CHAPTER 9: THE WOMAN BEHIND THE DOOR
Knock.
Knock.
Knock.
Nobody moved.
Ethan stared at the steel door.
His mother's voice had just come from the other side.
But his mother had been dead for ten years.
He knew that.
He had stood beside her hospital bed.
He had watched the monitors go silent.
He had identified her body.
He had attended her funeral.
So why was she calling his name?
“Ethan.”
The voice came again.
This time softer.
Almost pleading.
“Please.”
Ethan took one step toward the door.
Emma grabbed his arm.
“Don't.”
He looked at her.
“That's my mother.”
“No.”
“You heard her.”
“I did.”
“Then why are you stopping me?”
“Because that's exactly what they want.”
Ethan stared at the door.
Daniel approached the control panel.
“It's locked from the inside.”
“Can you open it?”
“Probably.”
“Do it.”
Emma shook her head.
“Ethan, wait.”
He turned.
“What?”
“If that really is your mother…”
She swallowed.
“…everything we've been told is wrong.”
“Everything has already been wrong.”
Ethan looked toward Lily and Claire.
“I'm done being afraid of answers.”
Daniel entered a code.
The lock clicked.
The steel door opened two inches.
A cold mist rolled across the floor.
Then the lights inside turned on.
Ethan stepped forward.
The room beyond was enormous.
Rows of glass chambers lined the walls.
Computers blinked.
Medical equipment hummed.
And on the far side of the room stood a woman.
She was older.
Her hair was completely gray.
But Ethan recognized her instantly.
“Mom?”
The woman smiled.
“Hello, Ethan.”
Ethan's knees almost gave out.
“Mom…”
He walked toward her.
She opened her arms.
Ethan stopped inches away.
“How?”
His mother touched his face.
“I couldn't tell you.”
“You were dead.”
“No.”
“You let me bury you.”
“I had to.”
“Why?”
She looked past him.
At Lily.
Then Claire.
“Because Richard wanted me dead.”
Ethan's expression hardened.
“My father?”
His mother nodded.
“Your father was never the man you thought he was.”
Ethan laughed bitterly.
“I think I've figured that out.”
She looked toward Emma.
“Thank you for bringing them.”
Emma lowered her head.
“I promised.”
Ethan frowned.
“Bringing who?”
His mother pointed at the two girls.
“Both of them.”
Ethan looked at Lily and Claire.
“Why?”
“Because they're the last pieces.”
“The last pieces of what?”
His mother walked toward a large monitor.
She activated it.
A file appeared.
PROJECT EVE.
Ethan's stomach tightened.
“What is that?”
“The beginning.”
She clicked another file.
Photographs appeared.
Babies.
Dozens of them.
Each had a number.
Ethan stared in horror.
“How many?”
“Forty-two.”
“What happened to them?”
His mother didn't answer.
She clicked another file.
SURVIVORS: 2
Ethan looked at Lily.
Then Claire.
“No.”
His mother nodded.
“Lily and Claire.”
Emma stepped forward.
“You said there were only two.”
“There are.”
“But the other six?”
“Those were failed attempts.”
Ethan stared at Claire.
“Attempt to do what?”
His mother looked directly at him.
“Create a child carrying two specific genetic markers.”
Ethan's face went pale.
“Why?”
“Because whoever controls those markers can access the Halcyon archive.”
“What archive?”
“The original records.”
Ethan frowned.
“That's it?”
“No.”
His mother shook her head.
“The archive contains more than birth certificates.”
She pressed another button.
A map appeared.
Thousands of red dots covered the United States.
Ethan stared.
“What are those?”
“Children.”
His voice disappeared.
“What?”
“Children whose identities were altered.”
Ethan looked at Emma.
She nodded.
“That was what I discovered.”
His mother continued.
“Some were adopted illegally.”
“Some were sold.”
“Some were given new identities.”
“And some,” she said quietly, “were never recorded at all.”
Ethan felt sick.
“Why?”
“Money.”
His mother looked at him.
“And power.”
A door opened somewhere behind them.
Everyone turned.
Vanessa entered.
Her face was exhausted.
She looked at Ethan's mother.
“You survived.”
Ethan's mother smiled.
“So did you.”
Vanessa looked at Lily.
“She's safe?”
“For now.”
Vanessa nodded.
Ethan stepped between them.
“Enough secrets.”
His voice echoed through the laboratory.
“I want answers.”
His mother nodded.
“You deserve them.”
“Why was my memory erased?”
“Because you saw the laboratory.”
“When?”
“The night Emma disappeared.”
Ethan closed his eyes.
Fragments returned.
A corridor.
Bright lights.
A crying baby.
Emma screaming.
Richard holding a syringe.
His own father saying:
“Erase his memory.”
Ethan opened his eyes.
“My father drugged me.”
“Yes.”
“And Emma?”
“Escaped.”
“With Claire?”
“Yes.”
“Then why did she come back?”
His mother looked at Emma.
“Because she couldn't leave Lily.”
Ethan looked at Emma.
“You stayed because of Lily?”
Emma nodded.
“Vanessa gave me access to her.”
Vanessa looked away.
“I owed her.”
Ethan frowned.
“What happened?”
Vanessa's voice was quiet.
“I gave birth to Lily.”
She looked at her daughter.
“And Richard took her.”
“Why did you let him?”
“I didn't.”
Her voice broke.
“I fought.”
She touched the scar on her wrist.
“He locked me in the hospital for six months.”
Ethan's face hardened.
“What?”
“Emma helped me escape.”
Emma nodded.
“We made a deal.”
“What deal?”
“I would protect Lily.”
Emma continued.
“And Vanessa would help me get Claire out.”
Ethan looked at them.
“So the two of you have been working together.”
“Yes.”
“For three years?”
“Yes.”
“Why didn't you tell me?”
Emma answered:
“Because we knew Richard was monitoring you.”
Ethan shook his head.
“You could have trusted me.”
“We tried.”
“Then why did you keep me in the dark?”
Emma's eyes filled with tears.
“Because every person who tried to tell you the truth disappeared.”
Silence.
Suddenly, the laboratory doors slammed shut.
Everyone turned.
A voice came over the speakers.
“That's enough.”
Ethan recognized it immediately.
Richard.
His father's voice filled the room.
“You've found the archive.”
Ethan looked around.
“Where are you?”
Richard laughed.
“You're standing inside my laboratory.”
Ethan shouted:
“Show yourself!”
“Why?”
“Because I'm done hiding.”
“Good.”
A screen activated.
Richard appeared on it.
Behind him stood armed men.
But he wasn't alone.
Someone was standing beside him.
Ethan stared.
His blood ran cold.
It was Lily.
Or someone who looked exactly like her.
Same face.
Same eyes.
Same hair.
But older.
Maybe twelve.
Maybe thirteen.
Ethan couldn't speak.
Richard smiled.
“Meet Subject Eight.”
Lily looked at the screen.
Her face went pale.
“Daddy?”
The older girl looked toward Ethan.
Then she whispered:
“Don't trust him.”
Richard's smile disappeared.
The girl continued:
“Because I'm not the only one.”
The screen suddenly switched.
One image appeared.
Then another.
Then another.
Dozens of girls.
All with Lily's face.
Ethan staggered backward.
“No…”
His mother whispered:
“They made more.”
Richard's voice returned.
“Forty-two, Ethan.”
The screen went black.
“Forty-two attempts.”
A countdown appeared.
10:00
09:59
09:58
Richard spoke one final time.
“You have ten minutes to choose which daughter survives.”
May you like
The laboratory doors locked.
And the countdown began.
