Chapter 18 - The Man Who Never Died
We left the building through the rear entrance.
No plan.
No backup.
Only fear.
My father's voice had been real.
He was alive.
And someone had just shot him.
Or wanted us to believe they had.
David drove.
I sat beside him.
Emily and Sarah were in the back.
Reyes drove another vehicle.
Margaret refused to come.
“I need to stay.”
“Stay for what?”
“To finish what I started.”
I looked at her.
“You lied to me for years.”
“I know.”
“You manipulated me.”
“I know.”
“And yet I'm supposed to trust you.”
“No.”
She held my gaze.
“You're supposed to understand why I did it.”
She handed me an envelope.
“Open it when you reach the river.”
Then she walked away.
David sped into the night.
Twenty minutes later we reached the river.
I opened the envelope.
Inside was a photograph.
My father.
Alive.
Standing in a concrete room.
Beside him was General Vale.
Behind them was a metal door.
On the door was a symbol.
MIRROR ZERO.
David looked at the photo.
“It's the original facility.”
“Where is it?”
“Underneath the old federal archive.”
Reyes joined us.
He looked exhausted.
“I called a contact.”
“Who?”
“One person I still trust.”
“Who?”
“He's dead.”
I stared.
Reyes gave a humorless laugh.
“That's the problem.”
Sarah looked at me.
“Everyone we trusted is dead.”
“No.”
David looked toward the river.
“Not everyone.”
A boat moved through the darkness.
A man stepped onto the dock.
He was old.
Tall.
Gray-haired.
I knew him.
General Vale.
Reyes raised his weapon.
Vale lifted his hands.
“Daniel.”
“You're under arrest.”
Vale laughed.
“By whom?”
Reyes didn't answer.
Vale looked at me.
“I've been waiting twenty-eight years for you to remember.”
I stepped forward.
“You started the fire.”
Vale's expression didn't change.
“Yes.”
David grabbed my arm.
“Don't.”
I pulled away.
“Why?”
“Because I needed to know which child would survive.”
My mother had told me the system selected me.
Now I understood.
I was not simply protected.
I was tested.
Vale continued.
“Victoria died.”
My chest tightened.
“Because of you.”
“Yes.”
“And you turned my life into an experiment.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because identity is power.”
I felt sick.
“You ruined my family.”
“No.”
Vale looked at David.
“Your husband did.”
David's face hardened.
“Don't.”
“You were the one who kept digging.”
“You killed people.”
“I eliminated threats.”
“You killed innocent people.”
Vale looked at me.
“People are rarely innocent when they know too much.”
Sarah stepped forward.
“You made me.”
Vale looked at her.
“No.”
He pointed at me.
“She did.”
Sarah looked confused.
Vale continued.
“Your mother didn't build the system.”
“She did.”
“No.”
He smiled.
“Your father did.”
I stared.
“My father?”
“He created the architecture.”
“And my mother?”
“She perfected the conditioning.”
“And you?”
“I gave it a purpose.”
Reyes aimed his gun.
“You're done.”
Vale smiled.
“Not yet.”
He reached into his coat.
I expected a weapon.
Instead he pulled out a small recorder.
He pressed a button.
My father's voice filled the dock.
“If you hear this, Vale has already told you about Mirror Zero.”
Static.
“Do not believe him.”
Vale's smile disappeared.
My father's voice continued.
“The facility is not where he says.”
Reyes looked at me.
“Where?”
My father answered.
“Inside the place where Victoria spent her happiest years.”
The recording ended.
I knew immediately.
Our family home.
The basement.
But we'd already searched it.
Unless—
I remembered the photograph.
The fire.
My twin.
A room we had never entered.
The attic.
I looked at David.
“The attic.”
He nodded.
We drove back.
The house was dark.
We entered.
I climbed the stairs.
Emily followed.
“Mom.”
“Stay behind me.”
The attic door opened.
Dust.
Boxes.
Old clothes.
A piano.
Nothing.
Then I saw it.
A small wooden horse.
I remembered it.
Victoria and I used to play with it.
I knelt.
The horse had a hidden compartment.
Inside was a key.
My father's handwriting was engraved on it.
FOR ELENA.
I inserted it into the wall.
A section opened.
Inside was a tunnel.
Emily whispered,
“That's impossible.”
David stepped closer.
“It isn't.”
We entered.
The tunnel led down.
Past the basement.
Far beneath the house.
A door opened.
Inside was a control room.
Dozens of monitors.
Every screen showed me.
But one screen was different.
It showed my father.
Alive.
He looked directly into the camera.
“Hello, Elena.”
I cried.
“Dad.”
He smiled.
“I'm sorry I couldn't reach you sooner.”
A second voice came from behind him.
Vale.
“You should have left her alone.”
My father looked at the camera.
“Run.”
The screen went black.
Then the door behind us locked.
Emily screamed.
Gas began pouring through the vents.
David pulled his jacket over his mouth.
Reyes shouted,
“Get down!”
Sarah ran to the control panel.
“It's automated.”
“Can you stop it?”
“No.”
My eyes landed on the screen.
A countdown.
Then a message appeared.
MIRROR ZERO ACTIVATED.
SUBJECT ELENA HART LOCATED.
SECONDARY SUBJECT EMILY HART IDENTIFIED.
The countdown continued.
And beneath it:
TRANSFER INITIATED.
I looked at Emily.
“Transfer of what?”
May you like
Sarah went pale.
“Identity.”
