CHAPTER EIGHT-BENEATH THE ASHES
1413 Words
08:00.
Daniel stared at the countdown.
07:59.
07:58.
The room remained silent.
Then Amara spoke.
“We have eight minutes.”
Daniel looked at her.
“No.”
He picked up his gun.
“We have eight minutes until something happens.”
Kane shook his head.
“You don't understand.”
“Then explain it.”
Kane looked toward the dead screens.
“Project Twelve wasn't destroyed in 2004.”
Daniel's expression hardened.
“You said the facility was abandoned.”
“The facility we found was.”
Kane pointed toward the floor.
“The real facility survived.”
Daniel looked at the countdown.
“Under St. Martha's.”
Kane nodded.
“Seven floors beneath the ruins.”
Amara stepped toward him.
“Why would they build something that deep?”
“Because nobody was supposed to find it.”
Daniel remembered the children's home.
The burned walls.
The abandoned rooms.
The underground laboratory they had discovered.
All of it had seemed impossible.
Now it made sense.
It wasn't the heart of Project Twelve.
It was only the entrance.
Daniel looked at the countdown.
06:42.
“How do we get there?”
Kane pointed toward a small door at the back of the control room.
“Through there.”
They ran.
The door opened into a narrow stairwell.
Daniel went first.
Amara followed.
Kane came behind them.
The stairs seemed endless.
Level -1.
-2.
-3.
The air grew colder.
At Level -5, Daniel noticed something scratched into the wall.
A child's handwriting.
SAMUEL WAS HERE.
Daniel stopped.
“Keep moving,” Kane said.
Daniel touched the writing.
“When?”
Kane looked away.
“After the fire.”
Daniel turned.
“Samuel survived?”
Kane didn't answer.
Daniel grabbed his shirt.
“DID SAMUEL SURVIVE?”
Kane finally looked at him.
“Yes.”
Daniel released him.
“How?”
Kane's voice was quiet.
“Because someone took him.”
“Who?”
“The Architect.”
Daniel's stomach tightened.
“Why?”
Kane shook his head.
“I don't know.”
“You know everything else.”
“No.”
Kane looked at him.
“I know what they wanted Samuel to become.”
Daniel stared.
“What?”
Kane whispered:
“A replacement.”
The countdown on Kane's watch beeped.
05:31.
They continued downward.
At Level -7, they reached a steel door.
There was no handle.
Only a fingerprint scanner.
Kane placed his hand against it.
The scanner flashed red.
ACCESS DENIED.
He tried again.
Red.
Daniel stepped forward.
Kane stopped him.
“Don't.”
“Why?”
“Because it won't recognize you.”
Daniel looked at the scanner.
“Try me.”
Kane hesitated.
Then stepped aside.
Daniel placed his hand on the scanner.
For a moment, nothing happened.
Then the scanner turned green.
SUBJECT ELEVEN RECOGNIZED.
The door unlocked.
Everyone froze.
Amara stared at Daniel.
“Subject Eleven.”
Daniel looked at his hand.
He didn't feel like himself anymore.
The door opened.
Beyond it was a massive underground complex.
Rows of computers.
Observation rooms.
Medical equipment.
Hundreds of files.
And at the center of the room stood twelve glass chambers.
Eleven were empty.
One was occupied.
Daniel walked toward it.
A figure stood inside.
A young man.
His back was turned.
Daniel stopped.
“Samuel?”
The figure slowly turned.
Daniel couldn't breathe.
The man's face looked almost exactly like his.
Same eyes.
Same jaw.
Same scar above the eyebrow.
But older.
He was perhaps thirty years old.
Daniel stared at him.
The man smiled.
“Hello, Daniel.”
Amara raised her gun.
“Don't move.”
Samuel laughed.
“You still point guns at people when you're scared.”
Daniel stepped closer.
“How do you know me?”
Samuel looked at him through the glass.
“Because I remember everything you forgot.”
Daniel's voice shook.
“What happened in 2004?”
Samuel's smile disappeared.
“They burned the children.”
“Who?”
“The people running Project Twelve.”
“Why?”
Samuel looked toward Kane.
“Ask him.”
Daniel turned.
Kane was gone.
“Where is Kane?”
Samuel laughed softly.
“He always runs when the truth gets too close.”
Daniel looked back at the chamber.
“How are you alive?”
Samuel touched the glass.
“Because they needed me.”
“For what?”
Samuel looked directly into Daniel's eyes.
“To make you.”
Daniel frowned.
“I don't understand.”
“They needed someone who could carry the memories.”
Samuel pointed at himself.
“That was me.”
Then he pointed at Daniel.
“And you were the result.”
Daniel felt dizzy.
“You said you were Subject Twelve.”
“I was.”
“Then why am I Eleven?”
Samuel smiled.
“Because you weren't supposed to be Eleven.”
Daniel stared.
Samuel continued.
“The numbers were changed.”
“By who?”
“The Architect.”
Daniel's heart raced.
“Who is he?”
Samuel's expression became serious.
“You've already met him.”
Daniel froze.
“Who?”
Samuel didn't answer.
Instead, the entire facility suddenly shook.
A loud alarm sounded.
WARNING.
MEMORY SYSTEM ACTIVATED.
The glass chamber opened.
Samuel stepped out.
Amara aimed her weapon at him.
Samuel raised his hands.
“I'm not your enemy.”
Daniel looked at him.
“Then prove it.”
Samuel walked toward him.
“I can show you what happened that night.”
Daniel hesitated.
“How?”
Samuel pointed toward a machine in the center of the room.
It looked like the memory chair from the old facility.
“No.”
Daniel stepped back.
“I've been in that chair.”
“This one is different.”
“How?”
“This one doesn't erase memories.”
Samuel looked at him.
“It gives them back.”
Daniel stared at the machine.
The countdown appeared on a nearby screen.
03:12.
Samuel said:
“When the timer reaches zero, everyone in this facility will lose their memories of Project Twelve.”
Daniel looked at him.
“Everyone?”
Samuel nodded.
“Even us.”
“And the Architect?”
“He'll remember.”
Daniel understood.
“So that's the experiment.”
Samuel nodded.
“They aren't trying to kill the twelve.”
Daniel looked at the empty chambers.
“They're trying to erase us.”
Samuel smiled sadly.
“Exactly.”
A gunshot rang out.
Samuel collapsed.
Daniel turned.
Amara was holding her gun.
But she hadn't fired.
Kane stood at the other end of the room.
His gun was smoking.
Samuel looked down.
Blood spread across his shirt.
“Run,” he whispered.
Kane fired again.
Daniel tackled Samuel to the ground.
Amara fired toward Kane.
He disappeared behind the machinery.
Daniel dragged Samuel behind a metal console.
“Stay with me.”
Samuel coughed.
“You shouldn't have come back.”
Daniel pressed his hand against the wound.
“Don't die.”
Samuel laughed weakly.
“I've already died once.”
Daniel stared at him.
“What?”
Samuel reached into his pocket.
He pulled out a small photograph.
It showed the twelve children standing outside St. Martha's.
But Daniel noticed something strange.
There were thirteen children.
One had been cut out of the photograph.
On the back was a message.
THERE WERE NEVER TWELVE.
Daniel looked at Samuel.
“Who was the thirteenth?”
Samuel's eyes filled with fear.
“The Architect.”
Daniel froze.
Samuel grabbed his wrist.
“And Daniel…”
“What?”
Samuel whispered:
“He wasn't an adult.”
The alarm grew louder.
01:00.
Samuel's grip tightened.
“He was one of us.”
Daniel stared at him.
“One of the children?”
Samuel nodded.
Then the lights went out.
A voice came through the speakers.
A child's voice.
Calm.
Almost cheerful.
“Very good, Samuel.”
Daniel looked into the darkness.
The voice continued.
“You finally told him.”
A white mask appeared on the main screen.
But this time, the mask was smaller.
Child-sized.
Daniel stared at it.
The voice whispered:
“Now let the real game begin.”
00:10.
00:09.
00:08.
Daniel looked at Samuel.
“Who is he?”
Samuel's eyes widened.
“Your brother.”
00:03.
00:02.
00:01.
The entire facility went black.
And Daniel remembered a voice from his childhood.
A boy whispering beside him:
“If they forget you, I'll become you.”
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