The House That Remembered

The Original I

The Original I

**CLICK.**

The sound of Emily taking the safety off her gun seemed impossibly loud.

Elena stared at the woman standing at the top of the stairs.

Same eyes.

Same mouth.

Same dark hair.

The same small scar beneath the chin.

But there was something else.

Something Elena couldn't explain.

Emily looked at her the way a mother might look at a daughter who had stolen something precious.

Not hatred.

Not entirely.

Something worse.

Grief.

"You don't have to do this," Sarah said.

Emily didn't look at her.

"You said that three years ago."

"I was wrong."

"You always are."

Rachel stepped forward.

"Emily."

Emily's eyes finally moved to her.

"Don't call me that."

Rachel stopped.

"That's not my name."

Elena tightened her grip on the gun.

"Then what is your name?"

The woman smiled.

"You already know."

Elena's mind went blank.

Emily slowly descended the stairs.

"That's the problem with memories."

She took another step.

"They make you believe you know things."

Elena kept her weapon trained on her.

"Stay where you are."

Emily stopped.

"Do you know how many times I've imagined this moment?"

"No."

"Twenty-two years."

Elena's eyes narrowed.

"You've been alive for twenty-two years?"

"Not exactly."

"What does that mean?"

Emily smiled.

"You really don't remember anything."

"I remember enough."

"No."

Emily looked at Sarah.

"Tell her."

Sarah remained silent.

Emily laughed.

"Of course."

Then she looked back at Elena.

"She never tells the whole truth."

---

### THE FIRST LIE

Emily lowered her gun.

Elena didn't.

"Let's start with your mother," Emily said.

Elena's breathing changed.

"Elena Cross."

Emily nodded.

"She wasn't your mother."

"Sarah said she was."

"Sarah lies."

"Daniel said she was his wife."

"He was married to her."

"So she was my mother."

"No."

Emily stepped closer.

"She was my sister."

Elena froze.

Sarah closed her eyes.

Rachel whispered:

"Here we go."

Emily continued.

"Elena Cross was my aunt."

Elena stared at her.

"Then who was my mother?"

Emily looked directly into her eyes.

"Me."

Silence.

Elena's gun lowered an inch.

"That's impossible."

"I know."

"You're saying you're my mother?"

"No."

Emily smiled sadly.

"I'm saying the woman you call Emily was your mother."

Elena's face went pale.

"And you're..."

"Her memory."

Elena felt the world tilt.

Emily continued.

"You've been asking the wrong question."

"What question?"

"Who am I?"

She touched her chest.

"The better question is..."

She pointed at Elena.

"...who are you?"

---

Sarah suddenly raised her gun.

"Enough."

Emily turned.

Sarah fired.

The bullet struck the wall beside Emily's head.

Emily dropped behind the staircase.

Rachel shouted:

"Sarah!"

"Get Elena out!"

Emily fired back.

The bullet struck the railing.

Elena grabbed Rachel.

"Move!"

They ran toward the rear hallway.

Sarah followed.

Three gunshots echoed behind them.

They reached the kitchen.

Sarah slammed the door.

"There's a basement exit."

Elena stared at her.

"You're going to explain everything."

"If we survive."

"That's not good enough."

Sarah looked at her.

"Then don't survive."

She opened the basement door.

They descended.

Rachel followed.

Behind them, footsteps approached.

Emily had followed.

Sarah pushed a heavy cabinet across the basement door.

"That won't hold her."

"I know."

Elena looked around.

"Where's the exit?"

"Behind the furnace."

They moved.

Rachel suddenly stopped.

"Wait."

Elena turned.

Rachel was staring at a wall.

There was a small metal plate.

**14.**

She touched it.

A section of the wall opened.

Behind it was a narrow passage.

Elena stared.

"How did you know that was there?"

Rachel looked at her.

"I've been here before."

"When?"

"When I was twelve."

"You remember?"

Rachel shook her head.

"No."

She pointed at Elena.

"I remember because you remembered."

---

### THE ROOM WITHOUT A NUMBER

The passage ended at a circular room.

Unlike the other rooms beneath the house, this one had no number.

No camera.

No chair.

No restraints.

Only a large mirror.

Sarah closed the entrance.

"Nobody knows about this room."

Elena stared at the mirror.

Something about it made her uncomfortable.

"Why is there a mirror?"

Sarah didn't answer.

Elena stepped closer.

Her reflection stared back.

Then—

it moved.

Not with her.

The reflection smiled.

Elena stepped backward.

Rachel grabbed her arm.

"What?"

"Nothing."

"You saw it too."

Sarah looked at the mirror.

"I knew this would happen."

"What?"

Sarah opened the metal case.

Inside was a small projector.

She connected it to the wall.

A video appeared.

A laboratory.

Twenty-two years earlier.

A young woman sat in a chair.

Elena recognized her.

Elena Cross.

Her supposed mother.

Beside her stood Arthur Bell.

And another woman.

A nurse.

The nurse held a newborn baby.

Elena's breath caught.

Sarah paused the video.

"That's you."

Elena stared.

"No."

"You were born here."

"When?"

"2009."

"Then why did I see myself as a child in 2004?"

"Because that wasn't you."

"Who was it?"

Sarah looked at Rachel.

"Rachel."

Elena turned.

"What?"

Rachel's face went pale.

"Me."

Elena stared at her.

Sarah continued.

"That photograph wasn't of Elena as a child."

"It was Rachel."

"They implanted Rachel's childhood memories into you."

Elena looked at Rachel.

"You gave me your memories?"

"I didn't."

"They took them."

Rachel's eyes filled with tears.

"Yes."

---

The video resumed.

Arthur Bell held the newborn.

He spoke to someone off camera.

"Subject Fourteen is viable."

The nurse asked:

"And Subject Two?"

"Stable."

"And Subject Zero?"

Arthur looked at the woman in the chair.

"She is ready."

The camera moved.

Elena Cross looked directly into it.

She was crying.

Arthur approached her.

"Do you understand what we're doing?"

Elena whispered:

"Yes."

"You agreed."

"Yes."

"Why?"

Elena looked at the baby.

"To save her."

Arthur smiled.

"Exactly."

The video stopped.

Elena stared at Sarah.

"Save who?"

Sarah didn't answer.

Elena looked at Rachel.

"Who was the baby?"

Rachel shook her head.

"I don't know."

Emily's voice came from behind them.

"I do."

Everyone turned.

Emily stood at the entrance.

Blood ran down her arm.

Sarah raised her gun.

Emily laughed.

"You really don't understand."

She looked at Elena.

"The baby was me."

Elena froze.

Emily continued:

"Not the woman standing here."

"The original me."

"The first version."

"The one they killed."

Elena's eyes widened.

"You were a baby?"

"No."

Emily looked toward the mirror.

"I was a memory."

---