CHAPTER 10 — THE VOICE INSIDE THE HOUSE
The phone remained pressed against Alessandro's ear.
Nobody moved.
Nobody breathed.
The entire house seemed to have stopped existing.
Only that voice remained.
Soft.
Calm.
Almost affectionate.
“You've been looking for me.”
Alessandro's eyes moved slowly across the room.
Clara.
Daniel.
Amelia.
Elena.
Olivia.
Vittorio.
Rosalie.
The children.
Everyone was there.
Or at least—
everyone they could see.
Alessandro tightened his grip on the phone.
“Where are you?”
A quiet laugh answered.
“Turn around.”
He did.
Nothing.
The hallway was empty.
Then the voice whispered:
“Not there.”
Alessandro turned toward the staircase.
Still nothing.
“Who are you?”
“You already know.”
“Tell me.”
“I am the person you've trusted the most.”
Clara's face went pale.
The call ended.
For several seconds, Alessandro simply stood there.
Then Olivia whispered:
“Dad…”
He looked at her.
“The call didn't come from outside.”
“What?”
“It came from inside the house.”
Everyone froze.
“How?”
Olivia held up her laptop.
“The signal originated from our internal network.”
Alessandro's eyes narrowed.
“Which device?”
Olivia typed rapidly.
Then stopped.
Her face changed.
“What?”
She looked up.
“The signal came from the nursery.”
Alessandro ran.
THE EMPTY NURSERY
The nursery door was open.
The lights were off.
Livia's toys were scattered across the carpet.
Her small night-light was still glowing.
But something was wrong.
Alessandro noticed the crib.
It had been moved.
He walked toward it.
“Why is this here?”
Clara entered behind him.
“What happened?”
Alessandro pointed.
“There.”
A dark line ran across the floor.
Someone had dragged the crib away from the wall.
Olivia crouched beside it.
“There is something underneath.”
She pulled up the carpet.
A small metal hatch appeared.
Alessandro stared.
“Another hidden room.”
Daniel immediately shook his head.
“No.”
Everyone looked at him.
“What?”
“This isn't a room.”
“What is it?”
Daniel stared at the hatch.
“A passage.”
“To where?”
He looked frightened.
“The original house.”
Alessandro frowned.
“This is the original house.”
“No.”
Daniel shook his head.
“The house was built over it.”
THE PASSAGE
They opened the hatch.
Cold air rose from below.
A narrow staircase disappeared into darkness.
Alessandro looked at Reed.
“Secure the children.”
Reed nodded.
Clara immediately protested.
“No.”
Alessandro looked at her.
“You stay here.”
“I'm coming.”
“This could be dangerous.”
“She took my children once.”
Clara's voice was firm.
“She won't take me away from them again.”
Alessandro didn't argue.
Daniel stepped forward.
“I'm coming too.”
Amelia followed.
“Me too.”
Olivia looked at her father.
“I'm staying.”
“Good.”
“If the signal changes, I'll track it.”
Alessandro nodded.
“Don't lose us.”
“I won't.”
The four of them descended.
The hatch closed behind them.
THE ORIGINAL HOUSE
The passage ended beneath an old stone foundation.
Daniel touched the wall.
“This is it.”
Alessandro looked around.
“What's here?”
“Everything.”
The corridor was lined with old photographs.
Moretti family portraits.
Medical documents.
Birth certificates.
Marriage records.
But something was strange.
Every photograph had been altered.
Faces had been scratched out.
Names had been removed.
Dates had been changed.
Clara stopped.
She found a photograph of Eleanor.
Beside her stood a young woman.
Isabella.
The woman Olivia had discovered.
Clara touched the picture.
“Why did they erase her?”
Daniel answered:
“Because she was the first.”
“The first what?”
“The first person to survive the transfer.”
Alessandro looked at him.
“Eleanor wasn't first?”
“No.”
“Isabella was.”
Clara's eyes widened.
“Then Eleanor learned from her.”
Daniel nodded.
“She wasn't the creator.”
“Then who was?”
Daniel looked at the photograph.
“Isabella.”
THE FIRST TRANSFER
They found an old projector.
Daniel activated it.
A film began playing.
A young Isabella sat in a laboratory.
She looked exhausted.
Beside her was a machine.
A young Eleanor stood nearby.
The recording began.
Isabella spoke:
“If memory can survive the body, death becomes irrelevant.”
Eleanor asked:
“And if it fails?”
“Then we learn.”
“What about the children?”
Isabella looked at her.
“The children are the next generation.”
Alessandro clenched his fists.
The film continued.
“We need a stable genetic host.”
Eleanor asked:
“Who?”
Isabella smiled.
“My son.”
Clara's face went white.
“Zero.”
Daniel shook his head.
“No.”
“What?”
“He wasn't Isabella's son.”
“Then whose?”
Daniel pointed toward the screen.
“Look.”
The recording changed.
A newborn was placed beside Isabella.
The baby was crying.
Then another woman entered.
Clara.
Young.
Pregnant.
Clara gasped.
“That was me.”
Alessandro stared.
“You were there.”
“I don't remember.”
The recording continued.
Isabella approached Clara.
“Your child is perfect.”
Clara heard her younger self say:
“You promised you wouldn't hurt him.”
Isabella smiled.
“I won't.”
The screen went black.
Then another message appeared.
SUBJECT ZERO: BIOLOGICAL CHILD OF CLARA AND ALESSANDRO
Alessandro stopped breathing.
“What?”
Clara turned toward him.
“That means…”
Daniel finished:
“I'm your son.”
Alessandro stared at him.
“But you were taken from us.”
“Yes.”
“And Zero?”
Daniel shook his head.
“No.”
He pointed toward the screen.
“Zero is him.”
Everyone turned.
A tiny photograph appeared.
The six-year-old boy.
Clara's eyes filled with tears.
“My baby…”
THE WRONG BROTHER
Alessandro stared at Daniel.
“If Daniel is our son…”
“Then who is Zero?”
Daniel's expression hardened.
“That's the question.”
A voice answered behind them.
“I can tell you.”
Everyone turned.
Vittorio stood in the doorway.
Alessandro froze.
“Dad?”
Vittorio looked exhausted.
“You shouldn't have come here.”
Alessandro stepped forward.
“You knew.”
“Yes.”
“You knew Daniel was our son.”
“Yes.”
“And you knew Zero wasn't?”
“Yes.”
Clara stared at him.
“Then who is that child?”
Vittorio's eyes filled with tears.
“Isabella's son.”
Clara shook her head.
“Then why did he call me Mom?”
“Because they taught him to.”
“Why?”
“To control you.”
Daniel looked at Vittorio.
“And me?”
“You were the real target.”
Alessandro frowned.
“Why?”
“Because you were the first successful child.”
Daniel shook his head.
“I was never part of the experiment.”
Vittorio looked at him.
“You were the experiment.”
Daniel's face changed.
“What?”
Vittorio continued:
“They modified your memory.”
“But I remember.”
“Not everything.”
Daniel stepped backward.
“What did they erase?”
Vittorio whispered:
“Your identity.”
DANIEL'S TRUE IDENTITY
The corridor seemed to shrink.
Daniel stared at Vittorio.
“My identity?”
“Yes.”
“Who am I?”
Vittorio didn't answer.
Alessandro stepped forward.
“Tell him.”
Vittorio closed his eyes.
“Daniel isn't Daniel.”
Clara shook her head.
“No.”
Vittorio continued.
“The boy you knew as Daniel was given another child's identity.”
“Whose?”
“Your brother's.”
Daniel looked at Alessandro.
“I don't understand.”
“You were born first.”
Alessandro stared.
“What?”
“You were the first child.”
Daniel looked at Clara.
“Then…”
“You weren't taken because you were dangerous.”
Vittorio swallowed.
“You were taken because you were valuable.”
Daniel's hands began shaking.
“Who was I?”
Vittorio whispered:
“Your name was Adrian.”
Silence.
Alessandro stepped backward.
“Adrian?”
“Yes.”
“That was my brother's name.”
“No.”
Vittorio looked at him.
“That was your son's name.”
Alessandro's face went white.
The family had spent twenty-three years believing Daniel was Daniel.
But Daniel had been given another identity.
His real name was Adrian.
And someone had spent years ensuring he never remembered.
THE SECOND VOICE
The lights flickered.
Then the speaker came alive.
A woman's voice.
“Very good.”
Everyone froze.
Eleanor.
She laughed softly.
“You finally figured it out.”
Alessandro shouted:
“Where are you?”
“Closer.”
“Show yourself.”
“You still don't understand.”
“What?”
“You think you're solving a mystery.”
Her voice became colder.
“You're following instructions.”
Daniel stepped toward the speaker.
“Why?”
“Because I wanted you to.”
“Why?”
“Because I need all of you together.”
Clara looked around.
“Why?”
The woman answered:
“For the final transfer.”
Vittorio's face changed.
“No.”
Eleanor laughed.
“You knew this day would come.”
“What are you planning?”
“I'm going home.”
“To whose body?”
Silence.
Then Eleanor said:
“Clara's.”
Clara froze.
Alessandro immediately moved in front of her.
“No.”
Eleanor laughed.
“You still think you can protect her.”
THE TRUTH ABOUT CLARA
Daniel suddenly grabbed his head.
“Wait.”
Everyone looked at him.
“What?”
He closed his eyes.
“I remember.”
“What?”
“The laboratory.”
He began breathing heavily.
“I remember the transfer.”
Alessandro held his shoulders.
“What happened?”
“Eleanor wasn't transferring into Clara.”
Daniel opened his eyes.
“She was transferring into me.”
Clara stared.
“What?”
“She wanted your memories.”
“Why?”
“Because you were the only person who could remember the original process.”
Alessandro frowned.
“But why me?”
Daniel shook his head.
“Not you.”
He looked at Clara.
“You.”
Clara's face went pale.
“She wanted to become me.”
THE WOMAN IN THE MIRROR
A door opened at the end of the corridor.
Inside was a small room.
A mirror covered one wall.
Clara entered.
The mirror suddenly turned black.
Then a face appeared.
Eleanor.
But this time—
it wasn't a recording.
She was speaking live.
“Hello, Clara.”
Clara stepped forward.
“Why me?”
“Because you survived.”
“Survived what?”
“The first transfer.”
Clara stared.
“I never transferred.”
Eleanor smiled.
“You don't remember.”
Clara touched the mirror.
“What did you do to me?”
“Nothing.”
“Then why can't I remember?”
“Because you aren't carrying your original memories.”
Alessandro stepped forward.
“What did you do?”
Eleanor answered:
“I moved them.”
“Where?”
She smiled.
“Into your son.”
Daniel froze.
“No.”
“Yes.”
Eleanor looked directly at him.
“You have spent your entire life believing you were damaged.”
Daniel whispered:
“I was.”
“No.”
She smiled.
“You were carrying your mother's memories.”
Clara's eyes filled with tears.
“My memories?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because you were dying.”
Alessandro turned toward Clara.
“What?”
Eleanor continued:
“Your body couldn't survive the transfer.”
“So they used Daniel.”
“Yes.”
Clara stared at Daniel.
All those years.
All those memories.
All those strange dreams.
They hadn't been fragments.
They had belonged to her.
Daniel had been carrying his mother's memories.
And that was why the Circle had never been able to erase her completely.
THE FINAL CHOICE
Eleanor spoke again.
“Now you understand.”
“What do you want?”
“I want my memories back.”
Clara shook her head.
“No.”
“You can't stop me.”
“Yes, I can.”
Eleanor laughed.
“You think love will save you?”
Clara looked at Daniel.
“No.”
She took his hand.
“Truth will.”
Olivia's voice suddenly came through the intercom.
“Dad!”
Alessandro turned.
“What?”
“I found the original transfer protocol.”
“Can you reverse it?”
A pause.
“Yes.”
Everyone froze.
“But there's a problem.”
“What?”
“It requires a living donor.”
Alessandro looked at Daniel.
“No.”
Daniel stepped forward.
“I'll do it.”
Clara shook her head.
“Absolutely not.”
“Mom.”
“No.”
“I've spent twenty-three years carrying your memories.”
“And?”
“I can finally give them back.”
“But you could die.”
Daniel smiled faintly.
“I've been waiting my entire life to know who I am.”
He looked at Clara.
“If giving you back your memories means I finally become myself…”
He squeezed her hand.
“…then I'm not afraid.”
Clara began crying.
Alessandro stepped forward.
“We'll find another way.”
Daniel shook his head.
“No.”
Then the entire building shook.
A massive alarm began screaming.
Olivia's voice came through.
“Dad!”
“What?”
“The transfer chamber has activated.”
Alessandro looked toward the corridor.
At the end—
a door opened.
Bright white light poured out.
Eleanor's voice echoed through the speakers.
“Bring them to me.”
Daniel looked at Clara.
“It's time.”
Clara shook her head.
“No.”
Daniel smiled.
“Mom.”
He hugged her.
“For the first time…”
He whispered:
“…I remember everything.”
The lights exploded.
And when Alessandro opened his eyes—
Daniel was gone.
May you like
Only Clara's voice remained.
Screaming his name.
