The Voice He Remembered
1158 Words
Adrian couldn't see the man.
The medical room was completely dark, except for the faint emergency light leaking beneath the door from the corridor.
Yet the voice was enough.
That voice had lived somewhere inside Adrian's memory for more than twenty years.
A deep voice.
Calm.
Controlled.
The kind of voice a frightened child remembered without understanding why.
His heart began beating faster.
"Who are you?"
No answer.
Daniel raised his weapon.
"Show yourself."
A soft laugh came from somewhere behind them.
"Still protecting him, Daniel?"
Daniel froze.
Adrian looked at him.
"You know this man?"
Daniel didn't answer.
The silence was enough.
"You know him," Adrian said again.
Daniel swallowed.
"I've heard his voice before."
"Where?"
"At the cemetery."
Adrian's eyes widened.
"The night we were attacked?"
Daniel nodded.
"I thought it was one of the men."
The voice returned.
"You were always observant, Daniel."
Daniel slowly turned toward the sound.
"Come out."
"I'd rather not."
"Then I'll find you."
Another quiet laugh.
"You can try."
Elena reached for Adrian.
"Stay close to me."
He didn't move.
"Elena."
"What?"
"Tell me who he is."
"I don't know."
"You're lying."
She looked at him.
"I'm not."
"Then why are you afraid?"
Elena's expression changed.
"I'm afraid because I know what he's capable of."
A faint metallic sound came from the corner of the room.
Someone was moving.
Daniel immediately fired toward the sound.
The bullet struck the wall.
Nothing.
Then a shadow crossed the doorway.
Daniel ran after it.
"Daniel!"
Elena's warning came too late.
Adrian followed.
Claire tried to get off the bed.
"Don't leave me."
Adrian stopped.
He looked back.
For the first time, he realized how vulnerable Claire was.
He couldn't abandon her.
"Stay here."
"But..."
"I'll come back."
Elena grabbed his arm.
"No."
"You stay with Claire."
"What?"
"I'll find Daniel."
Before Adrian could argue, Elena disappeared through the doorway.
He was left alone with Claire.
For several seconds, neither spoke.
Then Claire whispered,
"She still loves you."
Adrian looked at her.
"I know."
"And you still love her."
He didn't answer.
Claire smiled faintly.
"You don't have to say it."
Adrian looked toward the doorway.
"I don't know what I feel anymore."
"That's understandable."
"Everything I knew about my life was a lie."
Claire's expression softened.
"Not everything."
"What isn't a lie?"
She looked at him.
"The way she looked at you when she came back."
Adrian's eyes lowered.
"You saw it."
"Everyone saw it."
"She was terrified."
"Not of Vivian."
"Not of Arthur."
"Not of the Black Circle."
"She was terrified you would hate her."
Adrian swallowed.
"I don't hate her."
"I know."
"But I'm angry."
"You have every right to be."
A faint sound came from the corridor.
Claire immediately stopped talking.
Adrian looked toward the door.
"Did you hear that?"
She nodded.
Footsteps.
Slow.
Coming closer.
Adrian reached for his weapon.
The footsteps stopped.
A man's voice came from the corridor.
"Adrian."
He froze.
"Come outside."
The voice sounded closer now.
"You've spent your whole life believing your father was protecting you."
"He wasn't."
Adrian stepped toward the doorway.
Claire grabbed his wrist.
"Don't."
The man continued.
"Your father made a deal."
"He gave you to them."
Adrian's blood ran cold.
"Why?"
The man laughed.
"Because your mother wouldn't cooperate."
Adrian's jaw tightened.
"You killed her."
"No."
"I gave her a chance."
"She refused."
"Then the fire happened."
Adrian felt his hands shaking.
"Who are you?"
The man finally stepped into the doorway.
Adrian's breath caught.
The emergency light illuminated half of his face.
Older.
Much older than Adrian remembered.
But there was something familiar about him.
The eyes.
The shape of his jaw.
The scar across his left cheek.
Adrian stared at him.
"No."
The man smiled.
"Hello, nephew."
Claire's eyes widened.
"Victor."
Adrian couldn't speak.
The man standing before him was Victor Wolfe.
His father's younger brother.
The man everyone had believed was dead.
The man Elena had spent years searching for.
The man who had supposedly been responsible for the darkest secrets of the Wolfe family.
Victor stepped into the room.
"I've waited a long time to meet you."
Adrian finally found his voice.
"You tried to kill me."
Victor shook his head.
"No."
"I tried to save you."
"You killed my mother."
Victor's face hardened.
"Your mother was already dying."
"You set the fire."
"No."
"Then who did?"
Victor looked at him.
"Your father."
Adrian stared.
"You said he gave me to them."
"He did."
"Why?"
"Because he was desperate."
"Your father had discovered what your mother had done."
"What did she do?"
Victor looked toward Claire.
"Your mother stole something from Black Circle."
"The archive?"
Victor smiled.
"Not the archive."
"Something far more valuable."
Adrian stepped closer.
"What?"
Victor reached inside his coat.
He removed a small black photograph.
He handed it to Adrian.
Adrian looked down.
It showed a young woman.
His mother.
Standing beside a man.
Adrian recognized him immediately.
Arthur Blackwood.
But there was something else.
A child stood between them.
A little boy.
Adrian.
His face went pale.
"When was this taken?"
"Two days before the fire."
Adrian stared at the photograph.
His mother had one hand on his shoulder.
Arthur stood beside them.
But behind the three of them was another person.
A woman dressed entirely in white.
Her face was turned away from the camera.
Adrian's heart stopped.
"The White Queen."
Victor nodded.
"Now you understand."
Adrian looked up.
"She knew me."
"She knew your mother."
"She knew your father."
"She knew all of us."
"Why?"
Victor's expression became grim.
"Because your mother discovered who she really was."
"Who?"
Victor didn't answer.
Instead, he looked toward the doorway.
His eyes narrowed.
"She's here."
Adrian turned.
The corridor was empty.
Victor's face suddenly changed.
"Get down!"
A bullet shattered the medical room window.
Victor grabbed Adrian and pulled him to the floor.
Claire screamed.
Another bullet struck the wall.
Then another.
Victor crawled toward the window.
He looked outside.
"She's not alone."
Adrian stared at him.
"Who?"
Victor looked directly into his eyes.
"The White Queen."
A woman's voice echoed from the corridor.
"Victor."
He froze.
"You always did have a talent for surviving."
Victor slowly stood.
His face was filled with fear.
The woman stepped into the emergency light.
She wore a white coat.
Her face was hidden behind a thin white veil.
But Adrian recognized her voice.
The same voice from his childhood.
The same voice from the recording.
The same voice that had haunted his memories.
She lifted the veil.
Adrian's entire body went numb.
Because the woman standing before him was not a stranger.
She was someone he had known his entire life.
Someone whose face had appeared in family photographs.
Someone he had once called by a name filled with love.
She smiled.
"Hello, Adrian."
He couldn't breathe.
Victor whispered,
"Don't trust her."
Adrian stared at the woman.
"Mom?"
The woman smiled.
"Yes, my son."
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