CHAPTER 13 — THE WOMAN WHO NEVER DIED
The emergency lights flashed red along the underground corridor.
Raina could barely hear anything over the alarms.
Damon was carrying Emma.
Clara was running beside them.
Orson's security team was moving in from the opposite direction.
And somewhere behind the steel doors, Victor Black was screaming orders.
“Seal the east corridor!”
“Find Raina!”
“Don't let them reach the surface!”
Raina kept moving.
But one thought consumed her.
The voice from the intercom.
Her mother's voice.
The lullaby.
She had heard it when she was a child.
She had heard it in her dreams.
And now, after twenty-seven years, she had heard it again.
“Mom,” Raina whispered.
Clara grabbed her hand.
“Keep moving.”
“But she's alive.”
“I know.”
“You heard her.”
“Yes.”
“Then why are we running?”
“Because Victor is still alive.”
Raina stopped.
“What?”
Clara turned.
“If we stay, he'll use you to find her.”
Raina looked toward the corridor behind them.
“Then we have to find her first.”
Damon suddenly pointed toward a side door.
“There.”
“What?”
“That's the control room.”
They entered.
The room was filled with monitors.
Dozens of screens showed different parts of the facility.
Raina stared at them.
Then she saw one screen.
A woman sitting alone in a small room.
Gray hair.
Thin face.
A scar above her left eyebrow.
Raina stopped breathing.
“That's her.”
Damon looked at the screen.
“Who?”
“My mother.”
Clara stepped closer.
“Where?”
Damon read the label.
“Sublevel seven.”
Raina turned.
“Take me there.”
Damon shook his head.
“That's where Victor keeps the prisoners he doesn't want found.”
“Then that's where she is.”
Damon stared at Raina.
“You don't understand what Victor will do.”
“I understand.”
Raina's voice became firm.
“He already took twenty-seven years from me.”
She looked at the screen.
“He isn't taking another minute.”
Sublevel seven was almost completely dark.
Damon used an access card.
The door opened.
A long corridor stretched ahead.
Raina's heart pounded with every step.
She could hear the faint hum of machinery.
Then—
the lullaby.
Raina stopped.
Her eyes filled with tears.
“Mom?”
The singing stopped.
A woman's voice came from behind the final door.
“Raina?”
Raina covered her mouth.
It was her.
Exactly as she remembered.
Even though she had no conscious memory of her face, she knew the voice.
She ran.
Damon unlocked the door.
It opened.
The woman inside stood slowly.
For several seconds, she and Raina stared at each other.
Neither spoke.
Then Raina whispered,
“Mom?”
The woman's face collapsed.
She crossed the room.
Raina didn't move.
The woman reached her.
Her hands trembled as she touched Raina's face.
“My baby.”
Raina burst into tears.
She fell into her mother's arms.
Sofia held her tightly.
“I've waited twenty-seven years.”
Raina sobbed.
“You're alive.”
“Yes.”
“Why didn't you come for me?”
“I tried.”
“When?”
“Every year.”
“Then why didn't you find me?”
“Because Victor had people everywhere.”
Raina pulled back.
“You knew where I was?”
“Yes.”
“You watched me?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because every time I tried to reach you, someone disappeared.”
Raina stared.
“Who?”
“People who helped me.”
Sofia wiped Raina's tears.
“I couldn't risk you.”
Raina looked at her stomach.
“I have a baby.”
Sofia placed a trembling hand over Raina's belly.
A tiny kick answered.
Sofia began crying.
“My grandchild.”
Raina smiled through tears.
“It's a girl.”
Sofia looked at her.
“You know?”
“No.”
Raina laughed softly.
“I just feel it.”
Clara stepped into the room.
Sofia looked at her.
“You're Clara.”
Clara nodded.
“I am.”
Sofia hugged her.
Clara stiffened at first.
Then slowly returned the embrace.
“You were never supposed to carry this burden,” Sofia whispered.
Clara pulled away.
“What am I?”
Sofia looked at her.
“You were created from Raina's genetic material.”
Clara's eyes filled with tears.
“So I'm not real?”
Sofia immediately shook her head.
“No.”
“But I wasn't naturally born.”
“You were born.”
“But I was designed.”
“That doesn't make you less human.”
Clara looked down.
Sofia touched her cheek.
“You were a child before anyone made you a weapon.”
Clara began to cry.
Raina reached for her hand.
“You're my sister.”
Clara looked at her.
“Even if we're not related by blood?”
Raina squeezed her fingers.
“Family isn't only blood.”
For a moment, everything was quiet.
Then the lights came back on.
Damon looked toward the corridor.
“We have to move.”
Sofia's expression changed.
“Victor.”
Damon nodded.
“He knows you're here.”
Sofia's face hardened.
“Then it's time.”
“Time for what?”
Sofia walked toward a metal cabinet.
She opened it.
Inside were dozens of files.
Photographs.
Recordings.
Financial documents.
And one thick black binder.
Raina stared.
“What is that?”
“The evidence.”
“Against Victor?”
“Against everyone.”
Sofia handed it to her.
“This contains the original Project Eden records.”
Raina opened it.
She saw names.
Dates.
Payments.
Doctors.
Judges.
Bankers.
Politicians.
Security contractors.
Then she saw one name.
ORSON MORRISON.
Raina froze.
“No.”
Sofia looked at her.
“He helped me.”
Raina stared.
“But his name is here.”
“Yes.”
“What did he do?”
Sofia's eyes filled with sadness.
“He made one terrible choice.”
“What choice?”
“He gave Victor my location.”
Raina's heart broke.
“But you survived.”
“Because your father changed his mind.”
“When?”
“The night I was supposed to die.”
Sofia opened another file.
Inside was a photograph of Orson.
Young.
Standing beside Elena.
And Victor.
Raina stared.
“What happened?”
Sofia whispered,
“Your father was working with Victor.”
Raina's eyes widened.
“He was?”
“For a short time.”
“Why?”
“To save Clara.”
Sofia paused.
“Victor threatened to kill her.”
Raina looked at Clara.
“So Dad betrayed Mom.”
“He believed he was sacrificing one life to save another.”
“Did it work?”
“No.”
“Why?”
“Because Elena escaped.”
Sofia turned another page.
There was a photograph of Orson holding a newborn.
Raina.
“I thought my father rescued me.”
“He did.”
“After betraying my mother.”
“Yes.”
Raina closed her eyes.
It was the truth she had been searching for.
Her father had not been innocent.
But he had not been the monster either.
He had made a terrible choice.
Then spent twenty-seven years trying to undo it.
Suddenly, the door behind them slammed shut.
Victor's voice came through the speaker.
“Enough.”
Raina turned.
Victor appeared on a monitor.
He was smiling.
“You finally found her.”
Raina stepped toward the screen.
“You're finished.”
Victor laughed.
“No.”
He looked at her stomach.
“I'm just beginning.”
Sofia stepped forward.
“You've lost.”
Victor's smile faded.
“Not yet.”
He pressed a button.
A monitor displayed a countdown.
00:09:47
Raina stared.
“What is that?”
Victor smiled.
“The facility's containment protocol.”
Damon's face went pale.
“What did you do?”
Victor answered,
“If I can't have the child…”
He paused.
“…no one will.”
The countdown continued.
00:09:31
Raina looked at Damon.
“Can you stop it?”
Damon shook his head.
“Not from here.”
Clara looked at the control panel.
“I can.”
She ran toward it.
Raina followed.
“What are you doing?”
“Opening the emergency exits.”
Damon shouted,
“Victor locked them remotely!”
Clara stared at the controls.
Then smiled.
“No.”
She pointed at the screen.
“He locked them electronically.”
“What does that mean?”
“It means the manual system still works.”
She pulled a metal lever.
Nothing happened.
She pulled again.
The lights flickered.
A door opened.
Raina looked at her.
“Clara.”
May you like
Clara smiled.
“Run.”
