CHAPTER TWELVE-SHE IS ALIVE
1608 Words
Daniel stared at the piece of paper.
SHE IS ALIVE.
Four words.
Four words that shouldn't have been possible.
Their mother was dead.
At least, that was what Daniel had been told.
For twenty-two years.
He remembered a funeral.
A black suit.
A coffin.
Rain.
People crying.
But suddenly, something felt wrong.
He had never seen her body.
He had never been allowed to see her face.
He had only been told she died.
Daniel looked at Amara.
“Where did Samuel go?”
“I don't know.”
“You were standing right here.”
“I told you, I don't know!”
Daniel looked down the corridor.
“Then we're finding him.”
Amara grabbed his arm.
“Daniel, wait.”
He turned.
“You said she was dead.”
Amara looked confused.
“Who?”
“My mother.”
Amara's expression changed.
“I don't know anything about your mother.”
Daniel stared at her.
“You said you remembered everything.”
“No.”
She shook her head.
“I remembered the fire. That's all.”
Daniel looked at the paper again.
SHE IS ALIVE.
Then his phone vibrated.
A photograph appeared.
An old woman sitting beside a window.
Daniel's heart stopped.
He knew that face.
Even after twenty-two years.
His mother.
Underneath the photograph was an address.
17 MERCY ROAD.
Daniel immediately started walking.
Amara followed.
“Where are you going?”
“To find her.”
---
Mercy Road was almost empty.
It was nearly midnight.
Daniel parked outside number seventeen.
The house looked abandoned.
The windows were covered with curtains.
No lights.
No cars.
Daniel approached the front door.
It opened before he touched it.
He raised his gun.
“Stay behind me.”
Amara nodded.
They entered.
The house smelled of dust and old wood.
Daniel's flashlight moved across the walls.
Photographs.
Dozens of them.
Pictures of children.
Project Twelve.
Daniel walked toward one.
It showed the three brothers.
Samuel.
Daniel.
And Zero.
But beneath the photograph was another picture.
Their mother.
Standing beside Dr. Evelyn Shaw.
Daniel froze.
“She knew them.”
Amara stepped closer.
“Your mother was involved.”
“No.”
Daniel shook his head.
“She couldn't have been.”
A voice came from upstairs.
“Daniel?”
He froze.
His mother's voice.
Impossible.
He ran upstairs.
Amara followed.
At the end of the hallway was a bedroom.
The door was open.
An elderly woman sat beside the window.
Her hair was grey.
Her hands trembled.
But her eyes were unmistakable.
Daniel stopped in the doorway.
“Mom?”
The woman looked at him.
Tears filled her eyes.
“My boy.”
Daniel couldn't move.
She stood slowly.
“You came back.”
Daniel's voice broke.
“You're alive.”
She nodded.
“I've been waiting.”
He stepped toward her.
Then stopped.
“You knew.”
His mother looked away.
“You knew about Project Twelve.”
Silence.
“You knew about Samuel.”
Another silence.
“You knew about Zero.”
She closed her eyes.
Daniel's anger grew.
“Why didn't you tell me?”
“I was afraid.”
“Of who?”
She whispered:
“The people who created you.”
Daniel froze.
“Created me?”
His mother looked at him.
“They didn't create your body.”
She touched his face.
“They created the person you believe yourself to be.”
Daniel felt tears forming.
“Who am I?”
His mother shook her head.
“That's the question I've been afraid you'd ask.”
Amara stood silently behind him.
Daniel stepped closer.
“Tell me.”
His mother looked toward the window.
“You were born Samuel.”
Daniel's chest tightened.
“I know.”
“No.”
She shook her head.
“You don't.”
“You said I was Samuel.”
“You were.”
She took a breath.
“But Samuel wasn't your original name either.”
Daniel stared.
“What?”
His mother pointed toward a photograph.
Three babies.
Three brothers.
“Your father named you all after men in his family.”
She pointed.
“This was Samuel.”
Then the second.
“This was Daniel.”
Then the third.
“And this was—”
She stopped.
“Zero.”
Daniel stared at the photograph.
“They were your names?”
“Yes.”
“Then why did Project Twelve change them?”
His mother looked terrified.
“Because Zero was different.”
Daniel's voice dropped.
“How?”
“He remembered things that never happened to him.”
Amara frowned.
“What does that mean?”
His mother looked at her.
“He could remember another person's memories.”
Daniel's heart sank.
“Like me.”
“No.”
She shook her head.
“Not like you.”
She pointed toward Daniel.
“You didn't inherit Zero's ability.”
“You inherited Samuel's.”
Daniel stared.
“What ability?”
His mother whispered:
“You could make people forget.”
Silence.
Daniel remembered the files.
Memory manipulation.
Subject Eleven.
Samuel.
Everything was beginning to connect.
His mother continued.
“They discovered your abilities when you were five.”
“Who?”
“Your father.”
Daniel's expression changed.
“My father?”
His mother nodded.
“He worked with Project Twelve.”
Daniel stepped back.
“My father was involved?”
“Yes.”
“Why didn't you tell me?”
“Because your father wanted to use you.”
“For what?”
“To control people.”
Daniel felt sick.
“What happened to him?”
His mother looked toward the floor.
“He died before the fire.”
“How?”
She didn't answer.
Daniel stared at her.
“Mom.”
She finally whispered:
“Your father was the first person Zero erased.”
Daniel's blood ran cold.
“He erased Dad?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because your father tried to stop Project Twelve.”
Daniel stepped back.
“Then Zero isn't the villain.”
His mother looked at him.
“I never said that.”
A sound came from downstairs.
Footsteps.
Daniel immediately raised his gun.
“Someone's here.”
Amara drew her weapon.
They moved toward the stairs.
The footsteps stopped.
Then a voice came from below.
“Mom?”
Daniel froze.
It was Samuel.
His mother covered her mouth.
“Samuel…”
Daniel slowly descended.
His brother stood at the bottom of the stairs.
Alive.
No blood.
No wound.
Daniel stared.
“You were shot.”
Samuel smiled.
“I was.”
“Then how are you alive?”
Samuel looked at him.
“Because it wasn't a real bullet.”
Daniel frowned.
“What?”
Samuel lifted his shirt.
A small metal device was attached to his chest.
“It was a tracking device.”
Daniel looked toward his mother.
“Why?”
Samuel's expression changed.
“They wanted me to lead you here.”
Daniel's eyes narrowed.
“Who?”
Samuel looked behind him.
At the dark doorway.
“The Architect.”
A figure stepped into the house.
White mask.
Black clothes.
Daniel raised his gun.
The figure removed the mask.
Daniel's heart stopped.
It was Dr. Evelyn Shaw.
Alive.
Amara raised her weapon.
“You.”
Dr. Shaw smiled.
“I told you I'd be closer than you thought.”
Daniel stared at her.
“You were supposed to be dead.”
“So were you.”
Daniel aimed at her.
“What do you want?”
Dr. Shaw looked at Samuel.
Then at Daniel.
Then at Zero's photograph.
“I want my experiment back.”
Daniel's voice became cold.
“You murdered eleven people.”
“No.”
She shook her head.
“I gave them a choice.”
“What choice?”
“Remember…”
She smiled.
“…or die.”
Daniel's mother suddenly screamed.
“Evelyn, stop!”
Dr. Shaw turned toward her.
“You should have stayed hidden.”
Daniel stepped between them.
“Don't touch her.”
Dr. Shaw smiled.
“Still protective.”
She reached into her coat.
Daniel raised his gun.
But instead of a weapon, she pulled out an old cassette tape.
She held it up.
“Would you like to hear the truth about the fire?”
Daniel stared.
Dr. Shaw pressed a button on the tape recorder.
A child's voice filled the room.
Daniel recognized it immediately.
His own voice.
But the words made his blood run cold.
“I didn't start the fire.”
A pause.
Then another child's voice.
Samuel.
“Neither did I.”
Then a third voice.
Zero.
“We did it together.”
Daniel stared at Dr. Shaw.
“What did we do?”
Dr. Shaw smiled.
“You three didn't escape Project Twelve.”
She pressed stop.
“You created it.”
The lights suddenly went out.
A scream came from upstairs.
Daniel turned.
“Mom!”
He ran.
But the bedroom was empty.
The window was open.
Only a white mask remained on the bed.
Daniel picked it up.
Inside was a message.
THE FINAL VICTIM IS NOT YOU.
Underneath:
IT'S HER.
Daniel looked at Samuel.
His brother was staring at the empty room.
“She took Mom.”
Daniel's phone vibrated.
A live video appeared.
Their mother was tied to a chair.
Behind her stood Zero.
The little boy smiled at the camera.
Then he said:
“Come find me, brothers.”
The video ended.
Daniel looked at Samuel.
For the first time, the two brothers stood together.
And somewhere in Blackwood City, the clock struck 3:17 a.m.
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