WHEN THE DEAD COME KNOCKING

chapter 17

WHEN THE DEAD COME KNOCKING

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN — THE HOUSE OF TOMORROW

Mara and Samuel ran through the underground passage.

Behind them, the fifth house was collapsing.

Stone fell from the ceiling.

Dust filled the air.

The sound of thousands of voices followed them.

Names.

Whispers.

Prayers.

Warnings.

And beneath all of it was the sound that had haunted Mara from the beginning.

Knock.

Knock.

Knock.

Samuel pulled her around a corner.

"Faster!"

Mara stumbled after him.

"Where are we going?"

"Door Six."

"What's inside?"

"I don't know."

"You've been here before."

"Not this far."

They reached the sixth door.

Unlike the others, it was made of glass.

Beyond it was darkness.

Mara could see nothing.

Samuel stopped.

"We have to be careful."

"Why?"

"This is the House of Tomorrow."

Mara frowned.

"You said Door Seven showed the future."

"It does."

"Then what's Six?"

Samuel stared through the glass.

"Possibilities."

Mara didn't understand.

"What's the difference?"

"Door Six shows you what could happen if you make certain choices."

"And Door Seven?"

"What will happen if you don't."

Mara looked at the glass door.

"That sounds worse."

"It is."

The door opened by itself.

A voice whispered:

"Enter."

Mara stepped forward.

Samuel grabbed her wrist.

"Whatever you see, don't touch anything."

"Why?"

"Because if you touch your future, you might bring it back with you."

Mara stared at him.

"That makes no sense."

"Neither does this place."

They entered.

The door disappeared.

Mara looked around.

They were standing in a city.

But it wasn't the city she knew.

Buildings stretched into the sky.

Vehicles moved silently along elevated roads.

Huge screens covered the walls.

People walked through the streets without speaking.

And everywhere Mara looked, she saw the same symbol.

A black circle with twelve lines.

The symbol of the houses.

"What happened here?"

Samuel looked around.

"This is one future."

"Whose?"

"Yours."

Mara froze.

"My future?"

Samuel nodded.

A large screen above them suddenly turned on.

Mara saw herself.

Older.

Maybe thirty.

She was standing in front of thousands of people.

Behind her was Blackwood Manor.

But the house was no longer abandoned.

It had become something enormous.

A tower.

Twelve stories.

Each floor had a black door.

Mara watched herself speak to the crowd.

"We don't fear the dead anymore."

The crowd cheered.

Mara looked horrified.

"What is this?"

Samuel shook his head.

"Keep walking."

They continued.

Another screen showed Mara standing inside a laboratory.

Scientists surrounded her.

Machines displayed thousands of names.

One scientist said:

"Subject Mara has successfully stabilized the memory transfer."

Mara watched herself smile.

"We can bring anyone back now."

Her future self looked happy.

Too happy.

Mara turned away.

"I don't want this."

Samuel nodded.

"Then don't choose it."

They entered another room.

This one showed a different future.

Mara was standing beside Luca.

He was alive.

Older.

They were laughing together.

A small house stood behind them.

Mara's heart tightened.

"He's alive."

Samuel didn't answer.

Mara stepped closer.

Luca looked directly at her.

"Mara."

She touched the glass.

"Is this real?"

"No."

"But it could happen."

"Yes."

Mara looked at him.

"Then maybe I should choose it."

Samuel shook his head.

"You don't know what it costs."

"What if the cost is worth it?"

The future Luca stepped closer.

"You can stay."

Mara stared.

"You know I'm here?"

He smiled.

"I know everything."

Mara looked at Samuel.

"He's not real."

"No."

"But he knows me."

"That's what the house does."

The future Luca pressed his hand against the glass.

"Come with me."

Mara nearly reached for him.

Then she noticed something.

Luca was wearing a black ring.

She had never seen it before.

"What is that?"

He looked at his hand.

"The promise you made."

"What promise?"

"That you would never let me die again."

Mara's face changed.

"I never made that promise."

Future Luca smiled.

"You will."

The room shattered.

Mara fell backward.

Samuel caught her.

"Don't listen."

Mara breathed heavily.

"What happens if I choose that future?"

"You save Luca."

"Then what's wrong?"

"You lose everyone else."

Mara stared at him.

"How?"

"Because every person brought back requires a memory."

Mara remembered the Keeper.

"Someone has to pay."

Samuel nodded.

"And you would pay."

Mara looked at the city around them.

"How?"

"Piece by piece."

"What would I lose?"

"First your childhood."

Mara swallowed.

"Then?"

"Your family."

"And then?"

"Your name."

Mara went silent.

The city disappeared.

They were suddenly standing in a white room.

A woman sat behind a desk.

Mara recognized her.

The Keeper.

But she looked much younger.

She was writing in a book.

Across from her sat a young man.

Abel.

Mara watched them.

The Keeper said:

"You can't keep doing this."

Abel answered:

"Why not?"

"Every memory you take creates another copy."

"Copies are enough."

"They're not people."

"Neither are memories."

The Keeper closed the book.

"You promised me my daughter."

"I gave you a version of her."

"I wanted her."

"You wanted death reversed."

"I wanted my child."

Abel leaned closer.

"Then stop asking me for miracles."

Mara stared.

"The Keeper had a daughter."

Samuel nodded.

"And Abel took her."

"Why?"

"Because she was the first person to resist."

Mara looked at the Keeper.

"What happened to her?"

The scene changed.

A little girl stood in front of Door Twelve.

She looked frightened.

The Keeper stood behind her.

"What's your name?"

The child answered:

"Mara."

Mara's heart stopped.

She looked at Samuel.

"That's me."

"No."

"But she looks like me."

"She looks like everyone."

The child turned toward the camera.

Her eyes were black.

Mara stepped backward.

"What is she?"

Samuel whispered:

"The first vessel."

Mara stared.

"The first vessel for Abel."

The scene vanished.

They were back in the city.

But something had changed.

The streets were empty.

The buildings were dark.

A bell rang.

Once.

Then twice.

Samuel looked frightened.

"He's here."

"Abel?"

"Yes."

Mara looked behind them.

At the end of the street stood Abel.

He wasn't walking.

He was simply there.

Watching.

Mara grabbed Samuel's hand.

"Run."

They ran.

Abel followed.

Slowly.

Never hurrying.

Yet somehow getting closer.

Mara turned into an alley.

Samuel followed.

They reached a metal door.

A number was painted on it.

7.

Mara stopped.

"This is Door Seven."

Samuel nodded.

"We can't open it."

"Why?"

"Because it shows the future we can't escape."

Abel's voice came from behind them.

"You can escape."

Mara turned.

He stood at the end of the alley.

"All you have to do is accept it."

Mara looked at the door.

"What future?"

Abel smiled.

"The one where everyone you love survives."

Mara stared.

"You said there was a price."

"Of course."

"What?"

"Only you."

Mara felt cold.

Abel stepped closer.

"You don't need to die."

Mara stared at him.

"You keep saying that."

"You misunderstand."

He smiled.

"You can live forever."

"How?"

"Give me your memories."

Mara shook her head.

"And become what?"

"Free."

"Free from what?"

"Pain."

Mara laughed bitterly.

"Pain is part of being alive."

Abel's smile disappeared.

"That's why humans are so weak."

Samuel stepped in front of Mara.

"Don't listen to him."

Abel looked at Samuel.

"You."

Samuel froze.

"I remember you."

Mara looked between them.

"How?"

Abel smiled.

"You were my first successful copy."

Samuel's face went pale.

"What?"

"You don't remember?"

"No."

"I erased it."

Mara looked at Samuel.

"What does he mean?"

Samuel shook his head.

"I don't know."

Abel continued.

"Samuel was created to test whether a memory could survive without a body."

Mara stared.

"And?"

"He survived."

"Then why did he disappear?"

"Because he refused to obey."

Samuel looked at Abel.

"You killed me."

"No."

Abel shook his head.

"I preserved you."

Samuel's eyes filled with anger.

"You trapped me."

"I saved you."

"You stole my life."

"I gave you another."

Mara stepped forward.

"Enough."

Abel looked at her.

"You don't understand what you're protecting."

"I don't care."

"You should."

"Why?"

"Because if you close the doors, every memory inside will disappear."

Mara froze.

"That's not what the Keeper said."

"The Keeper lies."

"Why?"

"Because she wants her daughter back."

Mara stared.

"Who is her daughter?"

Abel smiled.

"You."

Silence.

Mara's heart pounded.

"No."

"You were created from her daughter's memory."

Mara shook her head.

"You're lying."

"Ask your mother."

Mara remembered Elena.

Her face.

Her secrets.

The stolen name.

The original Mara.

The missing memories.

Abel stepped closer.

"Open Door Seven."

Mara looked at the black door.

"See the truth."

She reached for the handle.

Samuel grabbed her.

"Mara, don't."

"I need to know."

"The future isn't fixed."

"Exactly."

She opened the door.

A blinding light swallowed them.

Mara found herself standing in a hospital.

Machines beeped.

Doctors rushed through corridors.

Someone was crying.

She looked down.

She was lying in a hospital bed.

Older.

Much older.

Her hair was gray.

Her eyes were tired.

She was holding someone's hand.

Luca.

He looked old too.

But alive.

Mara approached them.

Her future self looked at Luca.

"I kept my promise."

Luca smiled.

"You did."

Mara's future self whispered:

"But I can't remember why."

Luca's smile disappeared.

"What?"

"I know I love you."

She touched his face.

"But I can't remember when we met."

Mara watched in horror.

Her future self looked around the room.

"Who is my mother?"

Luca couldn't answer.

"Who is Samuel?"

He remained silent.

"Who am I?"

Luca began crying.

Mara understood.

She had saved everyone.

But she had lost herself.

The scene changed.

Mara stood in a cemetery.

Thousands of names were carved into stone.

She recognized them all.

Luca.

Samuel.

Clara.

Elena.

Her father.

Her grandmother.

And finally:

MARA VALE.

Her future self stood before her own grave.

She touched the stone.

"I remember nothing."

Then Abel appeared behind her.

He whispered:

"That's freedom."

Mara turned away.

"No."

The future shattered.

She returned to the doorway.

Samuel was beside her.

Mara closed the door.

Abel was gone.

The symbol for Door Seven had cracked.

Mara looked at Samuel.

"I understand now."

"What?"

"The houses don't want me to choose between life and death."

Samuel waited.

"They want me to choose between remembering and forgetting."

He nodded.

Mara looked toward Door Eight.

"And I know what I'm choosing."

Samuel smiled.

"Then we keep going."

They walked toward the next door.

But before they reached it, Mara stopped.

Something was written across the stone.

DOOR EIGHT — THE HOUSE OF TRUTH.

Underneath it were six words.

EVERY TRUTH TAKES SOMETHING WITH IT.

Mara stared at the warning.

Then she heard a voice.

Elena's voice.

"Mara."

She turned.

Her mother stood at the end of the passage.

For the first time, Elena looked completely terrified.

"Mom?"

Elena shook her head.

"You cannot open Door Eight."

"Why?"

"Because once you know the truth..."

She looked toward the door.

"...you can never become the person you were before."

Mara walked toward her.

"Maybe that's the point."

Elena's eyes filled with tears.

"I lied to you."

"I know."

"I hurt you."

"I know."

"There are things you don't remember."

"Then tell me."

Elena looked at Door Eight.

"I can't."

"Why?"

"Because the house is listening."

Mara looked at the door.

"Let it listen."

Elena whispered:

"Your name wasn't Mara."

Mara froze.

The underground passage became completely silent.

"What?"

Elena stepped backward.

"Your name was something else."

"What?"

Elena opened her mouth.

But before she could answer, Door Eight opened by itself.

A voice came from the darkness.

"Her name was mine."

Mara turned.

And the woman standing inside Door Eight looked exactly like her.

But this time, Mara knew who she was.

The original.

The woman who had been waiting behind Door Twelve.

She smiled.

And said:

"Come and take back your name."

END OF CHAPTER SEVENTEEN