The Science Building
1646 Words
Chapter 16
The Science Building
The car remained silent for several seconds.
Nobody moved.
Nadia stared at the photograph on her phone.
Daniel Vale.
Alive.
And standing beside Mr. Elias.
The same Mr. Elias who had told her to trust him.
The same man who had taken her to her mother's old house.
The same man who had given her the key to Box 47.
Her stomach tightened.
“He lied.”
Adrian looked at her.
“Yes.”
Nadia looked at her mother.
“Did you know?”
Her mother nodded slowly.
“I suspected.”
“Then why didn't you tell me?”
“Because I wasn't sure.”
Nadia looked back at the photograph.
“You should have told me.”
“I know.”
Her father started the car again.
“We can't stay here.”
Adrian looked through the rear window.
“No one's following us.”
“For now,” Layla said.
Nadia looked at her.
Layla was staring at the photograph.
“Mr. Elias was helping them?”
Adrian answered.
“He may have been.”
Nadia frowned.
“May have been?”
“We don't know what side he's on.”
“But he's standing beside Daniel Vale.”
“That doesn't tell us everything.”
Nadia shook her head.
“It tells me enough.”
Her mother looked at her.
“Nadia, listen to me. Mr. Elias was involved with Westbridge, but he wasn't one of the people who created the program.”
“Then what was he?”
“A witness.”
Nadia looked confused.
“A witness?”
“He saw what happened to Elena.”
“Then why did he lie?”
Her mother hesitated.
“Because he was afraid.”
Nadia laughed quietly.
“Everyone is afraid.”
Her mother looked at her.
“That's why this survived for so long.”
---
They reached the old science building shortly after one in the morning.
The building stood at the far end of the Westbridge campus.
Its windows were boarded up.
The entrance was covered with warning signs.
NO ENTRY.
BUILDING UNSAFE.
Nadia stared at it.
“This is where the fire happened?”
Her mother nodded.
“Yes.”
“Why did nobody rebuild it?”
“Because someone wanted it forgotten.”
Her father parked behind a row of trees.
Everyone got out.
The night was quiet.
Too quiet.
Adrian looked around.
“We shouldn't stay outside.”
Nadia took the black key from her pocket.
“Room 17.”
Her mother pointed toward the side of the building.
“There's a service entrance.”
They moved carefully.
The door was locked.
Nadia inserted the key.
It turned.
The door opened.
Layla whispered,
“That's too easy.”
Adrian nodded.
“I agree.”
They entered.
The smell of dust and smoke filled the hallway.
Nadia covered her nose.
Even after three years, the building still smelled burned.
Her mother walked ahead.
“I remember this place.”
“You've been here since the fire?”
“No.”
“Then how do you know where you're going?”
Her mother stopped.
“Because I helped design it.”
Nadia stared.
“You worked here?”
“Before you were born.”
Her father looked at her.
“We all did.”
Nadia's eyes widened.
“All?”
Her father nodded.
“Your mother. Elena. Me.”
Adrian's voice was quiet.
“And my parents.”
Nadia looked at him.
“Your parents?”
He nodded.
“My father worked with Nadia's father.”
Her mother looked at him.
“Your father wanted to stop the program.”
Adrian shook his head.
“My father wanted to control it.”
Silence.
Nadia looked between them.
“How many people were involved?”
Her mother answered.
“More than you think.”
They continued down the hallway.
The walls were blackened.
Some doors hung from broken hinges.
At the end of the corridor was a staircase.
Nadia looked at the number above it.
17.
She took a breath.
“This is it.”
They went down.
The stairs ended at a metal door.
There was no handle.
Only a small circular slot.
Nadia held up the key.
It didn't fit.
She frowned.
“It doesn't work.”
Her mother looked at the door.
“Try the necklace.”
Nadia froze.
“The necklace is a copy.”
“I know.”
“Then why?”
“Because the copy still contains the symbol.”
Nadia took out the silver pendant.
She pressed it against the circular slot.
A soft click sounded.
The door unlocked.
Layla stared.
“Okay. That's creepy.”
Adrian pushed the door open.
A cold draft passed through them.
Beyond the door was a narrow room.
There were shelves.
Boxes.
Old computers.
And a single table in the middle.
On the table was a folder.
Nadia walked toward it.
Her name was written across the cover.
NADIA RAHMAN
She stopped.
Her father stepped forward.
“Don't.”
Nadia looked at him.
“Why?”
“Because once you open that, there's no going back.”
Nadia stared at the folder.
“I already passed that point.”
She opened it.
Inside were pages.
Medical records.
School records.
Psychological evaluations.
Photographs.
Her childhood.
Her hands began to shake.
“This is all about me.”
Her mother closed her eyes.
“Yes.”
Nadia turned a page.
SUBJECT N-17
She frowned.
“Subject?”
Her father looked ashamed.
“They gave you a number.”
Nadia's eyes filled with anger.
“I wasn't a subject.”
“No.”
“I was a child.”
“I know.”
She turned another page.
There was a handwritten note.
Memory retention: exceptional.
Another:
Pattern recognition: exceptional.
Another:
Emotional response: difficult to predict.
Nadia stared.
“They were studying me.”
Her mother nodded.
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because Elena believed your mind could expose the program.”
Nadia looked confused.
“How?”
Her mother pointed to the page.
“You remembered details other people forgot.”
Nadia suddenly remembered the tests.
Pictures.
Numbers.
Faces.
Her mother asking her what she had seen.
“I thought those were games.”
“They weren't.”
Nadia closed her eyes.
For years, she had believed those memories were dreams.
They weren't.
They were tests.
She opened another folder.
This one had Adrian's name.
ADRIAN CROSS
He stepped closer.
Nadia looked at him.
“You were tested too.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“My father enrolled me.”
“Did you know?”
“I was twelve.”
Nadia looked at the records.
His file was much longer than hers.
Then she saw something.
A red stamp.
PROJECT TERMINATED.
Below it:
REASON: ELENA RIVERS.
Nadia's heart stopped.
“Elena stopped the project.”
Her mother nodded.
“She tried.”
“Why does the file say terminated?”
“Because they wanted us to believe it ended.”
Adrian picked up another document.
His expression changed.
“Nadia.”
She looked at him.
He handed her the paper.
At the bottom was a list of names.
One name was circled.
MR. ELIAS.
Next to it:
ACTIVE CONTACT — 2023.
Nadia stared.
“He was still working with them.”
Her father shook his head.
“No.”
Nadia looked at him.
“You know something.”
He hesitated.
“He wasn't working for them.”
“Then what?”
“He was working against them.”
Nadia frowned.
“Then why is his name there?”
“Because he was an informant.”
Adrian looked surprised.
“You knew?”
“I suspected.”
Nadia's head hurt.
“Everyone is lying.”
Her mother stepped closer.
“Not everyone.”
Nadia looked at her.
Her mother touched her shoulder.
“I never lied about loving you.”
Nadia didn't answer.
For a moment, neither spoke.
Then something beeped.
Everyone turned.
One of the old computers had turned on.
The screen flickered.
A video appeared.
Nadia's mother stepped backward.
“No.”
Nadia looked at her.
“What?”
“I destroyed that.”
The video began.
Elena appeared on the screen.
Older.
Tired.
Alive.
Nadia moved closer.
“Elena.”
Her aunt looked directly into the camera.
“If you're watching this, then Nadia has found the archive.”
Nadia's heart pounded.
Elena continued.
“I'm sorry you had to find out this way.”
The video paused.
Then continued.
“There is something you need to know about your father.”
Nadia turned toward him.
Her father went still.
Elena looked into the camera.
“Your father did not create the program.”
Nadia breathed out.
“He tried to destroy it.”
Her father lowered his eyes.
“But he made one mistake.”
The screen flickered.
“He trusted Daniel Vale.”
Nadia's heart sank.
Elena continued.
“Daniel was never working alone.”
A sound came from the hallway.
Footsteps.
Everyone froze.
Elena's voice continued from the computer.
“If Daniel is still alive, then the person beside him is—”
The video suddenly cut off.
The lights went out.
Nadia's mother whispered,
“No.”
A door slammed somewhere upstairs.
Adrian grabbed Nadia's hand.
“Stay close.”
Nadia heard footsteps approaching.
One.
Two.
Three.
Slow.
Deliberate.
Then a voice came through the darkness.
“You should have listened to your mother.”
Nadia froze.
She knew that voice.
Mr. Elias.
The lights suddenly came back on.
He stood in the doorway.
But he wasn't alone.
Daniel Vale stood beside him.
And behind them was another person.
Nadia stared at the third figure.
Her heart stopped.
It was Ethan.
Mr. Elias smiled.
“Now we can finally finish what Elena started.”
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