The Room Below
1545 Words
Chapter 20
The Room Below
Nadia stared at the screen.
Ethan's face remained frozen in the bright white light.
I'm sorry, Nadia. I failed.
The words repeated in her mind.
Adrian stepped closer to the screen.
“Ethan!”
No response.
The video continued.
Ethan looked exhausted. There was a cut above his eyebrow, and his hands appeared to be restrained behind his back.
Nadia's stomach twisted.
“Is that live?”
Adrian shook his head.
“No. It's a recording.”
“How do you know?”
“Look at the screen.”
Nadia looked carefully.
The image wasn't moving.
Ethan's expression was frozen.
But then a red light appeared in the corner.
A countdown.
09:58
Adrian's face changed.
“That's not a recording.”
Nadia's heart jumped.
“What?”
“The video is delayed.”
“By how much?”
“Ten minutes.”
The timer continued.
09:41
Nadia looked toward the locked door.
“Then they're watching us.”
A speaker crackled above them.
Daniel's voice filled the room.
“Very good, Adrian.”
Nadia looked up.
“You're here.”
“Of course.”
“Why?”
A quiet laugh came through the speaker.
“Because this is where everything started.”
Adrian stepped toward the wall.
“Show yourself.”
“Not yet.”
Nadia clenched her fists.
“You brought us here.”
“No.”
Daniel's voice became colder.
“You brought yourselves.”
Nadia looked at Adrian.
He shook his head.
“Don't listen to him.”
Daniel continued.
“You spent years searching for answers, Adrian. You finally found the right door.”
The screen changed.
A new video appeared.
A younger Adrian stood inside the same room.
He looked about seventeen.
Nadia stared.
“That was three years ago.”
Adrian didn't answer.
On the screen, Elena stood beside him.
She was holding a folder.
Her expression was serious.
“You promised me you wouldn't tell anyone,” Elena said.
Young Adrian nodded.
“I won't.”
“You especially can't tell Nadia.”
Young Adrian looked confused.
“She doesn't even know what's happening.”
“That's why she must stay out of it.”
The video changed.
Nadia watched herself appear on the screen.
Seven years old.
Sitting in the chair.
Her mother stood beside her.
Elena crouched in front of her.
Nadia's breathing became shallow.
“No…”
Adrian looked at her.
“Nadia?”
“I remember this.”
On the screen, Elena held up a small silver key.
The same key Nadia had found in Box 47.
She placed it in the little girl's hand.
Then she whispered something.
The audio became distorted.
Nadia stepped closer.
“Turn it up.”
Adrian tried.
Nothing.
The image flickered.
Then the screen went black.
Nadia stared at it.
“What did she tell me?”
“I don't know,” Adrian said.
“You were there.”
“I couldn't hear her.”
“You were standing right there!”
Adrian's expression tightened.
“I was trying to keep watch.”
“For who?”
He didn't answer.
Nadia stepped back.
“For who, Adrian?”
He finally looked at her.
“For your father.”
Silence.
Nadia felt her stomach drop.
“My father was here?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
Adrian looked toward the floor.
“He was looking for Elena.”
“And you helped him?”
“No.”
“Then why were you here?”
Adrian's voice became quieter.
“Because Elena asked me to protect you.”
Nadia stared at him.
“From my father?”
Adrian nodded.
She couldn't speak.
Everything she'd believed was beginning to collapse.
Her mother.
Her father.
Elena.
Adrian.
Ethan.
Nobody's story fit together anymore.
Then the speaker crackled again.
Daniel spoke.
“You're getting closer.”
Nadia looked up.
“Tell me the truth.”
“You're not ready.”
“I've heard that enough.”
She stepped toward the speaker.
“I want the truth now.”
Daniel was silent for several seconds.
Then he said,
“Fine.”
The screen changed again.
A file appeared.
NADIA RAHMAN — SUBJECT 17
Nadia's blood ran cold.
Adrian moved closer.
The file contained photographs.
Nadia as a child.
Her school records.
Medical reports.
Photographs of her mother.
And one document with a red stamp:
MEMORY SUPPRESSION — SUCCESSFUL
Nadia stared.
“What is that?”
Adrian read it.
His face changed.
“They erased your memories.”
Nadia shook her head.
“No.”
She looked at the screen.
“I remember my childhood.”
“Some of it,” Daniel said.
Nadia looked up.
“What did you erase?”
Daniel didn't answer.
The screen changed again.
A list appeared.
July 12 — First Memory
July 13 — Suppression
August 2 — Relocation
September 4 — New Identity
Nadia stared at the final line.
NEW IDENTITY.
Her voice shook.
“My identity?”
Adrian looked at her.
“They changed your records.”
Nadia's hands trembled.
“But I'm Nadia Rahman.”
Daniel's voice came through the speaker.
“Yes.”
“Then why is there a file about a new identity?”
“Because Nadia Rahman wasn't the name you were born with.”
The room seemed to tilt.
Adrian caught Nadia's arm.
She pulled away.
“No.”
Daniel continued.
“Your mother changed your records to protect you.”
Nadia swallowed.
“What was my original name?”
Silence.
Then the screen displayed a document.
Nadia stared at it.
The name was partially covered.
Only one line remained visible.
NADIA K. ______
Her heart raced.
“Show me.”
The screen flickered.
The missing letters slowly appeared.
Nadia stared.
The surname was one she'd never seen before.
RIVERS.
She couldn't breathe.
“Rivers?”
Adrian looked at her.
“Nadia…”
She shook her head.
“My mother never told me.”
“She was trying to protect you.”
Nadia looked toward the speaker.
“Why Rivers?”
Daniel answered.
“Because Elena Rivers was your aunt.”
Nadia froze.
The room went completely silent.
She whispered,
“Elena…”
Daniel continued.
“Your mother didn't change your name because she was ashamed of it.”
“Then why?”
“Because the Rivers family was connected to Westbridge long before you were born.”
Nadia looked at the screen.
Her entire life suddenly felt like a story someone else had written.
Then another document appeared.
ELENA RIVERS — PROJECT LEAD
Nadia's eyes widened.
“Elena was part of it?”
Adrian stepped closer to the screen.
“Before she discovered what they were doing.”
Daniel corrected him.
“She didn't just discover it.”
“She helped create it.”
Nadia turned toward Adrian.
“You knew?”
“No.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes.”
A loud metallic sound echoed through the hallway.
The locked door began to open.
Nadia stepped backward.
Adrian moved in front of her.
The door opened slowly.
No one was there.
Only a small black box sat on the floor.
Adrian approached it carefully.
“Nadia, stay back.”
He picked it up.
There was a note taped to the top.
He read it.
Then looked at Nadia.
“What?”
He handed it to her.
The note contained six words.
Your mother left this for you.
Nadia opened the box.
Inside was a silver necklace.
Her breath caught.
She recognized it immediately.
The necklace from her childhood memory.
The one Elena had given her.
Her fingers trembled as she picked it up.
There was something engraved on the back.
A tiny number.
17.
Nadia stared at it.
Then the necklace clicked.
A small compartment opened.
Inside was a tiny memory card.
Adrian looked at it.
“This might contain the missing part.”
Nadia held it tightly.
“Then let's find out.”
Before Adrian could answer, every light in the room went out.
A voice whispered through the darkness.
“Nadia…”
She froze.
The voice wasn't coming from the speaker.
It was coming from behind her.
Someone was standing in the room.
Adrian turned.
“Who's there?”
No answer.
Then a hand touched Nadia's shoulder.
She screamed and spun around.
A familiar face stood inches away.
Nadia's blood ran cold.
It was her father.
But he wasn't supposed to be there.
He looked terrified.
“Dad?”
He raised one finger to his lips.
“Don't trust Daniel.”
Nadia stared at him.
“Where did you come from?”
He looked toward the hallway.
“They're coming.”
“Who?”
Her father grabbed her hand.
“The people who erased your memories.”
A distant alarm began to sound.
Adrian stepped closer.
“Sir, we need to leave.”
Her father looked at him.
“You shouldn't have brought her here.”
Adrian frowned.
“I didn't.”
Her father looked at Nadia.
“Then who did?”
Nadia's heart stopped.
Because suddenly she remembered.
The first message.
The first warning.
The key.
The photograph.
Someone had been guiding her toward Westbridge from the beginning.
And whoever it was—
knew exactly what she would remember.
- Writer
- chap_listContents
- likeADD