CHAPTER 7-THE FLAME
862 Words
Selene stared at the scorched clearing.
The trees were blackened skeletons. The ground, cracked and lifeless. Ash clung to her boots like memory.
“You started the fire?” she asked.
Eli nodded slowly. “I didn’t mean to.”
She crouched beside him. “Tell me what happened.”
He looked at the ground. “It was after one of the tests. I was confused. Angry. I couldn’t remember who I was. I found matches in the lab. I lit one. Just one.”
Selene’s breath caught.
“I thought the fire would make it end,” he said quietly. “The noise. The emptiness.”
She touched his arm. “Did anyone get hurt?”
He hesitated. “One of the doctors. Dr. Voss.”
Selene’s heart dropped. “She died?”
“No. But she was burned. Badly.”
Selene stood, pacing. “Why didn’t anyone tell me?”
“Because they erased it,” Darius said, stepping into the clearing.
Selene turned sharply. “You followed us?”
“I never let you out of my sight.”
Eli looked at him. “You knew?”
“I knew the fire happened. I didn’t know Eli caused it.”
Selene’s voice rose. “You buried it. Like everything else.”
“I protected him.”
“You protected yourself.”
Darius stepped closer. “Dr. Voss was the only one who tried to stop Ember. After the fire, she disappeared.”
“Where?”
“No one knows.”
Selene looked at Eli. “Do you remember her?”
He nodded. “She used to sing to me. When the tests were over.”
Selene’s eyes filled. “She cared.”
“She was afraid,” Darius said. “She saw what Ember could do.”
Selene turned to him. “And you didn’t?”
“I saw what it could fix.”
“You mean control.”
He didn’t deny it.
They walked back to the cabin in silence.
Inside, Eli sat by the fire again. Selene made tea. Darius poured whiskey.
Selene stared at the flames. “He remembers pieces. But they’re fragile.”
“They’ll fade,” Darius said.
“Not if I help him hold them.”
He looked at her. “You can’t fight memory. It’s like water. It finds cracks.”
“Then I’ll seal them.”
He smiled. “You sound like her.”
Selene didn’t respond.
Her phone buzzed. Another message.
“Dr. Voss is alive. She’s waiting.”
She showed it to Darius.
He frowned. “Where?”
“The old observatory. Midnight.”
Selene stood. “We’re going.”
Darius hesitated. “It could be a trap.”
“I don’t care.”
Eli looked up. “I want to see her.”
They drove in silence.
The observatory was abandoned — rusted gates, cracked dome, the stars above hidden by clouds.
Inside, dust coated everything. The air smelled like forgotten things.
A figure stood by the telescope.
Dr. Lena Voss.
Her face was scarred, one eye clouded, but her posture was strong.
“You came,” she said.
Selene stepped forward. “You’re alive.”
“Barely.”
Eli ran to her. She knelt and hugged him.
“I remember your voice,” he said.
She smiled. “I never stopped singing.”
Selene watched them. Her heart ached.
Dr. Voss stood. “Ember is still active. Underground. They’re rebuilding.”
Darius stiffened. “That’s impossible.”
“They found new funding. New subjects.”
Selene’s voice cracked. “We have to stop them.”
Dr. Voss nodded. “I have files. Proof. But we need to move fast.”
Eli looked at her. “Will they come for me?”
“Yes.”
Selene stepped forward. “Then we fight.”
Dr. Voss handed her a folder. “This is where they’re hiding.”
Selene opened it.
Coordinates. Names. Photos.
And one name circled in red — Selene Marlowe.
She froze. “What is this?”
Dr. Voss looked at her. “They want you too.”
“Why?”
“You were the second success.”
Selene’s knees buckled. “No,” she whispered.
“You were part of Phase Two. Your mother didn’t know.”
Darius stepped back. “I didn’t know.”
Dr. Voss nodded. “They used her research. Without consent.”
Selene’s hands shook. “What did they do to me?”
“They implanted a trigger. A memory lock.”
“What kind of lock?”
“One that opens under stress… or love.”
Selene’s breath caught.
Darius looked at her. “That’s why you came to me.”
She turned to him. “You were the trigger.”
Dr. Voss nodded. “And now it’s open.”
Selene felt dizzy. Her memories swirled — faces, voices, fire.
She looked at Eli.
“We were experiments.”
He nodded. “But we’re still here.”
She stood. “Then we finish this.”
Dr. Voss handed her a key. “This opens the vault. Where it all began.”
Selene took it.
Outside, thunder rolled.
Inside, the past waited.
- Writer
