him.”
Daniel stared.
“Whose?”
Sarah whispered:
“Yours.”
Daniel looked at his son.
“What memory?”
“The first one.”
Daniel's blood ran cold.
“The memory of what?”
Sarah looked at him.
“The day you were born.”
Daniel frowned.
“I wasn't born here.”
“You were.”
“No.”
“You were born under this house.”
Daniel shook his head.
“My mother gave birth to me in a hospital.”
“That was the story.”
Daniel's voice became angry.
“Stop saying that.”
Sarah pointed toward the crack.
“Go down there.”
Daniel looked at her.
“Why?”
“Because the truth is underneath us.”
The man smiled.
“He's right.”
Daniel looked at him.
“What will I find?”
“A room.”
“What room?”
“The first room.”
Daniel remembered Anna's words.
The nursery.
The original memory.
The first Daniel.
Daniel looked at Emily.
“Stay here.”
Emily shook her head.
“No.”
“Sweetheart.”
“I know the way.”
Daniel froze.
“What?”
Emily pointed toward the crack.
“I've been there.”
“You're four.”
She nodded.
“I know.”
Daniel crouched.
“When?”
Emily whispered:
“In my dreams.”
Daniel felt a chill.
“What do you see?”
“A red door.”
“Anything else?”
“A baby.”
“Whose baby?”
Emily looked directly at him.
“Yours.”
Daniel's breath caught.
Then Emily said something that made Sarah step backward.
“And Mommy was there.”
Daniel stared.
“What was she doing?”
Emily's face became pale.
“She was crying.”
“Why?”
“She was holding the baby.”
Daniel swallowed.
“Then what happened?”
Emily whispered:
“Grandma came in.”
Daniel felt his stomach twist.
“What did she do?”
Emily looked toward the darkness.
“She took the baby.”
“Who was the baby?”
Emily pointed at Daniel.
“You.”
Daniel couldn't move.
A memory flashed.
A newborn crying.
A woman holding him.
Margaret entering the room.
Thomas shouting.
Evelyn screaming.
Then a gunshot.
Daniel staggered.
He grabbed the wall.
Sarah rushed toward him.
“Daniel!”
He pushed himself upright.
“I remember.”
“What?”
“The gunshot.”
The man suddenly stopped smiling.
Daniel looked at him.
“You were there.”
The man didn't answer.
“You were in the room.”
Still silence.
Daniel's voice hardened.
“You killed someone.”
The man's eyes darkened.
“Not someone.”
“Who?”
“Your father.”
Daniel froze.
“What?”
“Thomas tried to stop the transfer.”
Daniel looked at Sarah.
She nodded slowly.
“Thomas was helping Anna.”
Daniel turned toward the man.
“And you killed him.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because he chose you.”
Daniel's chest tightened.
“Why would he choose me?”
The man stepped closer.
“Because he knew what you were.”
Daniel whispered:
“What am I?”
The man looked at Emily.
Then back at Daniel.
“You're not a replacement.”
Daniel's heartbeat accelerated.
“You're the original memory.”
Silence.
“You were never created to replace anyone.”
The man smiled.
“You were created to remember.”
Daniel looked at Emily.
“What does that make her?”
The man answered:
“The only person who can remember you.”
A deafening crash came from beneath them.
The floor split wider.
A red door appeared below.
Daniel stared.
The red door from Emily's dreams.
It was real.
The man stepped toward it.
“Open it.”
Daniel shook his head.
“Why?”
“Because your son is behind it.”
Daniel looked at David.
Then at the door.
He reached for the handle.
The moment his fingers touched the metal, every light in the basement turned on.
Every screen displayed the same image.
A newborn baby.
A woman holding him.
And beside her...
Daniel's dead mother.
Margaret.
The image zoomed closer.
Daniel saw the woman holding the baby.
He knew her.
Not Sarah.
Not Evelyn.
Not Anna.
Someone else.
Someone he had never met.
The woman looked directly into the camera.
And whispered:
“Daniel, if you're seeing this, Margaret has already taken your place.”
Daniel froze.
He slowly turned toward the woman standing beside him.
Sarah.
Her face had gone completely white.
Because she knew the woman in the recording.
Daniel looked at her.
“Who is that?”
Sarah whispered:
“Your real mother.”
Daniel stared at the screen.
The woman continued speaking.
“And the man standing beside you isn't the first Morgan.”
The man behind Daniel smiled.
The recording continued.
“He's the thing that killed them all.”
Daniel turned.
The black-eyed man was standing inches away.
May you like
And for the first time...
his face began to change.
