CHAPTER SIXTEEN: THE THIRD CHILD
2227 Words
For several seconds, nobody moved.
Sophia stared at the young man standing in the doorway.
Elias.
Her brother.
The name existed somewhere inside her mind now, buried beneath years of conditioning and false memories.
Elias.
She remembered a little boy running through a garden.
Elias.
A hand holding hers beneath a table.
Elias.
A voice promising that he would never let anyone take her.
And then—
A scream.
Sophia took a step toward him.
“You're alive.”
Elias smiled faintly.
“So are you.”
Lily moved beside Sophia.
“You were the third child.”
Elias looked at her.
“Yes.”
Lily's expression hardened.
“Where have you been?”
“Everywhere they needed me to be.”
Daniel raised his weapon.
“Don't come any closer.”
Elias looked at him.
“You're still protecting them.”
Daniel's eyes narrowed.
“Who are you?”
Elias laughed quietly.
“You already know.”
“No.”
“You just don't remember.”
Sophia looked between them.
“Stop.”
Both men turned toward her.
Sophia swallowed.
“If you're my brother, prove it.”
Elias didn't hesitate.
“When you were six, you hated thunderstorms.”
Sophia's face changed.
“You used to hide beneath the dining table whenever it rained.”
She stared at him.
“You would count the seconds between lightning and thunder because I told you it would make the storm feel smaller.”
Sophia's breathing became unsteady.
“You gave me a blue ribbon.”
Elias nodded.
“You said it made me look like a princess.”
Lily's eyes filled with tears.
“I remember that.”
Sophia looked at her.
“You were there.”
Lily nodded.
“We were all there.”
Elias stepped forward.
“I remember everything.”
The words made Sophia's stomach tighten.
Everything.
That was the word The Black Room had always feared.
The word Project Echo had been built around.
Sophia glanced toward her grandfather.
“You knew he was alive.”
“Yes.”
“For twenty-one years?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
Her grandfather's expression remained calm.
“Because he was more useful alive than dead.”
Elias's face hardened.
“You mean more controllable.”
His grandfather looked at him.
“You were never controllable.”
“That's why you tried to break me.”
Silence.
Sophia looked at Elias.
“What did they do to you?”
Elias's eyes lowered.
“Nothing you haven't already experienced.”
A chill moved through her.
“The training?”
“More.”
“The conditioning?”
“More.”
“The memories?”
Elias looked directly into her eyes.
“They didn't erase mine.”
Sophia frowned.
“Then what did they do?”
“They replaced them.”
Lily went pale.
“What?”
Elias walked toward one of the screens.
“Project Echo wasn't simply about suppressing memories. That was only the first stage.”
He touched the screen.
A file appeared.
PROJECT ECHO — SUBJECT 019
Sophia stared.
“019.”
Elias nodded.
“I was Subject 019.”
Daniel stepped closer.
“Then 017 and 018 were you and Lily.”
“No.”
Elias shook his head.
“017 was Sophia.”
“018 was Lily.”
“And 019 was me.”
Sophia stared at the three numbers.
Three children.
Three abilities.
Three parts of the same project.
“What did they want from us?”
Elias looked at her.
“They wanted to create people who could disappear without leaving a trace.”
Cassian stepped forward.
“Meaning?”
Elias opened another file.
Photographs filled the screen.
A doctor.
A politician.
A military officer.
A businessman.
A judge.
A journalist.
Different people.
Different lives.
But beside every photograph was the same notation.
ECHO COMPATIBLE.
“They wanted people who could become anyone,” Elias said.
Cassian's expression darkened.
“False identities.”
“Not just false identities.”
Elias tapped the screen.
“Complete behavioral reconstruction.”
Sophia stared at him.
“They copied people.”
“They studied them.”
“Then?”
“They trained subjects to behave exactly like them.”
Lily whispered, “Voice. Habits. Memories.”
“Everything.”
Sophia felt sick.
“That means some of the people we've met…”
“Were never who they claimed to be.”
Silence filled the room.
Cassian slowly lowered his weapon.
“My family.”
Elias looked at him.
“Your family was one of the reasons Project Echo was created.”
Cassian's eyes hardened.
“What does that mean?”
“Your father discovered that someone close to him had been replaced.”
“Who?”
Elias didn't answer.
“Who?”
“The person he trusted most.”
Cassian stepped closer.
“You're saying someone in my family was an Echo?”
Elias nodded.
Cassian's face became unreadable.
“Who?”
Before Elias could answer, his grandfather spoke.
“Enough.”
Elias turned.
“You're afraid.”
The old man's eyes narrowed.
“You've always been reckless.”
“And you've always been afraid of what people remember.”
Elias looked at Sophia.
“That's why she was the most dangerous of all.”
Sophia felt the room closing around her.
“Why me?”
“Because they couldn't replace your memories.”
Elias paused.
“They could only hide them.”
Sophia looked at the screens.
“So I was never supposed to remember.”
“No.”
“Then why did I?”
Elias smiled.
“Because someone helped you.”
Sophia looked at Victor.
Her father didn't look away.
“You.”
Victor's face tightened.
“I tried.”
“You knew?”
“Yes.”
“How?”
“I discovered what they were doing.”
Sophia stared at him.
“When?”
“Before you were taken.”
“Then why didn't you stop them?”
Victor closed his eyes.
“Because I failed.”
Sophia's voice became quieter.
“You always say that.”
“I know.”
“What happened that night?”
Victor looked at Eleanor.
She was crying silently.
Then he looked at Sophia.
“You weren't the only child they wanted.”
“I know.”
“No.”
Victor shook his head.
“You don't.”
He pointed toward the screen.
“There were four.”
Sophia froze.
“Four?”
Lily looked at him.
“That isn't what the files say.”
“The files were altered.”
Daniel stepped closer.
“By whom?”
Victor's eyes moved toward Sophia's grandfather.
“By him.”
The old man's expression did not change.
Victor continued.
“They wanted four children.”
Sophia felt a cold sensation crawl down her spine.
“Why?”
“Because Project Echo needed four stages.”
Elias looked away.
Sophia noticed.
“What is the fourth stage?”
Nobody answered.
“Elias?”
He remained silent.
“Tell me.”
His jaw tightened.
“The fourth child wasn't supposed to survive.”
Sophia's heart stopped.
“Who was the fourth child?”
Elias looked at her.
“You.”
Sophia shook her head.
“That doesn't make sense.”
“It does.”
“You said I was 017.”
“You were.”
“Then who was the fourth?”
Elias didn't answer.
Lily suddenly stepped backward.
Her face had gone white.
“I remember.”
Everyone looked at her.
“What?” Sophia asked.
Lily stared at the floor.
“There was another crib.”
Sophia's blood ran cold.
“You remember?”
“Yes.”
“How old were we?”
“Six.”
“Where?”
“The research facility.”
Lily's breathing became faster.
“There were four rooms.”
Daniel looked at her.
“Four?”
Lily nodded.
“One for each child.”
Sophia closed her eyes.
And the memory came.
A corridor.
White walls.
Four doors.
17.
18.
19.
And one door without a number.
She opened her eyes.
“The fourth room had no number.”
Elias stared at her.
“You remember.”
Sophia nodded.
“What was inside?”
Elias looked toward his grandfather.
The old man said nothing.
Sophia walked toward him.
“What was inside?”
He smiled.
“You're not ready.”
“I decide when I'm ready.”
“You still don't understand what memory does to a person.”
“I understand what lies do.”
Her grandfather's smile disappeared.
Sophia raised her weapon.
“Tell me.”
He looked at the gun.
Then at her.
“You really are Eleanor's daughter.”
Eleanor suddenly spoke.
“Don't.”
Sophia turned.
“Why?”
Eleanor shook her head.
“Because if you remember everything, there may be nothing left to save.”
Sophia stared at her mother.
“What does that mean?”
Eleanor looked at Elias.
Then Lily.
Then Daniel.
Finally, she looked at Sophia.
“It means your grandfather wasn't trying to make you an assassin.”
Sophia's heart stopped.
“He was trying to make you a witness.”
“A witness to what?”
Eleanor's voice broke.
“The people who secretly control The Black Room.”
The room went silent.
Sophia slowly lowered her weapon.
“Who?”
Eleanor looked terrified.
“I don't know all of them.”
Her grandfather laughed softly.
“You never did.”
Sophia turned toward him.
“You did.”
“Yes.”
“Who are they?”
He looked at the screens.
“The people who never appear in the files.”
Sophia frowned.
“Why?”
“Because they don't need names.”
He stepped closer.
“They own governments without holding office.”
“They control companies without appearing on boards.”
“They influence intelligence agencies without ever becoming agents.”
“They don't kill people themselves.”
His eyes settled on Sophia.
“They make other people do it.”
Cassian's expression darkened.
“And you worked for them.”
“No.”
The old man smiled.
“I worked for myself.”
Elias suddenly moved.
He crossed the room faster than anyone expected and grabbed his grandfather by the collar.
“You're still lying.”
The old man didn't resist.
Elias pulled him closer.
“Tell her.”
“I have told her enough.”
“You're afraid she'll remember.”
The old man smiled.
“I'm afraid she already has.”
Sophia's head began to ache.
A sound echoed inside her mind.
Tick.
Tick.
Tick.
The silver watch.
Her grandfather's watch.
The dining room.
The table.
The blue ribbon.
Four doors.
A baby crying.
And a woman's voice.
Don't let him take the fourth one.
Sophia gasped.
She dropped her weapon.
Eleanor rushed toward her.
“Sophia!”
Sophia stumbled backward.
“No…”
“What is it?”
“I remember.”
Eleanor stopped.
Sophia looked at her mother.
“You were there.”
Eleanor's eyes filled with tears.
“At the facility.”
Eleanor couldn't speak.
“You weren't trying to save me.”
Sophia's voice trembled.
“You were trying to save the fourth child.”
Eleanor covered her mouth.
Victor whispered, “Sophia…”
She turned toward him.
“You knew.”
Victor's eyes closed.
“Yes.”
“Who was the child?”
No one answered.
Sophia looked at Lily.
Lily was crying.
Daniel stared at Elias.
Cassian looked completely lost.
Then Sophia heard a faint sound behind her.
A door opening.
She turned.
The fourth door was open.
Everyone froze.
The room beyond it was empty.
Except for one object.
A small child's chair.
And on the chair was a blue ribbon.
Sophia stared.
“That was mine.”
Lily shook her head.
“No.”
Sophia looked at her.
Lily's voice was barely a whisper.
“It belonged to the fourth child.”
The lights flickered.
Once.
Twice.
Then every screen in the room went black.
A single message appeared.
SUBJECT 020 — ACTIVE.
Sophia's blood turned cold.
Underneath it, another line appeared.
LOCATION: WITHIN THE FAMILY.
Cassian whispered,
“That's impossible.”
Daniel stared at the screen.
“No.”
Sophia looked around the room.
At Eleanor.
At Victor.
At Lily.
At Daniel.
At Elias.
At her grandfather.
Someone in this room was Subject 020.
And someone had been lying about who they really were.
Then her grandfather smiled.
“Now you understand why I had to keep you alive.”
Sophia looked at him.
“Why?”
His answer came quietly.
“Because you're the only person in this room who can identify your own enemy.”
The screen changed one final time.
A photograph appeared.
Sophia stared at it.
Her hands began to shake.
It was a photograph of her family.
Taken twenty-one years ago.
But there was one person in the photograph she had never seen before.
A little girl.
Standing behind Eleanor.
Watching the camera.
And beneath the photograph was a name.
SOPHIA HAYES.
Sophia stopped breathing.
There were two photographs of her.
Two identities.
Two memories.
And suddenly she understood the terrible possibility.
Maybe she had never been Subject 017.
Maybe Subject 017 had been someone else.
And maybe the girl standing beside her in every childhood memory…
wasn't Lily.
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