Chapter 8 - THE MEMORY SHE COULDN'T ESCAPERhea didn't speak for an hour.
They moved to another safehouse.
Helena remained silent.
Gus slept.
Ezra stood near the window.
Rhea sat across from him.
Finally she spoke.
"What if I did it?"
Ezra turned.
"What?"
"What if I caused everything?"
"You were a child."
"That doesn't mean I couldn't be manipulated."
"You weren't."
"How do you know?"
"Because I know what manipulation looks like."
She stared.
"How?"
Ezra looked down at his mechanical arm.
"I've lived with it."
Rhea swallowed.
"Tell me the truth."
"I am."
"Then tell me why Gregor said I ordered Gus's kidnapping."
Ezra walked toward her.
"Because he wants you to doubt yourself."
"What if I really did?"
"Then I'll find the truth."
"And if the truth proves I'm guilty?"
Ezra's eyes did not leave hers.
"Then I'll still protect you."
Rhea's breath caught.
"Why?"
He didn't answer immediately.
Then he said:
"Because I chose you before I understood why."
Something inside her cracked.
She looked away.
"That's dangerous."
"I know."
A gunshot shattered the window.
Ezra tackled her to the floor.
Glass rained across the room.
Helena shouted.
"Sniper!"
Gus woke.
Ezra grabbed his weapon.
"Basement."
They ran.
More bullets ripped through the walls.
The safehouse became a maze of concrete and smoke.
They reached the basement.
Helena locked the door.
Then she looked at Rhea.
"We need to force the memory."
"What?"
"The missing memory."
"No."
"It's the only way."
Gus nodded.
"They'll keep hunting us until she remembers."
Rhea looked at Ezra.
He said nothing.
"What happens if it goes wrong?"
Helena answered:
"She could lose her remaining memories."
Rhea closed her eyes.
"Do it."
Ezra grabbed her hand.
"Rhea."
"If I don't remember, people keep dying."
He tightened his grip.
"I won't let them hurt you."
She looked at him.
"Then stay."
He stayed.
The machine activated.
Images flashed.
A hospital.
A corridor.
Her father.
Her mother.
Gregor.
Young Ezra.
Gus.
Then a room.
Rhea was six.
She stood beneath a table.
She watched.
Gregor held a syringe.
Her mother attacked him.
A gunshot.
Her mother fell.
Her father screamed.
Young Ezra entered.
Rhea crawled toward him.
Then she heard her father say:
"Take her."
Gregor grabbed Rhea.
The memory changed.
A second room.
Rhea sat in a chair.
A scientist placed a device against her head.
He said:
"The girl saw everything."
Gregor answered:
"Erase it."
Then Rhea's father whispered:
"No."
He turned toward her.
"If you erase her memories, she'll forget the truth."
Gregor stepped closer.
"We don't need the truth."
Her father shook his head.
"We need the key."
The memory shifted again.
Rhea saw herself holding something.
A small silver vial.
Her father pressed it into her hand.
"One day, you'll meet Ezra."
She looked at the young man standing across the room.
"When he loses his arm, give him this."
Young Rhea nodded.
Then her father said:
"Because Ezra is the only person who can stop them."
The memory ended.
Rhea opened her eyes.
She was crying.
Ezra knelt beside her.
"What did you see?"
She looked at him.
"My father trusted you."
Ezra said nothing.
"And I didn't order Gus's kidnapping."
Gus exhaled.
"Thank God."
Rhea continued.
"But I did something."
"What?"
She looked at the silver vial.
"I hid the key."
Helena's face changed.
"Where?"
Rhea slowly touched her chest.
"In me."
Ezra stared.
"What do you mean?"
"The key isn't in the machine."
She pointed toward his mechanical arm.
"That's only half."
Then she looked at Gus.
"The other half is in my brother."
A loud explosion shook the building.
Helena ran toward the door.
"We have company."
Ezra stood.
"How many?"
Helena's face went white.
"Everyone."
She looked at the cameras.
Military vehicles surrounded the property.
Black SUVs.
Helicopters.
Armed teams.
And at the center of them stood Gregor.
Beside him stood a man Rhea had never seen before.
Helena whispered:
"That's the chairman."
"Chairman of what?"
Helena looked at Rhea.
"The organization behind Lazarus."
The man slowly removed his sunglasses.
Rhea recognized him.
Her father.
Alive.
May you like
He looked directly into the camera.
And smiled.
