CHAPTER NINETEEN: CHOOSE YOUR SISTER
1220 Words
Gunfire tore through the archive.
Sophia pressed herself against the concrete pillar as bullets struck the metal shelves behind her.
Cassian crouched beside her.
“Stay down.”
Sophia barely heard him.
Her eyes remained fixed on the message glowing on her phone.
COME ALONE.
Then:
OR YOUR REAL SISTER DIES.
Her hands tightened around the phone.
“Cassian.”
“What?”
“I have to go.”
He looked at her as if she had lost her mind.
“No.”
“They have my sister.”
“We don't even know which sister they're talking about.”
“Exactly.”
Sophia looked through the smoke.
Lily was gone.
Elias was nowhere to be seen.
Daniel was firing toward the corridor.
Marcus was helping Eleanor.
And her grandfather—
was simply standing there.
Calm.
Watching everything.
Sophia pointed her gun at him.
“You knew this would happen.”
He smiled.
“I knew you would eventually have to choose.”
“Choose what?”
“Blood or truth.”
Sophia's jaw tightened.
“You're the reason we're here.”
“No.”
He glanced toward the destroyed doorway.
“They are.”
Sophia followed his gaze.
A figure stood beyond the smoke.
A woman.
She stepped forward slowly.
Sophia's breath caught.
It was the woman from the photograph.
The woman Cassian had believed was dead.
Anna Vale.
She held Lily at gunpoint.
Lily's hands were tied behind her.
“Sophia,” Lily called.
Anna pressed the gun against her head.
“Don't move.”
Cassian raised his weapon.
Anna smiled.
“Lower it.”
He didn't.
“Cassian.”
Sophia touched his arm.
“Do it.”
Cassian looked at her.
“She'll kill her.”
“I know.”
He slowly lowered his weapon.
Daniel did the same.
Anna's eyes remained on Sophia.
“You have ten minutes.”
“For what?”
“To come with me.”
“Why?”
“Because you want answers.”
Sophia stared at Lily.
“What happens if I refuse?”
Anna smiled.
“Then Lily dies.”
Sophia's heart pounded.
“You said she was my sister.”
“She is.”
“Then why call her the wrong name?”
Anna's expression changed.
“Because the Black Room taught us that names are weapons.”
Sophia looked at Lily.
“Who are you?”
Lily looked at her.
“I don't know.”
Anna smiled.
“That's the truth.”
Sophia stepped forward.
“Let her go.”
“No.”
“Then take me instead.”
Anna laughed.
“You think this is a negotiation?”
“No.”
Sophia raised her weapon.
“It's a trade.”
For the first time, Anna looked uncertain.
Sophia continued.
“You want Subject 017.”
Anna's eyes narrowed.
“Yes.”
“Then take me.”
“Sophia!”
Cassian grabbed her arm.
She pulled away.
“Cassian, trust me.”
Anna stared at Sophia.
“You're willing to surrender?”
“If it saves her.”
Anna smiled.
“You really are different.”
“Different from what?”
“From the girl they created.”
Sophia took another step.
“Then tell me the truth.”
Anna studied her.
“About what?”
“Who am I?”
Silence.
Then Anna said:
“You are Sophia Hayes.”
Sophia shook her head.
“That's the name I was given.”
“Exactly.”
“Who gave it to me?”
Anna looked toward the old man.
“He did.”
Sophia turned.
Her supposed grandfather was watching her.
Anna continued.
“Your biological father created the identity.”
Sophia's stomach twisted.
“Why?”
“Because the original Sophia Hayes died.”
Sophia froze.
“What?”
Anna looked at Lily.
“The girl you remember wasn't you.”
Sophia felt the room spinning.
“Then who was I?”
Anna's eyes softened.
“You were Subject 017.”
“I know that.”
“No.”
Anna shook her head.
“You were never given a birth identity.”
Sophia stared at her.
“You were created from a record.”
“A record?”
“A child who was supposed to die was given another child's identity.”
Sophia looked at Eleanor.
Her mother was crying.
“Is that true?”
Eleanor couldn't answer.
Sophia's voice broke.
“Mum?”
Eleanor finally whispered,
“Yes.”
Sophia closed her eyes.
Another lie.
Another piece of her life that didn't belong to her.
Then she remembered something.
A little girl.
A hospital.
A woman carrying a baby.
And a name whispered over a crib.
Anna.
Sophia opened her eyes.
“You're not Anna.”
The woman's smile disappeared.
“What?”
“You're Lily.”
The room went silent.
Sophia looked at the woman holding the gun.
“You're my twin.”
Lily stared at her.
“What?”
Sophia continued.
“The girl beside me in the photograph wasn't Lily.”
Anna's face became expressionless.
“She was you.”
Sophia looked at the woman.
“You took Lily's identity.”
Anna's eyes filled with something that looked like pain.
“You finally remembered.”
Cassian looked confused.
“Then who is the woman we've been calling Lily?”
Sophia turned.
The woman beside Eleanor—
was gone.
Everyone looked around.
Lily had disappeared during the gunfire.
Sophia's heart dropped.
Anna laughed softly.
“You've been protecting the wrong sister.”
Sophia looked at the woman holding the gun.
“Where is she?”
“Safe.”
“Where?”
“Where she belongs.”
Sophia raised her gun again.
“Tell me.”
Anna stepped backward.
“Come with me.”
Sophia glanced at Cassian.
Then Daniel.
Then Eleanor.
Her mother shook her head.
“Don't go.”
Sophia looked at her.
“I have to.”
“No.”
“If I stay, they will keep coming.”
Cassian stepped forward.
“I'm coming with you.”
Anna shook her head.
“No.”
“He goes where I go.”
Sophia looked at Cassian.
He didn't hesitate.
Anna considered him for a moment.
“Fine.”
Daniel stepped forward.
“Then I'm coming too.”
Anna smiled.
“Not you.”
“Why?”
“Because your brother already knows the way.”
Cassian froze.
“What?”
Anna looked at him.
“Daniel has been there.”
Daniel's face changed.
“Where?”
Anna smiled.
“Home.”
Then she disappeared into the smoke.
Sophia turned toward Daniel.
“What did she mean?”
Daniel didn't answer.
Cassian stared at his brother.
“Daniel?”
Daniel finally looked at him.
“I know where she's taking Sophia.”
“Where?”
Daniel's voice was barely audible.
“The original Black Room.”
Sophia's phone vibrated again.
One final message appeared.
YOU HAVE 60 MINUTES.
Then another.
BRING YOUR FATHER.
Sophia slowly looked toward the old man.
He smiled.
For the first time, she understood.
The message wasn't asking her to bring Victor.
It was asking her to bring him.
Her biological father.
The man who had spent twenty-one years pretending to be her grandfather.
And suddenly Sophia realized something even more terrifying.
He didn't look surprised.
He looked prepared.
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