CHAPTER 8: THE FATHER WHO CAME BACK FROM THE DEAD
My father's gun was pointed directly at my chest.
For three seconds, the entire train seemed to stop breathing.
Then Emily whispered:
“Grandpa?”
My father didn't lower the weapon.
He looked at her.
His expression changed.
Not much.
Just enough for me to see something I hadn't seen in years.
Regret.
“Victoria,” he said.
His voice.
It was unmistakable.
My father's voice.
The same voice that had taught me how to shoot.
The same voice that had told me never to trust anyone who smiled while making a threat.
The same voice I had heard in my dreams after his supposed death.
I stepped forward.
“You're alive.”
He nodded.
“I am.”
“You let me believe you were dead.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
His eyes moved toward the others.
“Because if you knew I survived, Ward would have killed you.”
I laughed bitterly.
“Everyone keeps using that excuse.”
My father lowered the weapon slightly.
“I know.”
“You knew my husband was alive.”
“Yes.”
“You knew Charles Prescott was alive.”
“Yes.”
“You knew about Black Lantern.”
“Yes.”
“And you watched me spend years believing everyone I loved was dead.”
His eyes hardened.
“I had no choice.”
I almost fired.
But Emily stepped between us.
“Mom.”
“Move.”
“No.”
“Emily.”
She looked at my father.
“Why did you disappear?”
My father looked at her.
“Because I was trying to keep you alive.”
“From Ward?”
“From everyone.”
Emily shook her head.
“You're all saying the same thing.”
My father frowned.
“What?”
“That you did terrible things because you were protecting us.”
Silence.
She looked around the train.
“Maybe you weren't protecting us.”
Her voice cracked.
“Maybe you were protecting yourselves.”
Nobody answered.
My father slowly lowered his weapon.
Emily walked past me.
“Where were you when I needed you?”
My father couldn't answer.
She wiped her eyes.
“I waited for you.”
“I know.”
“No.”
She shook her head.
“You don't.”
She walked away.
My father looked at me.
“She has your strength.”
I stared at him.
“Don't compliment my daughter after abandoning her.”
His face tightened.
“I deserved that.”
“You deserve worse.”
“I know.”
He placed his weapon on the floor.
Then stepped into the train.
“Now listen carefully.”
I didn't move.
“Ward is coming.”
“Let him.”
“He isn't coming for me.”
“Then who?”
“You.”
I laughed.
“He already targeted me.”
“No.”
My father looked at me.
“He knows where the files are.”
I felt a chill.
“My father's study.”
He nodded.
“That's why he's coming.”
“What files?”
“The original Black Lantern archive.”
“What's inside?”
“Everything.”
He looked at my husband.
“Your husband's role.”
Then at Michael.
“Charles's betrayal.”
Then at Gabriel.
“Your existence.”
Then finally at me.
“And your memory.”
I stared at him.
“My memory?”
He nodded.
“Black Lantern wasn't just about collecting intelligence.”
“What was it?”
“Creating witnesses who couldn't remember what they had seen.”
I felt the train suddenly colder.
“How?”
“Chemical conditioning.”
“Drugs?”
“Yes.”
“On soldiers?”
“On selected officers.”
“Why me?”
“Because you survived.”
I shook my head.
“I remember everything.”
“No.”
My father stepped closer.
“You remember what they wanted you to remember.”
I froze.
“What does that mean?”
He reached into his coat.
Pulled out a small metal case.
Opened it.
Inside was a tiny cassette tape.
Old.
Nearly twenty years old.
My name was written on it.
VICTORIA HART.
I stared.
“What is that?”
“Your original debriefing.”
“I already read my debriefing.”
“No.”
He shook his head.
“That was the edited version.”
My husband looked at him.
“You still have it?”
My father nodded.
“I kept it because I knew one day Ward would come for her.”
I took the cassette.
My fingers trembled.
“What will I hear?”
“The truth.”
I looked at the cassette.
“Then why not play it now?”
My father looked toward the tunnel.
“Because we have five minutes.”
“For what?”
“Before Ward's team reaches us.”
Everyone immediately moved.
Gabriel checked his weapon.
“How many?”
My father answered:
“Twenty at least.”
Ethan looked nervous.
“Military?”
“Some.”
“Others?”
“Private contractors.”
Michael looked at me.
“We can't fight twenty people.”
“We don't have to,” I said.
Everyone looked at me.
“We need to reach the archive.”
My father nodded.
“That's exactly where we're going.”
The train started again.
The tunnel lights blurred past us.
My husband moved beside me.
“Victoria.”
“What?”
“I need to tell you something before we reach the house.”
“I've heard enough secrets.”
“This one is about Emily.”
I turned.
“What about her?”
He lowered his voice.
“She's not just carrying your memories.”
My heart stopped.
“What?”
“She has something else.”
“What?”
“A code.”
“What code?”
“The access code to Black Lantern.”
I stared.
“How?”
“When you were pregnant, Ward needed a way to preserve the information if something happened to you.”
My stomach turned.
“He used Emily.”
My husband nodded.
“Her genetic pattern became part of the encryption.”
I looked at my daughter.
“So they weren't watching her because she was my daughter.”
“No.”
“They were watching her because she was the key.”
“Yes.”
I looked at Emily.
She was sitting across from me.
Listening.
She had heard everything.
“Why didn't you tell me?”
My husband looked ashamed.
“Because I was afraid you'd blame yourself.”
“I do.”
“Victoria…”
“I should have protected her.”
My father interrupted.
“No.”
I turned.
“This wasn't your fault.”
I glared at him.
“You don't get to decide that.”
“You were manipulated.”
“So was she.”
“Yes.”
“And she paid the price.”
My father looked down.
“Yes.”
The train suddenly screeched.
Everyone grabbed the walls.
A massive explosion shook the tunnel.
The lights died.
Smoke filled the carriage.
“Everyone down!”
I heard gunfire.
Bullets tore through the metal walls.
“They're here!”
I pulled Emily behind a seat.
My father fired through the window.
Gabriel moved toward the rear.
Michael covered the opposite side.
Ethan screamed:
“They're boarding!”
A masked man crashed through the emergency door.
I fired.
He dropped.
Another climbed in.
Then another.
The train became a battlefield.
I grabbed Emily.
“Stay behind me!”
She nodded.
My husband appeared beside us.
“I'll get her out.”
“No.”
“Victoria!”
“She's my daughter.”
“And she's my daughter!”
For the first time, we shouted at each other.
Then Emily screamed:
“STOP!”
We both froze.
She pointed toward the ceiling.
“There's something up there.”
I looked.
A small red light.
Blinking.
My father shouted:
“Get down!”
He tackled Emily.
The ceiling exploded.
A flash grenade detonated.
Everything became white.
Then black.
When my vision returned, I was on the floor.
My ears were ringing.
Emily was gone.
“Emily!”
No answer.
I crawled forward.
“Emily!”
My husband was unconscious beside me.
Michael was bleeding.
Gabriel was standing.
My father was nowhere.
I grabbed Michael.
“Where's Emily?”
He pointed toward the rear door.
“They took her.”
I ran.
The door was open.
Outside, three black vehicles were speeding through the underground service tunnel.
One vehicle had Emily.
I raised my weapon.
Too far.
I couldn't shoot.
I couldn't reach her.
Then I saw something on the ground.
A phone.
Emily's phone.
The screen was still lit.
A video was playing.
I picked it up.
Emily appeared on the screen.
She was sitting in a dark room.
Her face was bruised.
But she was alive.
She looked directly into the camera.
“Mom…”
I pressed the screen.
“Emily!”
Her voice continued.
“If you're watching this, they took me.”
I felt my heart crack.
“But don't come after me.”
I shook my head.
“No.”
Her voice trembled.
“They told me something.”
She looked down.
“They said the truth is inside my head.”
I froze.
Then she looked directly at the camera.
“Mom…”
She whispered:
“I remember Black Lantern.”
The video ended.
I stared at the black screen.
My father suddenly appeared behind me.
His face was pale.
“What did she say?”
I turned.
“She remembers.”
He closed his eyes.
“That means they have access to her memories.”
I looked at him.
“Can they extract them?”
He didn't answer.
“Can they?”
“Yes.”
My blood ran cold.
“Then we're going after her.”
My husband regained consciousness.
“Victoria…”
I turned.
He struggled to stand.
“They'll use her.”
“For what?”
He looked at me.
“To unlock the archive.”
My father nodded.
“And once they unlock it…”
“What?”
“They can erase every record of Black Lantern.”
I stared at him.
“Then we stop them.”
My father looked at me.
“You don't understand.”
“Then explain.”
He pointed toward the tunnel.
“The archive isn't just a collection of files.”
“What is it?”
“It's a weapon.”
Silence.
“What kind of weapon?”
My father whispered:
“It contains evidence capable of bringing down half the government.”
I stared at him.
“And Ward wants to destroy it.”
“No.”
My father shook his head.
“He wants to control it.”
I looked at Emily's phone.
Then at the dark tunnel where they had taken my daughter.
My anger finally replaced the fear.
I picked up my weapon.
“Then we're taking it from him.”
My father nodded.
“Where do we go?”
I looked at the last coordinates on Emily's phone.
A location appeared.
Not Charlotte.
Not the Prescott estate.
Not Fort Liberty.
A classified military facility in Virginia.
BLACK LANTERN ARCHIVE SITE.
I looked at my father.
“You know this place.”
“Yes.”
“Can we get inside?”
He stared at the coordinates.
“Not anymore.”
“Why?”
He pointed at the screen.
“Because that facility was officially destroyed six years ago.”
I frowned.
“Then why is Emily there?”
My father looked at me.
“Because it wasn't destroyed.”
He paused.
“It was buried.”
And beneath the coordinates, a new message appeared.
COME ALONE, COLONEL.
May you like
Then another.
OR YOUR DAUGHTER WILL REMEMBER EVERYTHING.
