CHAPTER 14: THE WOMAN OUTSIDE
The woman on the monitor smiled.
She looked exactly like me.
Same eyes.
Same hair.
Same face.
But there was something different in her expression.
Mine carried fear.
Hers carried certainty.
She knew something I didn't.
Evelyn stared at the screen.
“No.”
I turned toward her.
“You know her.”
Evelyn didn't answer.
“You know her.”
She finally whispered,
“Yes.”
“Who is she?”
Evelyn swallowed.
“Subject 00.”
“But you said you were Subject 00.”
“I was.”
“Then who is that?”
Evelyn looked at the woman on the screen.
“She is the reason I was created.”
My heart pounded.
“Created to do what?”
“To replace her.”
The hospital shook again.
The screen flickered.
The woman outside stepped closer to the camera.
Then she spoke.
“Emma.”
I froze.
Her voice sounded exactly like mine.
“Don't be afraid.”
I stared.
“You're not me.”
She smiled.
“Not yet.”
Adrian slowly sat up.
“Emma…”
I looked at him.
His eyes were normal again.
“Are you okay?”
He nodded.
“I think so.”
Then he looked at the screen.
His face changed.
“I remember her.”
I turned.
“What?”
He stared at the woman.
“She was in my memories.”
Evelyn stepped toward him.
“When?”
“When I was a child.”
The woman on the screen smiled.
“You remember.”
Adrian's voice shook.
“You were there.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because I helped create you.”
I felt sick.
“Create him?”
She nodded.
“Adrian was never supposed to be a husband.”
I stared at her.
“What was he supposed to be?”
“A guardian.”
“For me?”
“For the project.”
She paused.
“But something went wrong.”
“What?”
“He developed feelings.”
Adrian looked at me.
“I fell in love with you.”
The woman smiled.
“That was the mistake.”
A loud explosion rocked the building.
The monitor went black.
Evelyn shouted,
“She breached the outer perimeter!”
My father looked toward the hallway.
“Everyone move.”
“Where?”
“Anywhere but here.”
I grabbed Claire.
Daniel carried the babies.
Adrian stayed beside me.
We ran toward the emergency exit.
But when the doors opened, a dozen armed men stood outside.
My father raised his weapon.
“Stay back.”
One of the men lowered his gun.
“We're not here to hurt you.”
“Then why are you armed?”
The man removed his helmet.
He was a police officer.
Behind him were dozens more.
I stared.
“The police?”
He nodded.
“Emergency call came from this hospital.”
I looked at my wrist.
My watch.
The same one that had sent the SOS at the ballroom.
The officer looked at it.
“We received the original emergency transmission.”
I remembered.
Everything.
The ballroom.
My husband's attack.
My mother-in-law screaming.
My watch recording everything.
The evidence had never stopped transmitting.
The officer looked at the babies.
“How many?”
“Twenty-six.”
He stared.
“Twenty-six?”
“Three are mine.”
He looked confused.
“The others were found underground.”
Daniel stepped forward.
“There's a genetic laboratory beneath this hospital.”
The officer's face hardened.
“How deep?”
“Four levels.”
“Are there more people?”
“Doctors. Security. Children.”
The officer immediately called for backup.
Then another officer ran toward us.
“Sir!”
“What?”
“We found something.”
He handed over a tablet.
The screen showed a hospital database.
Thousands of files.
Birth certificates.
Adoption records.
Death certificates.
Missing children.
I stared.
“This is…”
“The Whitmore network.”
I looked at Adrian.
“How many?”
The officer answered.
“Over three thousand.”
My stomach dropped.
Three thousand children.
Three thousand families.
Three thousand lies.
The woman on the monitor suddenly appeared again.
“Don't open those files.”
Everyone turned.
The officer raised his gun toward the screen.
The woman smiled.
“You think exposing the Whitmores will end this?”
I stepped forward.
“You're afraid.”
She laughed.
“Of you?”
“Yes.”
She smiled.
“No.”
Then she looked directly at me.
“I'm afraid of what you'll remember next.”
The screen went black.
I felt a strange pressure behind my eyes.
Another memory surfaced.
A room.
White walls.
A baby crying.
My mother standing beside me.
But I wasn't a child.
I was an adult.
Six years ago.
I was lying on an operating table.
Pregnant.
My grandfather stood beside me.
Dr. Hayes was there.
Evelyn was there.
Adrian was there.
And another woman.
The woman from the screen.
She was holding a newborn.
Me.
I watched the memory.
She leaned toward me.
“You'll forget.”
I heard my own voice.
“Why?”
“Because you'll hate us if you remember.”
“Who am I?”
She smiled.
“You are the mother.”
Then she placed the newborn in my arms.
I looked down.
It was Claire.
But something was wrong.
Claire wasn't crying.
She was sleeping.
Then another person entered.
My mother.
She took Claire.
“Where are you taking her?”
My mother whispered,
“To safety.”
The memory changed.
I was screaming.
“Give me my baby!”
My grandfather restrained me.
Adrian was crying.
Dr. Hayes looked away.
Then my mother said:
“I'm sorry.”
The memory ended.
I opened my eyes.
Tears were running down my face.
“I remember.”
Adrian grabbed my hand.
“What?”
“Claire.”
He stared.
“You remembered her birth?”
“Yes.”
I looked at my father.
“You took her.”
He shook his head.
“No.”
“You did.”
“I was trying to protect her.”
“From what?”
“The project.”
I looked at Claire.
She was watching me.
“Why did you tell me she died?”
“Because they were looking for her.”
I knelt beside her.
“Claire.”
“Yes?”
“I remember you.”
Her eyes filled with tears.
“You do?”
“Yes.”
She hugged me.
I held her tightly.
“I never forgot you.”
“But they told you I died.”
“I know.”
“Did you look for me?”
“Every day.”
She whispered,
“I looked for you too.”
My heart broke.
Then the hospital alarm sounded again.
The police officer looked at his tablet.
“Ma'am…”
“What?”
“You need to see this.”
He turned the screen toward me.
A new file had appeared.
No name.
No photograph.
Only one identifier.
SUBJECT 00.
STATUS: ACTIVE.
LOCATION:
HOME.
I stared.
“My house.”
The officer nodded.
“There's someone inside.”
Adrian stepped forward.
“Eleanor.”
“No.”
I knew immediately.
“Not Eleanor.”
“Then who?”
I looked at the screen.
“Her.”
The woman who looked like me.
She had gone to my home.
But why?
Then I remembered my mother's envelope.
The real birth certificate.
Eleanor had it.
I looked at Adrian.
“She wants the certificate.”
“Why?”
“Because it proves who I am.”
He shook his head.
“No.”
I frowned.
“What?”
“She doesn't need the certificate.”
“Then why go there?”
He looked at me.
“To get something else.”
“What?”
He pointed toward the image.
A security camera showed my house.
The woman walked into the nursery.
She opened a drawer.
Then removed a small wooden box.
I recognized it immediately.
My mother's box.
I had never been allowed to open it.
My grandfather had always said it contained family documents.
The woman opened it.
Inside was a small silver pendant.
She held it up.
The screen flickered.
Then every computer in the hospital shut down.
The police officers shouted.
“What happened?”
Evelyn stared at the monitor.
“She activated it.”
“Activated what?”
“The original genetic key.”
I looked at the pendant.
“What does it do?”
Evelyn whispered,
“It identifies the first generation.”
“Who?”
“You.”
My stomach dropped.
The woman on the screen turned toward the camera.
She held the pendant against her chest.
Then she said:
“Emma, come home.”
I stared.
“Why?”
She smiled.
“Because your children aren't the only ones waiting for you.”
The screen changed.
A camera inside my house.
The nursery.
The woman stepped aside.
Behind her were four children.
Not babies.
Children.
All around six years old.
All with my face.
My blood froze.
Claire screamed,
“Mommy…”
The children looked directly into the camera.
One of them stepped forward.
And said:
“Which one of us is your real daughter?”
The screen went black.
Nobody spoke.
I looked at my three daughters.
Then at the police.
Then at Adrian.
Four children.
All identical.
All six years old.
And one terrifying possibility entered my mind.
What if Claire wasn't the only daughter they had taken?
What if the Whitmores had created an entire generation of girls using me?
I grabbed Adrian's hand.
“We're going home.”
He nodded.
My father stepped forward.
“I'll come with you.”
“No.”
He looked at me.
“This time, I'm going alone.”
“Emma…”
“You lied to me for twenty years.”
I looked at him.
“You don't get to decide what happens next.”
Then I turned to the police officer.
“Can you protect the babies?”
“Yes.”
“Then do it.”
I looked at Claire.
“Mommy will be back.”
She grabbed my hand.
“Don't leave me.”
I knelt.
“I won't.”
Adrian crouched beside us.
“We'll go together.”
I looked at him.
“You're coming?”
“Always.”
For the first time since the nightmare began, I smiled.
Then my watch vibrated.
A new notification appeared.
EMERGENCY SOS.
I frowned.
“I didn't send that.”
Adrian looked at the screen.
Neither did anyone else.
Then another message appeared.
FROM:
SUBJECT 00.
MESSAGE:
YOU HAVE 12 MINUTES.
A second message followed.
DON'T BRING THE POLICE.
A third appeared.
BRING YOUR HUSBAND.
And then the final message:
BRING THE BABY WHO WAS NEVER SUPPOSED TO SURVIVE.
I looked down.
The third baby was staring at me.
Her eyes were no longer dark brown.
They were completely black.
Just like Adrian's had been.
She smiled.
May you like
And whispered:
“Home.”
