The woman in my memory

Chapter 7

CHAPTER SEVEN

THE SISTER WHO NEVER EXISTED

The woman stepped into the light.

She looked to be in her early thirties.

Long black hair.

Sharp brown eyes.

A small scar above her left eyebrow.

In her hand was the silver key from my memory.

She smiled as if she had been waiting for this moment for years.

"Hello, Elena."

I couldn't speak.

Liyana stood protectively in front of me.

"Who are you?"

The woman laughed softly.

"That's the first question everyone asks."

She looked at me.

"But it isn't the question you should be asking."

Adrian slowly stepped forward.

"You shouldn't be here."

She smiled at him.

"You said that twelve years ago."

His face hardened.

"I thought you were dead."

"So did everyone else."

Silence filled the room.

I stared at the woman.

"You were in our family photographs."

She nodded.

"I was."

"Why were you removed?"

She looked down at the silver key.

"Because dead people aren't supposed to smile in family portraits."

My heart skipped.

"You... you're my sister?"

She sighed.

"No."

Liyana frowned.

"Then who are you?"

The woman finally looked directly into my eyes.

"I'm your cousin."

"What?"

"My name is Nadia."

The name stirred nothing inside me.

Yet something about her felt familiar.

Very familiar.

She walked toward the old hospital bed.

"Our mothers were sisters."

I looked at Liyana.

She was just as confused.

"Our mother never had a sister."

Nadia smiled sadly.

"That's because she erased me from your lives."

"Why?"

"Because I witnessed what happened seven years ago."

The room fell silent.

I stepped closer.

"You know the truth?"

"I know all of it."

My heart pounded.

"Then tell me."

Nadia's smile disappeared.

"I will."

She placed the silver key into my hand.

"But first..."

She pointed toward an old filing cabinet in the corner.

"Open the bottom drawer."

I walked over.

It was locked.

The key fit perfectly.

Click.

The drawer slid open.

Inside were dozens of VHS tapes.

Old cassette recordings.

Medical journals.

And a leather diary.

My mother's name was embossed on the cover.

NOMUSA MKHIZE

My fingers trembled.

I opened the first page.

It wasn't a diary.

It was a confession.

---

October 17

I have made the hardest decision of my life.

If anyone ever reads this...

Please forgive me.

---

I turned the page.

---

October 18

The girls must never discover the truth.

If they do...

None of us will survive.

---

Another page.

---

October 20

Dr. Vale has agreed to help.

Memory suppression will begin tomorrow.

God forgive me.

---

I froze.

"Dr. Vale..."

I looked at Adrian.

"Your father."

He slowly nodded.

"Yes."

My breathing became uneven.

"So he did erase my memories."

"He did."

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"Because I promised my father."

Nadia scoffed.

"You promised a monster."

Adrian clenched his jaw.

"You don't know everything."

"I know enough."

She walked over to me.

"Keep reading."

I turned another page.

Halfway down, the handwriting changed.

The ink was shaky.

As if whoever wrote it had been crying.

---

I am not protecting Liyana anymore.

I am protecting the world from Elena.

---

My hands went numb.

I whispered,

"What...?"

Liyana grabbed the diary.

She read the sentence.

Then looked at me.

"No."

I backed away.

"No..."

Nadia gently took the diary from Liyana.

"Your mother believed you were dangerous."

"I would never hurt anyone."

"You already did."

The words hit me like ice.

I stared at Nadia.

"What did I do?"

She closed the diary.

"You were eight years old."

"I don't remember."

"I know."

"What happened?"

She hesitated.

Then she whispered,

"You pushed someone."

My chest tightened.

"Who?"

"Our grandfather."

The room became silent.

"He fell down the staircase."

I shook my head violently.

"No."

"You didn't mean to."

"No."

"You were just a child."

"I didn't do that."

Nadia looked at me with pity.

"You've been living with erased memories for so long that even the truth feels like a lie."

Suddenly...

A loud buzzing echoed through the basement.

The emergency alarm.

Red lights began flashing.

Adrian cursed.

"They found us."

"Who?"

"My father."

As if on cue...

The hospital speakers crackled.

Then a calm male voice echoed through every corridor.

"Attention."

My blood froze.

I knew that voice.

Even though I couldn't remember where from.

"Patient Seventeen has been located."

Patient Seventeen.

Me.

The voice continued.

"Initiate Protocol Lazarus."

Nadia's face drained of color.

"No..."

Liyana grabbed her arm.

"What is Protocol Lazarus?"

Nadia looked at all of us.

Her voice barely rose above a whisper.

"It isn't a lockdown."

"What is it?"

"It's the procedure they use..."

She swallowed hard.

"...to erase a person's memory forever."

Before anyone could move...

Heavy footsteps thundered outside.

One.

Two.

Ten.

At least a dozen people.

The basement door burst open.

Men dressed in black tactical uniforms flooded into the room.

Each wore a silver badge with one symbol engraved on it:

XVII.

One of them raised his weapon.

"Take Patient Seventeen alive."

Another pointed at Liyana.

"Eliminate the duplicate."

I screamed,

"NO!"

The first gunshot echoed through the basement.

And someone collapsed to the floor.