UNTIL I FIND YOU AGAIN

Chapter 7 — The Hidden Facility

The rain had stopped by the time they left the apartment.

But Adrian could still feel the storm inside his chest.

He sat behind the wheel, staring at the road ahead.

Amara sat beside him.

Daniel was in the back seat, silently studying the documents they had taken from his apartment.

Nobody spoke.

The destination was less than forty minutes away.

Yet Adrian felt as though they were driving toward the edge of the world.

"Are you sure this place exists?" Daniel finally asked.

Adrian kept his eyes on the road.

"My father owned several private medical facilities."

"Several?"

"Yes."

"And you never knew about this one?"

"No."

Daniel looked at Amara.

"How is that possible?"

"Because Adrian's father was very good at hiding things."

Adrian glanced at her.

"You knew him."

"I met him."

"When?"

"Before I met you."

His eyebrows pulled together.

"You never told me."

"There were many things I never told you."

The words carried weight.

Adrian looked back at the road.

"Why did my father meet you?"

Amara hesitated.

"He wanted me to stay away from you."

Adrian's hands tightened around the steering wheel.

"What?"

"He said you were in danger."

"From my family?"

"He wouldn't say."

"Then what did he tell you?"

Amara looked out the window.

"He told me that loving you would make me a target."

Adrian swallowed.

"Did you believe him?"

"At the time?"

She looked at him.

"No."

"And now?"

"I don't know."

That answer hurt.

But Adrian couldn't blame her.

Three years of lies had turned every truth into a question.

Daniel leaned forward.

"How far?"

"Ten minutes."

They fell silent again.

A few minutes later, Adrian turned off the main road.

The landscape changed immediately.

Tall trees surrounded them.

There were no houses.

No streetlights.

No signs.

Just a narrow road disappearing into the darkness.

Daniel frowned.

"This place doesn't look like a medical facility."

"That's because it isn't."

Amara spoke quietly.

Adrian looked at her.

"What?"

She stared ahead.

"The facility was underground."

Daniel's eyes widened.

"Underground?"

Amara nodded.

"I was taken there after I left the hospital."

Adrian's stomach twisted.

"How long were you there?"

"I don't know."

"Days?"

"Maybe."

"Weeks?"

She shook her head.

"I don't remember."

Adrian slowed the car.

"What do you remember?"

Amara closed her eyes.

"White walls."

She took a breath.

"Bright lights."

Another breath.

"Machines."

Her fingers curled into her palm.

"And voices."

"What voices?"

"Men arguing."

"About what?"

"About me."

Adrian's jaw tightened.

"What did they say?"

"I don't know."

She opened her eyes.

"But one sentence stayed with me."

"What sentence?"

Amara looked directly at him.

"She's worth more alive than dead."

Silence filled the car.

Daniel whispered, "Worth more to who?"

Amara shook her head.

"That's what we're going to find out."

---

They stopped in front of a large iron gate.

Adrian switched off the engine.

The gate was covered in vines.

Beyond it stood an abandoned-looking building.

Three floors.

Broken windows.

Walls covered in ivy.

Daniel looked around.

"This place has been abandoned for years."

Adrian opened the car door.

"That's what they wanted everyone to think."

They stepped outside.

Amara stood completely still.

Her face had lost its color.

Adrian noticed.

"You okay?"

She nodded.

"Yes."

"You don't have to go in."

Her eyes met his.

"I do."

Adrian wanted to argue.

Instead, he nodded.

They walked toward the building.

The front door was locked.

Daniel examined it.

"There's no power."

Amara walked past him.

"There doesn't need to be."

She stopped beside a wall.

Pressed her palm against a section of brick.

Nothing happened.

She tried again.

Then—

A faint click.

A section of the wall moved.

Daniel stared.

"Okay."

He looked at Adrian.

"I'm officially done being surprised."

A dark staircase appeared behind the wall.

Adrian stared into the darkness.

"How did you know?"

"I remembered."

Amara stepped inside.

Adrian followed.

Daniel came behind them.

The wall closed automatically.

Darkness swallowed them.

Daniel switched on his flashlight.

They descended.

One floor.

Two.

Three.

Four.

The staircase continued.

Adrian stopped.

"How deep is this?"

Amara looked down.

"Far."

They continued.

After another minute, they reached a metal door.

There was a keypad beside it.

Amara stared at the numbers.

Her breathing changed.

Adrian noticed.

"What's wrong?"

"I remember this."

"What?"

She pointed at the keypad.

"I used to see that number every day."

"What number?"

She whispered:

"0817."

Daniel entered it.

The door unlocked.

A cold blast of air hit them.

The facility stretched ahead.

Long white corridors.

Medical equipment.

Glass rooms.

Everything looked untouched.

Adrian walked slowly.

"This place was operational."

Daniel nodded.

"Very."

Amara stopped beside a glass door.

Inside was a small room.

A bed.

A metal chair.

A camera.

She stared through the glass.

"I was here."

Adrian looked at her.

"You're sure?"

She nodded.

"I remember that bed."

Her voice became smaller.

"I woke up there."

Adrian stepped closer.

"Was anyone with you?"

"No."

"Did they hurt you?"

She shook her head.

"No."

"Then what happened?"

"I woke up alone."

She touched the glass.

"There was an IV in my arm."

Her eyes closed.

"I couldn't move."

Adrian's chest tightened.

"What happened next?"

"I heard footsteps."

"Who?"

"I don't know."

She opened her eyes.

"But someone came into the room."

"Man or woman?"

"Man."

"Did you see his face?"

"No."

"Why?"

"He wore a mask."

Adrian looked down the corridor.

"Where did he go?"

Amara pointed.

"That way."

They followed.

The corridor opened into a large room.

There were computers everywhere.

Some were still running.

Daniel approached one.

"These systems are ancient."

"Can you access them?"

"Maybe."

He sat down.

Adrian walked around the room.

Then he stopped.

A wall was covered with photographs.

Patients.

Dozens of them.

Some had names.

Some didn't.

Adrian stepped closer.

His blood ran cold.

"Amara."

She turned.

He pointed.

Her photograph was there.

Taken three years ago.

She looked unconscious.

An identification number was written beneath it.

PATIENT 0817.

Amara covered her mouth.

"No."

Adrian pulled the photograph from the wall.

There was another one behind it.

A document.

He read it.

SUBJECT: AMARA BELLO

STATUS: ALIVE

TRANSFERRED: 02:17

AUTHORIZATION: S.C.

Adrian frowned.

"S.C."

Daniel looked over.

"What?"

Adrian showed him.

"Who is S.C.?"

Daniel stared at the initials.

"I don't know."

Amara suddenly stepped backward.

"I do."

They turned.

Her face had gone white.

"Who?"

She looked at Adrian.

"Samuel Cole."

Adrian froze.

"My father."

Amara nodded.

"He signed my transfer."

Daniel stood.

"But your father was dead."

"He wasn't."

Adrian's mind raced.

His father had known.

He had arranged for Amara to be taken from the hospital.

He had hidden her.

But why?

"Then he wasn't trying to kill you."

Amara looked at him.

"Maybe."

"Maybe?"

"Maybe he was trying to protect me."

Adrian stared at the document.

"Then why did he let me believe you were dead?"

Amara didn't answer.

Daniel suddenly called from the computer.

"Guys."

They turned.

"I found something."

Adrian walked over.

Daniel had accessed an old database.

Rows of names appeared on the screen.

Patients.

Dates.

Transfers.

Payments.

Then one name caught Adrian's attention.

SAMUEL BELLO.

Amara stepped closer.

"No."

Daniel clicked.

A file opened.

Adrian read it aloud.

"Patient admitted..."

He stopped.

Amara whispered, "Read it."

"Patient: Samuel Bello."

"Date?"

"Six years ago."

Amara's breathing stopped.

"That's impossible."

Daniel scrolled.

"Status: deceased."

Adrian frowned.

"Deceased?"

"Yes."

"Then why is there a patient file?"

Daniel opened another document.

"Because he was treated here."

"For what?"

Daniel's face changed.

He looked at Amara.

"Memory loss."

She stared at him.

"What?"

"Your father was suffering from severe memory loss."

Amara stepped backward.

"No."

Daniel continued reading.

"Progressive neurological deterioration."

Adrian looked at her.

"Amara..."

She shook her head.

"My father wasn't sick."

The computer suddenly beeped.

A new file appeared.

No one had touched it.

VIDEO ARCHIVE — 0817.

Daniel clicked it.

The screen flickered.

Static.

Then an image appeared.

A hospital room.

Amara was lying unconscious on the bed.

Adrian's stomach turned.

The camera angle changed.

A man entered the room.

His face was hidden.

He stood beside Amara's bed.

Then he removed his mask.

Amara gasped.

Adrian froze.

Daniel stopped breathing.

The man on the screen looked directly into the camera.

Older.

Tired.

But unmistakably familiar.

Samuel Bello.

Amara's father.

Alive.

He leaned toward the camera.

"If you're watching this..."

He paused.

"...then my daughter has found the truth."

Amara's eyes filled with tears.

"Papa."

Samuel continued.

"Amara, if you're alive, listen carefully."

His expression became serious.

"Do not trust Adrian."

Adrian's face went blank.

Amara looked at him.

The recording continued.

"Not because he betrayed you."

Adrian's eyes narrowed.

"But because the man controlling his family is closer than you think."

The screen flickered.

Samuel looked frightened now.

"I made a mistake."

A pause.

"I trusted the wrong person."

Then he whispered:

"Daniel knows."

The recording ended.

Silence.

Adrian slowly turned toward Daniel.

Daniel's face was pale.

"What does he mean?"

Daniel didn't answer.

Adrian stepped closer.

"Daniel."

"I don't know."

"You knew about my father."

"No."

"You knew about the accident."

"I told you—"

"You knew Amara was alive."

Daniel's eyes widened.

"No."

Amara stared at him.

"Did you?"

Daniel looked at her.

"I swear I didn't."

Then every light in the facility suddenly switched on.

The doors locked.

A voice came through the speakers.

Calm.

Cold.

Familiar.

"Welcome home, Amara."

She froze.

Adrian looked around.

The voice continued.

"You took longer than I expected."

Amara whispered:

"Victoria."

A soft laugh echoed through the corridor.

"Hello, little sister."

Amara's face went completely white.

Adrian stared at her.

"Little sister?"

Daniel stepped backward.

"That's impossible."

The voice laughed again.

"You really thought Samuel Bello only had one child?"

The speakers went silent.

Then the screen in front of them turned on.

A photograph appeared.

A young Victoria Cole stood beside Samuel Bello.

And beside them was a little girl.

A girl who looked exactly like Amara.

Adrian stared at the screen.

Amara couldn't move.

Her lips parted.

"That's me."

Victoria's voice returned.

"No, Amara."

A pause.

"That's your sister."

The screen went black.

And for the first time since Amara returned from the dead, Adrian saw genuine fear in her eyes.

Because there was one thing she had never known.

She wasn't the only child Samuel Bello had left behind.

And her sister had spent three years making sure Amara stayed dead.