Blackthorne
1093 Words
Chapter four
The words on the wall would not leave my head
YOU KILLED ME BEFORE
Even after the officers scrubbed the wall and swore there had been nothing there when they entered, I still saw it
Still heard the whisper in my ear
Don’t trust the officer, Amelia
That was the worst part
I didn’t know which was more terrifying
That someone had gotten close enough to whisper to me in a locked room
Or that a part of me believed the warning
They moved me before dawn
No explanation
No paperwork in front of me
Just two officers, quiet-faced, walking me down a corridor that smelled of bleach and old secrets
I kept looking at the officer from before, the one who told me about Blackthorne
He avoided my eyes
That made me trust him less
And somehow… more
We stopped outside an interview room
Not the same one as before
This one had no window
Only one table
Two chairs
A recorder
And a file already waiting
I knew I hated that file before anyone opened it
The officer sat across from me and pushed it over
“Read the first page”
“I’m done reading things that tell me I’m a killer”
“Read it”
Something in his voice made me obey
I opened the file
Patient Name: Amelia Carter
Subject 47
Condition: Dissociative fragmentation following memory suppression trial
My breath caught
Trial?
“What is this?”
He leaned back slightly
“Blackthorne wasn’t a hospital”
My pulse started climbing
“Then what was it?”
He hesitated too long
And I hated him for that pause
“It was a program”
The room felt smaller
“What kind of program?”
His eyes met mine
“The kind designed to erase trauma”
Silence
Then I laughed
Not because it was funny
Because if I didn’t laugh I might scream
“You expect me to believe I was in some secret memory experiment?”
“I expect you to decide whether you want the truth”
My jaw tightened
“And the truth is what? I kill people and forget?”
“No”
His answer came too fast
Too sharp
That made me look at him properly
Because for the first time… he seemed afraid
Not of me
Of what he was saying
“You were never meant to remember the murders” he said quietly
The room went cold
My fingers tightened on the file
“Meaning?”
He leaned forward
“Meaning I don’t think you committed them”
My heart stopped for a second
“What?”
“I think you witnessed something at Blackthorne”
Every nerve in my body went rigid
“And they erased me?”
“They tried”
Tried
Not succeeded
A strange pulse of hope and dread hit me at once
Then he said the one thing that shattered it
“And I think they’re trying again”
Before I could ask what that meant, the door opened
A woman walked in wearing a gray suit
No badge visible
No introduction
She sat beside the officer like she belonged there
And smiled politely
Real smile this time
Too real
That felt dangerous too
“Amelia,” she said softly, “I’m Dr. Soren”
The name hit something in me
A tiny c***k in the dark
Flash
White room
Needle
A woman saying Count backwards from ten
I sucked in a breath
She noticed
Of course she noticed
“We’ve met before” she said
“No” I whispered
But my voice had doubt in it
Her smile didn’t change
“You were difficult to stabilize”
My skin turned cold
I looked at the officer
He looked furious
“Why is she here?” he snapped
She ignored him
And looked only at me
“Amelia, do you remember the fire?”
My throat closed
Fire?
No
Yes?
Another flash
Smoke
Running
A child crying
My head exploded with pain
I grabbed the table
“What are you doing to me?”
Dr. Soren slid a photograph toward me
I looked down
And my breath vanished
A little girl
Maybe eight years old
Holding someone’s hand
My hand
I knew it instantly
On the back of the photo was one sentence
You promised to come back for me.
My chest tightened painfully
“Who is she?” I whispered
Dr. Soren said nothing
The officer stood up suddenly
“That’s enough”
She turned to him coolly
“She deserves to know what Subject 47 did in Ward C”
Subject 47
Not Amelia
Subject
Like I was an experiment
The officer slammed his palm on the table
“She was a child!”
The room froze
Even me
Child?
I stared at him
“What did he mean?”
Neither answered immediately
That silence told me too much
I stood up so fast the chair scraped backward
“Tell me what happened at Blackthorne!”
Dr. Soren finally spoke
“You opened a locked ward”
My pulse thundered
“What was inside?”
Her gaze held mine
“Patients”
A beat
Then
“Some escaped”
The room spun
“And the fire?” I whispered
Her face changed
Not guilt
Regret
“You started it”
“No!” I shouted instantly
“No I didn’t!”
Did I?
The doubt was worse than accusation
Because for a second…
I saw flames again
And a child screaming my name
The lights flickered
Once
Twice
Then everything went dark
The officer swore under his breath
Emergency red lights came on
My heart pounded
Someone was moving in the hallway
Fast
Running
Then alarms started screaming
A voice blasted over the speaker
Security breach. Level red. Subject escape in progress.
Subject?
What subject?
The officer grabbed my wrist
“We have to move now”
Dr. Soren stood too quickly
Her face had changed
Fear
Real fear
Then the door burst open
An officer stumbled in bleeding from the neck
And collapsed
I screamed
Behind him
A figure stood in the red emergency light
Tall
Still
Watching
My blood froze
The man from the street
He smiled
That same cold empty smile
And said only one thing
“Amelia… you were never the patient”
My breath stopped
Then he looked at the officer and whispered
“Ask her what was in Ward C”
And before anyone moved
He raised a gun
And pointed it at me
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