Ashes Of The Past
753 Words
The cold night air hit Nadia’s face as she climbed out of the escape shaft.
Behind her, the ground shook violently.
A thunderous explosion erupted beneath the forest.
The earth split open.
Flames burst through the trees.
The Vault was collapsing.
Nadia turned and screamed.
“Vivian!”
No answer came.
Only smoke rose into the night sky.
Adrian pulled her back.
“We have to go!”
“But she’s still down there!”
“If she made it out, she’ll find us.”
“And if she didn’t?”
Adrian lowered his head.
“We can’t help her now.”
With tears streaming down her face, Nadia watched the only link to her childhood disappear beneath the burning earth.
⸻
Several miles away, the group took refuge in an abandoned railway station.
The survivors of Project Phoenix gathered in silence.
Some stared blankly into space.
Others wept.
Sarah Kane spread Daniel Hart’s journal across an old wooden table.
“We need to know what survived.”
Adrian checked the flash drive.
It was dead.
The database deletion had corrupted it completely.
“The records are gone,” he said.
Sarah sighed.
“Arthur can’t use them anymore.”
“But neither can we.”
Nadia looked up.
“Then how do we prove any of this?”
Before Sarah could answer, Nadia’s phone buzzed again.
The same unknown number.
This time, it contained a single image.
It was a photograph of an old woman sitting in a wheelchair.
The caption read:
‘She’s waiting for you.’
Beneath it was an address.
⸻
“Who is she?” Sarah asked.
Nadia showed her the phone.
Sarah’s expression changed immediately.
“No…”
“You know her?”
Sarah nodded slowly.
“That’s Dr. Eleanor Hayes.”
Adrian looked stunned.
“I thought she died years ago.”
“So did everyone else.”
Nadia frowned.
“Who is she?”
Sarah answered quietly.
“She designed Project Phoenix.”
⸻
An hour later, they arrived at a secluded nursing home hidden in the countryside.
The building looked ordinary.
Too ordinary.
Inside, an elderly nurse greeted them.
“You’re here to see Dr. Hayes.”
She led them down a quiet hallway.
At the last room, she stopped.
“She said you’d come.”
⸻
Dr. Eleanor Hayes sat by the window, staring at the sunrise.
She looked frail.
Thin.
Her hands shook with age.
But her eyes were sharp.
She turned toward Nadia.
“So…”
“Emily Hart.”
Nadia stepped forward.
“You know who I am.”
“I’ve known since the day you were born.”
Nadia’s voice hardened.
“You stole my life.”
Dr. Hayes closed her eyes.
“No.”
“I tried to save it.”
⸻
Adrian stepped between them.
“Don’t believe a word she says.”
Dr. Hayes ignored him.
She looked only at Nadia.
“Tell me…”
“Did Arthur ever tell you who ordered Project Phoenix?”
Nadia shook her head.
“He said he created it.”
The old woman laughed bitterly.
“Arthur never created anything.”
“He only inherited it.”
Silence filled the room.
“What do you mean?” Nadia asked.
Dr. Hayes reached into a drawer beside her bed.
She removed a faded black-and-white photograph.
It showed five people standing together.
Arthur Cole.
A much younger Dr. Hayes.
Two unknown men.
And…
Daniel Hart.
Nadia’s breath caught.
“My father?”
Dr. Hayes nodded.
“Your father wasn’t just investigating Project Phoenix.”
“He helped build it.”
The room fell silent.
“No…” Nadia whispered.
“That’s impossible.”
Dr. Hayes looked at her with sorrow.
“I wish it were.”
⸻
Before anyone could speak, a television in the corner of the room switched on by itself.
A live news broadcast filled the screen.
The reporter spoke urgently.
“Breaking news: Authorities have confirmed the discovery of a large underground facility connected to multiple cases of identity fraud and child abduction.”
The camera panned across the smoking ruins of the Vault.
Then…
Rescue workers carried someone from the wreckage.
A woman.
Bruised.
Covered in dust.
Alive.
Nadia stepped closer to the television.
“Vivian…”
She had survived.
But before relief could settle in, the camera zoomed in.
Vivian opened her eyes.
She looked directly into the camera.
And whispered one word.
“Run.”
The broadcast suddenly cut to static.
End of Episode 16.
- Writer
