CHAPTER 12: SUBJECT 43
The scream came again.
Long.
Sharp.
Human.
Everyone in the laboratory froze.
Ethan looked at the floor.
“What was that?”
Nobody answered.
Then another scream echoed beneath them.
This time, it was unmistakably a child's voice.
“Daddy!”
Ethan's heart stopped.
He turned toward Emma.
“You heard that.”
Emma nodded.
Her face had gone white.
“It's her.”
“Subject 43?”
“Yes.”
“She's underneath us?”
Emma shook her head.
“No.”
Ethan frowned.
“Then where?”
Emma pointed toward the floor.
“Below the old facility.”
Daniel stared at her.
“There is no lower level.”
“There is.”
Richard suddenly spoke.
“Emma.”
She turned.
“You know what happens if you go down there.”
“I know.”
“You can't stop it.”
“I have to.”
Richard laughed.
“You always were stubborn.”
Ethan stepped toward him.
“What is down there?”
Richard didn't answer.
Ethan grabbed his collar.
“Tell me!”
Richard smiled.
“The first laboratory.”
Ethan's expression hardened.
“Take us there.”
“No.”
Ethan tightened his grip.
“You don't get to say no anymore.”
Richard looked at him.
“You still think you're in control.”
A loud metallic boom shook the room.
The lights flickered.
Daniel raised his weapon.
“Something is moving beneath us.”
Then the floor split.
A section of metal collapsed.
Everyone jumped backward.
A dark opening appeared.
Cold air rushed upward.
Ethan stared into the darkness.
A ladder disappeared below.
Emma whispered:
“That wasn't supposed to open.”
Ethan looked at her.
“What is down there?”
She swallowed.
“The original nursery.”
Ethan's stomach tightened.
“Nursery?”
“For the first subjects.”
He looked toward Lily and Claire.
“Stay here.”
Lily immediately shook her head.
“No.”
“Lily…”
“I'm not staying alone.”
Claire grabbed Lily's hand.
“We stay together.”
Ethan looked at Emma.
“Can they come?”
Emma hesitated.
“They already know too much.”
Daniel nodded.
“Then we take them.”
Richard laughed.
“You're making a mistake.”
Ethan looked at him.
“You've made enough for all of us.”
Daniel went first.
Then Emma.
Claire.
Lily.
Ethan followed.
Richard remained above.
But as Ethan descended, he heard Richard whisper:
“Don't wake her.”
Ethan stopped.
“Who?”
Richard didn't answer.
The ladder continued downward.
After nearly thirty seconds, Ethan reached the bottom.
The room was enormous.
Rows of empty cribs lined the walls.
Some still contained blankets.
Some contained toys.
Others had name tags.
Ethan walked past them.
SUBJECT 01.
SUBJECT 02.
SUBJECT 03.
His stomach turned.
“This is where they kept them.”
Emma nodded.
“For testing.”
“For how long?”
“Until they either passed…”
She stopped.
“Or died.”
Ethan looked at Claire.
She was staring at the cribs.
“Did I sleep here?”
Emma shook her head.
“No.”
Claire pointed toward the far wall.
“That one.”
Everyone turned.
A small crib stood alone.
Its name tag read:
SUBJECT 43.
Ethan approached.
Inside was a faded yellow blanket.
He touched it.
A hidden speaker crackled.
A child's voice whispered:
“Daddy.”
Ethan froze.
“Where are you?”
The voice came again.
“Behind you.”
Ethan spun around.
Nothing.
Then a door opened.
A little girl stepped into the room.
She looked about six.
Dark hair.
Pale skin.
Yellow dress.
Ethan stared.
Claire gasped.
“She's like me.”
The girl looked at Lily.
Then Claire.
Then Ethan.
She began crying.
“Daddy.”
Ethan slowly approached.
“What's your name?”
The girl whispered:
“Anna.”
“Anna…”
She nodded.
“My mommy said you'd come.”
“Who is your mother?”
Anna pointed toward Emma.
Emma stopped breathing.
“No.”
Ethan looked at her.
“You know her?”
Emma couldn't speak.
Anna ran toward Emma.
“Mommy!”
Emma dropped to her knees.
She caught the girl.
“Anna…”
Tears streamed down Emma's face.
Ethan stared in shock.
“She's your daughter?”
Emma nodded.
“Yes.”
Ethan's voice cracked.
“How?”
“I thought she was dead.”
Anna looked up at Emma.
“You left me.”
Emma cried harder.
“I thought they killed you.”
“They didn't.”
“Who saved you?”
Anna pointed toward the darkness.
“He did.”
A man stepped into the light.
Ethan recognized him.
The doctor from the police roadblock.
The man who had signed Claire's death certificate.
Ethan drew his weapon.
“You.”
The doctor raised his hands.
“Don't shoot.”
“You kidnapped children.”
“I saved them.”
“Where are the others?”
“Dead.”
Ethan's expression hardened.
“How many?”
“Thirty-five.”
Daniel lowered his weapon slightly.
“Seven survived.”
The doctor nodded.
“Lily.”
“Claire.”
“Anna.”
“And four others.”
“Where are they?”
“Scattered.”
“Where?”
The doctor looked at Emma.
“She knows.”
Ethan turned.
“Emma?”
She looked devastated.
“I knew where they were.”
“How?”
“I helped hide them.”
“Why didn't you tell me?”
“Because I thought you were compromised.”
Ethan stared.
“What does that mean?”
The doctor answered.
“Richard wasn't the only person controlling you.”
Ethan looked at him.
“Who else?”
The doctor's expression became grim.
“Your mother.”
Ethan's eyes widened.
“My mother?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“She started Project Eve.”
Ethan shook his head.
“She said she didn't.”
The doctor nodded.
“She lied.”
Emma stepped forward.
“She didn't start it.”
The doctor looked at her.
“She funded it.”
“That isn't the same.”
“It became the same when the first child died.”
Silence.
Ethan looked toward his mother, who was still upstairs.
“You're saying she knew?”
“Yes.”
“Then why did she save Lily?”
“Because she regretted what she created.”
The doctor pointed toward Anna.
“And she wasn't the only one who regretted it.”
Ethan looked at Emma.
“Why didn't you tell me about Anna?”
Emma whispered:
“Because Anna was supposed to be the replacement.”
“For Lily?”
“Yes.”
Ethan's face changed.
“What replacement?”
Emma looked at Anna.
“Richard wanted to replace Lily with a child he could control.”
Anna's eyes filled with tears.
“I wasn't good enough.”
Ethan crouched beside her.
“That's not true.”
Anna looked at him.
“Grandpa said I was defective.”
Ethan's jaw tightened.
“He lied.”
Anna whispered:
“He said all the girls were defective.”
Ethan looked at the doctor.
“What does that mean?”
The doctor hesitated.
“Each child carried one piece of the genetic sequence.”
“And Lily?”
“She carried the first.”
“Claire?”
“The second.”
“Anna?”
“The third.”
Ethan stared.
“How many pieces?”
“Seven.”
He looked at the room.
“Seven surviving children.”
The doctor nodded.
“And together…”
He stopped.
“Together what?”
“They can unlock the complete archive.”
Ethan's expression hardened.
“So Richard wants all seven.”
“Yes.”
“Where are the other four?”
The doctor looked at the ceiling.
“Richard already found two.”
Ethan's blood ran cold.
“Where?”
“On their way here.”
Daniel raised his weapon.
“We need to move.”
But before anyone could react, the laboratory doors slammed shut.
A voice came through the speakers.
Richard.
“Thank you, Doctor.”
Everyone froze.
Richard continued:
“You've saved me a great deal of time.”
Ethan looked upward.
“What did you do?”
Richard laughed.
“I told you not to wake her.”
Emma's face went white.
“What does that mean?”
The lights turned red.
A deep mechanical hum began beneath the floor.
Anna screamed.
“She's waking up!”
Ethan grabbed her.
“Who's waking up?”
The doctor backed away.
“No…”
“What?”
He looked terrified.
“The original.”
The floor began shaking.
A massive steel chamber rose from beneath the nursery.
A glass window slowly illuminated.
Inside was a woman.
Unconscious.
Connected to dozens of machines.
Ethan stared.
He recognized her face.
He had seen it in the old photographs.
He had seen it in his dreams.
He had seen it beside his father.
His mother.
But she looked exactly as she had ten years ago.
Young.
Alive.
The woman opened her eyes.
Ethan couldn't breathe.
She looked directly at him.
Then she whispered:
“Ethan…”
Emma grabbed his arm.
“Don't answer her.”
“Why?”
“Because that's not your mother.”
The woman inside the chamber smiled.
May you like
And said:
“I'm your sister.”
