Blood, But Not Brothers

The rain had been falling since midnight. By six in the morning, the city of Nova Haven was almost invisible beneath the thick gray clouds. Towering buildings disappeared into the mist, while glowing advertisements floated above the streets like enormous holograms. Cars moved silently along magnetic roads. Delivery drones flew between buildings. And beneath the city, hidden far below the streets, an alarm had just begun to ring. Deep inside an underground research facility, a scientist stared at a computer screen. Her hands were trembling. "That's impossible." The young scientist leaned closer to the screen. A red warning appeared. GENETIC MATCH DETECTED. She entered the test again. The computer processed the information. Then the same result appeared. 99.98% MATCH. The scientist slowly sat down. For seventeen years, she had believed the two blood samples belonged to completely unrelated people. She had been wrong. "They're family," she whispered. A man standing behind her looked over her shoulder. "How close?" The scientist swallowed. "Close enough that this shouldn't be possible." "That's not an answer." She turned toward him. "Their DNA contains the same inherited genetic sequence." The man frowned. "Brothers?" The scientist nodded. "Biological brothers." The room became silent. The man stepped toward her. "Then why were they separated?" The scientist looked at the screen again. "Because someone wanted them separated." The man stared at the results. "Who?" "I don't know." The computer suddenly flashed another warning. SUBJECT ONE LOCATION IDENTIFIED. Then another message appeared. SUBJECT TWO LOCATION IDENTIFIED. The man's eyes widened. "They're both in Nova Haven." The scientist stood. "Then we have a problem." "What problem?" She looked at him. "They've never met since they were children." 7:12 A.M. Damon Carter woke up to the sound of his alarm. He reached across his bed and hit the device. The alarm stopped. For three seconds, everything was quiet. Then his bedroom window automatically opened. Cold air rushed inside. "Damon!" He groaned. His mother was shouting from downstairs. "Damon, you're going to be late!" "I'm awake!" "You've been awake for five minutes!" Damon looked at the clock. 7:12. His eyes widened. "Oh no." He jumped out of bed. Nova Haven Academy started classes at eight. Getting there normally took twenty-five minutes. Getting there when you had seven minutes to get dressed? Impossible. Damon grabbed his school uniform and rushed into the bathroom. Ten minutes later, he ran downstairs with one shoe half-fastened. His mother stood in the kitchen with her arms crossed. She was staring at him. "You're going to break your neck one of these days." "I'll be careful." "You said that yesterday." "And I'm still alive." His mother sighed. "That's not the point." Damon grabbed a piece of toast. His mother watched him. "Sit down." "I'm late." "Sit." Damon stopped. There was something in her voice that made him listen. He sat. His mother placed a small metallic device on the table. It was about the size of a coin. Damon stared at it. "What is that?" "Your father left it." Damon's expression changed. His father had been gone for eleven years. Damon barely remembered him. "What does it do?" "I don't know." "Then why are you giving it to me?" His mother looked uncomfortable. "Because I found it yesterday." Damon picked it up. The device immediately lit up. A tiny blue symbol appeared. Damon dropped it. His mother jumped. "What happened?" "It turned on." She stared at the device. The blue symbol slowly changed. It became a strange symbol Damon had never seen before. His mother suddenly looked frightened. "Put it away." "Why?" "Just put it away." Damon picked it up. "Mom, what is this?" "Something that belongs to your father." "That doesn't explain anything." His mother walked toward the window. "Your father didn't disappear because he wanted to leave us." Damon went quiet. She rarely talked about his father. "Then what happened?" His mother didn't answer. "Mom?" She finally turned around. "He was looking for something." "What?" "A person." Damon frowned. "Who?" His mother looked directly at him. "I don't know." Damon studied her face. She was hiding something. Before he could ask another question, his school tablet beeped. FIRST PERIOD BEGINS IN 28 MINUTES. Damon stood. "I'll ask you about this later." His mother nodded. "Maybe." Damon stopped at the door. "Mom?" "Yes?" "Are you okay?" She forced a smile. "I'm fine." Damon wasn't convinced. But he left. Nova Haven Academy Nova Haven Academy wasn't an ordinary school. It was one of the most advanced educational institutions in the country. Students learned normal subjects, but they also studied robotics, artificial intelligence, quantum technology, genetic science, and advanced engineering. The school was built around an enormous central tower. Hundreds of students entered through the security gates every morning. Damon walked through the gate and immediately saw his best friend, Milo. "You are late!" Damon looked at him. "Good morning to you too." "You were supposed to meet me twenty minutes ago." "I overslept." "You always oversleep." Damon smiled. "That's why you have me as a friend." Milo laughed. They walked toward their classroom. But before they reached it, Damon stopped. Someone was standing across the courtyard. A boy. He looked about seventeen. Tall. Dark-haired. Quiet. He wore the academy uniform, but Damon had never seen him before. The boy was staring directly at him. Damon stared back. Something felt strange. Not dangerous. Familiar. Like seeing someone from a dream he couldn't remember. Milo noticed. "Do you know him?" "No." "Then why are you staring?" "I don't know." The boy looked away and continued walking. Damon watched him disappear into the crowd. "That's weird," Milo said. "Yeah." "You want to follow him?" "No." "You definitely want to follow him." "I said no." Milo grinned. "You're following him." Damon sighed. "Fine." The boy's name was Zane Carter. Damon discovered that ten minutes later. He also discovered something else. Zane had just transferred into the academy. He was assigned to their class. When the teacher introduced him, Damon felt the same strange sensation again. "Class, this is Zane Carter. He recently transferred here." Zane nodded. "Hello." The teacher pointed toward an empty seat. "You can sit there." The seat was directly behind Damon. Damon turned around. Their eyes met. For a moment, neither spoke. Then Zane looked away. The lesson began. Damon tried to concentrate. He couldn't. Something about Zane bothered him. Not because Zane was rude. He wasn't. Not because Zane was strange. He was. It was something else. Damon felt as if he had seen him before. But he couldn't remember where. Halfway through the lesson, Damon's tablet suddenly froze. He tapped the screen. Nothing happened. Then a message appeared. IDENTITY CONFIRMED. Damon's heart skipped. He quickly closed the message. He looked behind him. Zane was staring at his own tablet. His screen displayed the same thing. Their eyes met. Neither said anything. Lunch Break Damon followed Zane. This time, he didn't tell Milo. He watched Zane walk toward an empty section of the school. The older buildings were rarely used. Zane stopped outside a locked laboratory. Damon stepped forward. "Why are you here?" Zane turned. "I could ask you the same thing." "You saw that message." Zane's expression changed. "What message?" "The one on your tablet." Zane stared at him. Then he looked around. "You shouldn't have seen it." "Why?" "Because it wasn't meant for you." Damon laughed nervously. "Then why did my tablet show the exact same thing?" Zane didn't answer. Damon stepped closer. "Who are you?" "I told you." "That's not what I mean." Zane looked at him. "What do you want to know?" "Why do I feel like I know you?" Zane's expression became serious. "I don't know." "You're lying." "No." "You are." Zane looked away. "I've been having dreams." Damon froze. "What kind of dreams?" "A house." Damon's heart began beating faster. "Describe it." "White walls. A large staircase. A tree outside the window." Damon stared at him. "What else?" "A woman." Damon's voice became quieter. "What woman?" "I don't know." "Anything about her?" Zane shook his head. "Just that she was crying." Damon stepped backward. He knew that house. He had seen it before. Not in real life. In an old photograph. His father's photograph. Damon pulled out his phone and searched through his files. He found the picture. He showed Zane. Zane stared at it. His face went pale. "Where did you get that?" "My father." Zane looked at the house. "I've seen it." "Where?" "In my dreams." Damon looked at him. "Who are you?" Zane didn't answer. Then the laboratory door behind him unlocked. Both boys turned. Neither had touched it. The door opened by itself. A voice came from inside. GENETIC ACCESS ACCEPTED. Damon frowned. "Genetic access?" Zane stepped backward. "We should leave." Damon grabbed his arm. "No." Zane looked at him. "What?" "We're going inside." "Are you crazy?" "Probably." Damon opened the door. The laboratory was dark. Most of the equipment had been removed years ago. Dust covered the tables. Old machines lined the walls. Damon switched on his phone flashlight. "There's nothing here." Zane walked toward the center of the room. "There is." He pointed at the floor. A small metallic panel was embedded in it. Damon crouched. He touched it. The panel opened. A scanner rose from the floor. A message appeared. PLACE HAND ON SENSOR. Damon looked at Zane. "Why me?" "I don't know." Damon placed his hand on the scanner. The machine scanned him. A green light appeared. SUBJECT 01 CONFIRMED. Damon pulled his hand away. "Subject?" Zane stared at him. Then the scanner turned toward Zane. SECOND GENETIC SIGNATURE DETECTED. Zane slowly placed his hand on it. The machine scanned him. The result appeared. SUBJECT 02 CONFIRMED. Damon looked at Zane. "What does that mean?" A hologram suddenly appeared above the machine. An old recording began playing. A man appeared. Damon recognized him immediately. His father. Damon's breath caught. "Dad?" The recording began. "If you're watching this, then the system has detected both of you." Damon stared at the hologram. Zane looked confused. The recording continued. "You may not understand why you were brought together." Damon whispered, "Brought together?" His father's holographic image looked directly toward them. "There is something you both need to know." The recording flickered. "Your blood is connected." Damon looked at Zane. Zane's eyes widened. The recording continued. "You are brothers." Silence. Damon's face went blank. Zane stared at him. "Brothers?" Their father's recording continued. "Biological brothers." Damon took a step backward. "But..." He looked at Zane. "I would've remembered having a brother." The recording continued. "You were separated when you were very young." Zane stared at the hologram. "Why?" His father's expression became serious. "Because your bloodline was being hunted." Damon's heart began pounding. "The two of you carry a genetic sequence that certain people have spent years trying to control." The hologram flickered. "Your mother was forced to take Damon away." Damon stared at his mother in his memory. His father continued. "Zane was hidden with another family." Zane's expression changed. "My family..." The recording continued. "They protected you." Damon stepped closer to the hologram. "Why didn't you tell us?" His father's face became sad. "Because telling you would have put you both in danger." The recording suddenly distorted. "I tried to destroy the program." Damon's eyes widened. "What program?" His father's voice became quieter. "The Bloodline Program." The hologram flickered again. "It was created to preserve certain genetic traits across generations." Damon looked at Zane. "So that's why they were testing our blood." Zane nodded slowly. The recording continued. "I tried to destroy the program." The screen flashed. "But they wouldn't let me." Damon stepped toward the hologram. "Who?" The recording distorted. The image disappeared. One final message appeared. TRUST NO ONE. The laboratory lights turned red. An alarm began screaming. Zane grabbed Damon. "We have to go." Damon didn't move. "My father knew you." Zane shook his head. "He was my father too." Damon looked at him. "What?" Zane's eyes filled with confusion. "The recording said we were brothers." Damon stared at him. For seventeen years, he had believed he was an only child. Now he had a brother. A brother who had been living somewhere else all this time. Before either boy could say anything else, the laboratory door suddenly slammed shut. They both turned. The security system activated. LOCKDOWN INITIATED. Damon looked at Zane. "Someone knows we're here." Zane nodded. "We need to leave." They ran toward the back of the laboratory. Zane pushed against the wall. Nothing happened. "There's no door." "There is." "How do you know?" "I've seen it before." Damon stared at him. "In your dreams?" Zane nodded. Zane pressed his hand against a hidden panel. The wall opened. They slipped inside. The door closed behind them just as the laboratory entrance was forced open. Damon heard voices. "Find them!" "They can't have gone far!" "Check every room!" Damon and Zane ran through a narrow tunnel. Behind them, footsteps echoed. Damon looked at Zane. "How do you know this place?" "I told you. Dreams." "You've dreamed about this entire building?" "Not the building." "Then what?" Zane stopped. Damon almost crashed into him. Zane looked down at his hands. "The house." Damon frowned. "What house?" "The house from the photograph." Damon went silent. "The house you showed me." "Yes." Zane looked at him. "I've been dreaming about that house since I was a child." Damon slowly understood. "My father owned that house." Zane nodded. "Then maybe that's where we were separated." Damon stared at him. "We were brothers." "We are brothers." Damon looked away. He didn't know how to react. All his life, he had been told that he was an only child. Now he was standing beside the brother he had never known existed. They reached a metal door. Zane opened it. They emerged into an abandoned underground train station. Damon looked around. "What is this?" "Old Nova Haven." The station had been closed for decades. A train sat on the tracks. Its lights suddenly turned on. Damon stared. "That train shouldn't work." Zane walked toward it. "Apparently it does." They stepped onto the train. The doors closed. The train began moving. Damon sat down. For several minutes, neither spoke. Finally, Damon asked, "Do you remember our parents?" Zane looked out the window. "I remember my mother." Damon nodded. "What was she like?" "Kind." Zane paused. "She always told me I had an older brother." Damon looked at him. "You knew about me?" "Not really." "What did she say?" "That my brother was taken away to protect him." Damon stared at the floor. "I was told I was an only child." Zane looked at him. "Then they lied to both of us." The train suddenly stopped. Both boys looked forward. A message appeared on the window. DESTINATION: RIVERS ESTATE. Damon stood. "That's my family's old house." Zane looked at him. "The house from my dreams." The doors opened. Cold air entered the train. They stepped outside. Before them stood an enormous abandoned mansion. The same house from the photograph. The same house from Zane's dreams. Damon looked at the front door. He suddenly remembered something. A childhood memory. He had been very young. His father had been standing beside him. A woman was holding a baby. Damon had always assumed the baby belonged to someone else. But now the memory became clearer. The baby had the same dark eyes as him. The same small mark beneath the left eye. The same family bracelet. Damon looked at Zane. "You were there." Zane stared at him. "What?" Damon pointed toward the mansion. "I remember you." Zane's face changed. "I remember you too." For a moment, they simply stood there. Two brothers who had spent years believing they were strangers. Separated by a secret their parents had died trying to protect. Damon whispered, "We were supposed to grow up together." Zane nodded. "But someone stopped that." The front door slowly opened by itself. Neither boy moved. Then a voice came from inside. A woman's voice. Soft. Familiar. "Damon." He froze. Zane looked at him. "You know that voice?" Damon nodded slowly. "It's my mother." The voice came again. "Bring Zane inside." Damon stared at the dark doorway. His mother knew Zane's name. She knew they were together. And suddenly, Damon understood something. His mother hadn't been surprised when the mysterious device activated that morning. She had been afraid. Because she already knew. Damon looked at Zane. "We're not supposed to be here." Zane nodded. "Then why did she tell us to come inside?" Damon took a breath. "I don't know." They stepped toward the mansion. Behind them, hidden cameras activated across the abandoned estate. A monitor deep underground showed their faces. The same scientist from the beginning stood before the screen. The man beside her watched silently. The scientist smiled. "They found the house." The man asked, "Should we bring them in?" She shook her head. "No." "Why?" "Because the Bloodline Program isn't about them finding the truth." She looked at the screen. "It's about what happens when they remember it." The monitor flickered. A file opened. PROJECT BLOODLINE SUBJECT 01 — DAMON CARTER SUBJECT 02 — ZANE CARTER RELATIONSHIP: BIOLOGICAL BROTHERS GENETIC MATCH: 99.98% Then another file appeared. MATERNAL CONNECTION: CLASSIFIED The scientist's smile disappeared. "Let's see what their blood remembers." Inside the mansion, Damon and Zane stood in the hallway. The door slammed shut behind them. Damon turned. "Did you hear that?" Zane nodded. Then the lights came on. At the end of the hallway stood Damon's mother. But she wasn't alone. An elderly man stood beside her. Damon stared at him. He knew that face. It was the face from his father's old photographs. His grandfather. The old man smiled. "Welcome home, Damon." Then he looked at Zane. "And welcome back." Damon's blood ran cold. "Back?" The old man nodded. "You were both here before." Damon looked at Zane. Zane looked equally shocked. The old man continued. "You were too young to remember." Damon stepped forward. "What happened here?" The old man didn't answer immediately. Instead, he looked at both boys. "Seventeen years ago, two families made a decision that changed everything." He paused. "You were born into the same bloodline." Damon swallowed. "But you were separated." Zane asked, "Why?" The old man's expression became serious. "Because if you ever discovered the truth about your blood..." The lights suddenly flickered. "...they would come for you." A loud crash came from outside. Everyone turned toward the windows. The old man's face changed. "They're here." Damon's mother grabbed his arm. "Run." Damon looked at her. "Mom, what is happening?" She looked into his eyes. "I'm sorry." "For what?" Her eyes filled with tears. "For keeping the truth from you." Outside, several black vehicles stopped in front of the mansion. Their doors opened. People dressed in dark uniforms stepped out. Damon looked at Zane. Zane looked back. Neither boy knew exactly what was happening. But they finally understood one thing. They were brothers. Biological brothers. Separated for seventeen years because of a secret hidden inside their blood. And somewhere in the world, someone had spent all those years making sure they never discovered the truth. Now the secret was out. And the hunt had begun.