CHAPTER 7: THE MAN WHO WAS SUPPOSED TO BE DEAD
Daniel stared at Evelyn.
Her face had changed.
For the first time since he had seen her, she looked genuinely terrified.
Not angry.
Not calculating.
Afraid.
The voice from the hidden room came again.
“Daniel isn't her son.”
Daniel's throat tightened.
“He's her husband.”
Silence swallowed the passage.
Even the seven duplicates stopped moving.
Daniel slowly turned toward Evelyn.
“What did she mean?”
Evelyn said nothing.
“Who is that girl?”
Nothing.
“Evelyn!”
The woman finally looked at him.
“You shouldn't listen to her.”
“Why?”
“Because she lies.”
The little girl's voice came again.
“I don't.”
Daniel looked toward the open doorway.
Warm yellow light spilled across the floor.
He could hear children breathing.
Dozens of them.
Maybe more.
“Who are they?”
Evelyn's eyes narrowed.
“Copies.”
“Copies of what?”
“People.”
Daniel took another step.
“People like me?”
Evelyn nodded.
“But not only you.”
Daniel looked at Emily.
His daughter was still standing beside Evelyn.
She looked terrified.
“Let her go.”
Evelyn tightened her grip.
“Not yet.”
Daniel's voice became dangerously quiet.
“If you hurt her, nothing in this house will save you.”
Evelyn smiled faintly.
“You still think you're the one in control.”
Then she looked at the seven Daniels.
“Tell him.”
None of them moved.
Evelyn raised her voice.
“Tell him what he was.”
The oldest duplicate finally stepped forward.
“He was the first successful subject.”
Daniel frowned.
“Subject?”
“You were created.”
“No.”
“You were grown.”
“No.”
“You were trained.”
Daniel shook his head.
“I had a childhood.”
“You had memories.”
“Same thing.”
“No.”
The duplicate pointed at Daniel.
“Your memories were implanted.”
Daniel felt a wave of nausea.
“No.”
“They gave you a mother.”
“Margaret.”
“Yes.”
“A father.”
“Thomas.”
“My childhood home.”
“Constructed.”
“My school.”
“Real.”
“My friends.”
“Real.”
Daniel stared at him.
“What wasn't real?”
The duplicate smiled.
“Your identity.”
Daniel's breathing became shallow.
Then a memory surfaced.
A birthday.
He was six years old.
Margaret was standing behind a cake.
Thomas was beside her.
Sarah was nowhere.
Daniel remembered blowing out the candles.
But suddenly another image appeared.
A white room.
A metal table.
A woman with dark hair leaning over him.
Evelyn.
She was younger.
She was smiling.
Daniel heard her voice.
“Again.”
The memory vanished.
Daniel grabbed his head.
“Stop.”
Sarah moved toward him.
“Daniel.”
He pushed her away.
“You knew.”
“I did.”
“You knew I wasn't human?”
Sarah's face changed.
“You are human.”
“Then what am I?”
“You're still Daniel.”
“That's not an answer!”
She looked at him.
“You were born.”
Daniel froze.
“Born?”
“Yes.”
“By who?”
Sarah glanced at Evelyn.
“She didn't create you.”
“Then who did?”
Sarah whispered:
“Your real mother.”
Daniel looked toward the hidden room.
“The girl said Evelyn wasn't my mother.”
Sarah nodded.
“She's right.”
Daniel's heart raced.
“Then who was?”
Sarah's eyes filled with tears.
“Her.”
She pointed toward the doorway.
Daniel looked inside.
At first, he saw nothing.
Then a figure stepped into the warm light.
An elderly woman.
Thin.
Gray hair.
Bare feet.
She leaned heavily on a cane.
Daniel stared.
He knew her.
He had seen her face once.
Only once.
In a photograph his mother had kept hidden.
The woman smiled.
“Daniel.”
His knees weakened.
“Who are you?”
The woman whispered:
“Your mother.”
Daniel looked at Evelyn.
Then back at the old woman.
“You're lying.”
“No.”
“My mother was Margaret.”
“Margaret raised you.”
“Then who are you?”
The old woman stepped closer.
“My name is Anna.”
Daniel's eyes widened.
That name.
He had heard it in his father's old recordings.
Anna Morgan.
Thomas's first wife.
Officially dead before Daniel was born.
Daniel shook his head.
“That's impossible.”
Anna smiled sadly.
“So was everything else.”
Evelyn suddenly pulled Emily backward.
“Enough.”
Anna looked at her.
“Let the child go.”
Evelyn shook her head.
“She is mine.”
Anna's expression hardened.
“She was never yours.”
Evelyn's eyes flashed.
“You took everything from me.”
“I took nothing.”
“You took him.”
Anna looked at Daniel.
“I saved him.”
Evelyn laughed.
“You stole him.”
Daniel looked between them.
“Someone tell me what happened.”
Anna took a breath.
“Evelyn was my daughter.”
Daniel froze.
“What?”
“She was born before Thomas married Margaret.”
Daniel looked at Evelyn.
“My sister?”
Anna nodded.
“Yes.”
Evelyn's face twisted.
“Don't call me that.”
Anna continued.
“Evelyn was brilliant. She discovered something your family had been hiding for generations.”
“What?”
“A method of transferring memory.”
Daniel stared.
“Memory?”
“Memory, personality, identity.”
Anna pointed toward the seven duplicates.
“They learned how to preserve a person after death.”
Daniel looked at the copies.
“They're not clones?”
“No.”
“They're bodies carrying memories.”
“Yes.”
Daniel's stomach turned.
“Whose memories?”
Anna looked at Evelyn.
“Mostly hers.”
Evelyn smiled.
Daniel understood.
“The woman in the photograph.”
“Evelyn.”
“The woman who looks the same after thirty years.”
“Yes.”
“The reason she doesn't age.”
Anna nodded.
“She transfers herself.”
Daniel looked at the seven duplicates.
“So they're all Evelyn?”
“Pieces of her.”
Evelyn laughed.
“You're finally understanding.”
Daniel turned toward her.
“Then why do they have my face?”
Evelyn's smile disappeared.
“Because you were different.”
“How?”
“You resisted.”
Daniel frowned.
“Resisted what?”
“The transfer.”
Anna stepped forward.
“Evelyn wanted Daniel's body.”
Daniel stared at her.
“My body?”
“You were the first child whose mind could reject her.”
Evelyn's face hardened.
“He was supposed to be mine.”
Anna shook her head.
“He was your brother.”
Evelyn looked at Daniel.
“He was never my brother.”
Daniel's chest tightened.
“What am I to you?”
Evelyn stared at him.
Then she said:
“The man I loved.”
Silence.
Daniel couldn't breathe.
“What?”
Evelyn smiled sadly.
“You weren't created as my son.”
Anna's face turned pale.
“You were created as my vessel.”
Daniel stepped backward.
“No.”
“You were twenty years old when I first entered your mind.”
Daniel shook his head.
“I've never seen you before.”
“You did.”
“When?”
“Every night.”
Daniel suddenly remembered.
The nightmares.
The woman standing at the foot of his bed.
The whispering.
The dreams he had experienced since childhood.
He had always assumed they were nightmares.
But now...
“You were there.”
Evelyn nodded.
“I was.”
Sarah stepped forward.
“Daniel, don't listen to her.”
Evelyn looked at Sarah.
“You should tell him why you married him.”
Sarah's face went white.
Daniel turned.
“Sarah?”
She couldn't meet his eyes.
“Tell me.”
“I loved you.”
“That's not what she meant.”
Sarah began crying.
“I was assigned to watch you.”
Daniel's heart broke.
“What?”
“Your father asked me to.”
“You knew who I was.”
“Yes.”
“You knew about the copies.”
“Yes.”
“You knew Evelyn wanted me.”
“Yes.”
“And you still married me.”
Sarah whispered:
“Because I fell in love with you.”
Daniel looked at her.
For a moment, everything else disappeared.
Then a scream came from the hidden room.
A child's scream.
Anna turned.
“She's awake.”
Everyone froze.
Daniel looked inside.
“What?”
Anna's expression changed.
“The original.”
The seven duplicates stepped backward.
Evelyn released Emily.
Daniel rushed forward and grabbed his daughter.
He pulled her into his arms.
“Stay with me.”
Emily clung to him.
“Daddy.”
“What is happening?”
Anna looked toward the back of the room.
“Your first memory is waking up.”
Daniel frowned.
“My first memory?”
Anna nodded.
“The memory Evelyn erased.”
The warm lights began flickering.
The children inside the room started whispering.
“Wake him.”
“Wake him.”
“Wake him.”
Daniel felt a sharp pain behind his eyes.
He staggered.
Sarah grabbed him.
“Daniel!”
A memory exploded into his mind.
He was twenty years old.
Lying on a metal table.
Evelyn was standing over him.
Thomas was beside her.
Anna was screaming.
“No!”
Evelyn leaned closer.
“You'll remember me.”
Then someone injected something into Daniel's arm.
His vision blurred.
Evelyn whispered:
“When you wake up, you'll believe you're Daniel Morgan.”
The memory vanished.
Daniel collapsed to one knee.
Sarah caught him.
“Daniel!”
He looked up.
Tears streamed down his face.
“I remember.”
Everyone went silent.
“What do you remember?” Claire asked.
Daniel looked at Evelyn.
“You tried to kill Anna.”
Evelyn's expression hardened.
“You remember nothing.”
“You tried to transfer yourself into me.”
“That was before.”
“You killed Thomas.”
“No.”
“You killed Sarah.”
Sarah flinched.
Daniel turned toward her.
“You didn't die naturally.”
Sarah shook her head.
“No.”
Evelyn suddenly smiled.
“Now you're getting closer.”
Daniel looked at her.
“Who killed Sarah?”
Evelyn didn't answer.
Anna did.
“Margaret.”
Daniel froze.
“My mother?”
“She believed Sarah knew too much.”
Daniel looked at Claire.
“And you?”
Claire lowered her eyes.
“I helped Sarah escape.”
Daniel stared.
“That's why you were watching my children.”
Claire nodded.
“I promised her.”
“Promised what?”
“To keep Emily away from Evelyn.”
Evelyn laughed.
“You failed.”
Daniel looked at Emily.
His daughter was trembling in his arms.
“What is special about her?”
Anna's expression became grave.
“She is the first child born naturally in your bloodline in thirty-two years.”
Daniel frowned.
“And?”
Anna looked toward Evelyn.
“Evelyn cannot copy herself into her.”
“Why?”
“Because Emily's mind is different.”
Daniel's heart raced.
“What makes her different?”
Anna whispered:
“She can remember people who were erased.”
Daniel stared at his daughter.
Emily looked up at him.
“Daddy?”
“Yes?”
She pointed toward the room.
“I remember her.”
Daniel looked inside.
At the far end stood a little girl.
Maybe seven years old.
The same girl from the photograph.
But now she was smiling.
Emily whispered:
“She used to be me.”
Daniel's blood ran cold.
The little girl stepped into the light.
She looked exactly like Emily.
Same face.
Same eyes.
Same tiny birthmark near her cheek.
Daniel stared in horror.
Two girls.
Identical.
Standing only a few feet apart.
The girl smiled at Emily.
“You finally came back.”
Emily began crying.
“I don't know you.”
The girl shook her head.
“You don't remember yet.”
Then she looked directly at Daniel.
“She does.”
Daniel's voice trembled.
“Who are you?”
The girl smiled.
“I'm the first Emily.”
Daniel felt the world go silent.
“And you're the second.”
Behind him, Evelyn whispered:
“No.”
May you like
The first Emily stepped forward.
“And this time, I'm taking my body back.”
