CHAPTER 9 — THE CHILD WITH NO NAME
Raina didn't sleep.
She sat beside the window until dawn.
Clara's words repeated in her mind.
We aren't sisters.
Twenty-seven years of memories had suddenly become unreliable.
The woman she called her mother wasn't her mother.
The girl she thought was her sister wasn't biologically related to her.
Her father had hidden the truth.
Her husband had married her under false pretenses.
And now everyone wanted something from the child inside her.
At sunrise, Raina walked into Orson's study.
He was already there.
He looked exhausted.
“Dad.”
He raised his eyes.
“I'm here.”
“Tell me the truth.”
“I will.”
“Was I adopted?”
Orson closed his eyes.
“Yes.”
Raina swallowed.
“By Elena?”
“No.”
“Then by whom?”
Orson didn't answer.
“Dad.”
“Your biological mother was unknown.”
Raina's voice cracked.
“Unknown?”
“We found you as an infant.”
“Where?”
“In a hospital.”
“Which one?”
“St. Vincent's.”
Raina's heart stopped.
“Dr. Hart?”
“Yes.”
“Then why did Elena say I was her daughter?”
“Because she wanted to protect you.”
“From whom?”
Orson looked at her.
“From the truth.”
Raina shook her head.
“What truth?”
“You weren't supposed to exist.”
She stared.
“What does that mean?”
“You were born under a false identity.”
“Why?”
Orson's voice dropped.
“Because your biological parents were being hunted.”
“Who were they?”
“We don't know.”
Raina stared.
“You don't know?”
“No.”
“Then why did you protect me?”
“Because Elena asked me to.”
“Why would she care about a stranger's baby?”
Orson looked at her.
“Because you saved her life.”
Raina frowned.
“I was a baby.”
“Yes.”
“How could I save her?”
Orson hesitated.
“Your birth was part of a larger operation.”
“What operation?”
“An experiment.”
Raina felt sick.
“What kind of experiment?”
“Genetic.”
She stared at him.
“Genetic?”
“Yes.”
“Who was involved?”
“Victor.”
“Damon?”
“No.”
“Then who?”
Orson looked toward the door.
“Someone much more powerful.”
Raina whispered,
“Who?”
Orson answered,
“Your grandfather.”
Raina froze.
“But you said he wasn't the real enemy.”
“He wasn't.”
“Then why was he involved?”
“Because he funded the research.”
“What research?”
Orson took a folder from the safe.
Inside were medical records.
Raina opened the first page.
Her eyes widened.
SUBJECT 7419.
Her hospital bracelet.
The number.
She looked at Orson.
“I was a subject.”
“Yes.”
“What were they testing?”
“Genetic memory.”
Raina frowned.
“What does that mean?”
“The theory was that certain neurological traits could be inherited.”
“And me?”
“You were the first successful subject.”
Raina stared.
“I don't understand.”
“Your biological parents carried a rare genetic sequence.”
“What sequence?”
“A sequence connected to memory.”
Raina shook her head.
“That's impossible.”
Orson looked at her.
“Is it?”
He pointed toward the folder.
“Think about your dreams.”
Raina's face changed.
She had always dreamed of places she'd never visited.
A white hallway.
A red door.
A woman singing.
A child's room.
She had assumed they were dreams.
“What are you saying?”
“You may remember things that happened before you were old enough to remember.”
Raina stared.
“The memories aren't yours.”
“No.”
“They belong to someone else.”
“Yes.”
“Who?”
Orson's voice became quiet.
“Your biological mother.”
Raina's stomach tightened.
“What happened to her?”
“We don't know.”
“Dead?”
“Possibly.”
“Alive?”
“Possibly.”
Raina looked at the documents.
Then she noticed something.
A line at the bottom.
TRANSFER SUBJECT TO SECONDARY HOST — APPROVED.
Raina's blood ran cold.
“What is a secondary host?”
Orson didn't answer.
“Dad.”
He looked at her.
“Another child.”
Raina's heart stopped.
“Another child?”
“Yes.”
“Who?”
Orson hesitated.
“Clara.”
Raina stared.
“But she isn't my sister.”
“No.”
“Then what was she?”
Orson whispered,
“Your genetic counterpart.”
Raina couldn't speak.
“The experiment created two children?”
“Yes.”
“One of them was me.”
“Yes.”
“And the other was Clara.”
“Yes.”
“Then why does the test say we're unrelated?”
“Because Clara wasn't born from the same parents.”
Raina's mind raced.
“Then how?”
Orson closed his eyes.
“She was genetically engineered using part of your sequence.”
Raina stepped backward.
“No.”
“Raina…”
“No.”
She shook her head.
“That isn't possible.”
Orson's voice broke.
“It happened.”
Raina looked down at her stomach.
“What does that have to do with my baby?”
Orson didn't answer.
Raina's fear grew.
“What does it have to do with my baby?”
Orson whispered,
“The sequence passed to your child.”
Raina stared.
“And that's why Victor wants the baby.”
“Yes.”
“What will he do?”
Orson's face hardened.
“I don't know.”
A voice came from the doorway.
“I do.”
Everyone turned.
Clara stood there.
She was holding a photograph.
“Victor doesn't want the baby for the money.”
Raina stared at her.
“Then what does he want?”
Clara placed the photograph on the desk.
It showed a laboratory.
Rows of medical equipment.
And in the center was a glass chamber.
Raina's blood ran cold.
“What is that?”
Clara whispered,
“Where you were born.”
Raina stared at the image.
Then she noticed something in the corner.
A label.
PROJECT EDEN.
Clara continued.
“Victor wants to restart it.”
Raina's hand went to her stomach.
“With my baby?”
“Yes.”
Raina's eyes filled with tears.
“No.”
Clara stepped closer.
“He believes your child carries the complete sequence.”
Raina shook her head.
“My baby is not an experiment.”
“No.”
Clara's expression hardened.
“That's why we have to disappear before the birth.”
Orson stood.
“We can't.”
Clara looked at him.
“Why?”
“Because Damon knows where Raina is.”
Clara's face changed.
“Then we move tonight.”
Raina looked at her.
“Where?”
“Somewhere Victor can't reach.”
“Where?”
Clara hesitated.
“There is one place.”
Orson immediately shook his head.
“No.”
Clara looked at him.
“It's the only place.”
“Absolutely not.”
Raina turned toward her father.
“What place?”
Clara whispered,
“Elena's real house.”
Raina froze.
“My mother's house?”
“The house where she hid before she died.”
“Where is it?”
Clara looked at Orson.
“Tell her.”
Orson said nothing.
Raina's voice became firm.
“Dad.”
Finally, Orson whispered,
“Montana.”
Raina stared.
“Why didn't you ever tell me?”
“Because that's where Elena disappeared.”
“Then that's where we're going.”
Orson shook his head.
“You don't understand.”
“What?”
“There is someone living there.”
“Who?”
Orson looked at Clara.
Clara answered.
“Your biological mother.”
Raina stopped breathing.
“My mother is alive?”
Clara nodded.
“Maybe.”
“Maybe?”
“We don't know.”
Raina's heart pounded.
“Then we're going.”
Suddenly, Orson's phone rang.
He answered.
“What?”
His face went pale.
Raina watched him.
“Dad?”
He slowly lowered the phone.
“What happened?”
Orson looked at her.
“Damon has escaped.”
Raina's heart sank.
“From where?”
“He was never arrested.”
“Then where is he?”
Orson stared at the screen.
A location appeared.
Raina's old mansion.
The house Damon had taken from her.
Clara stepped closer.
“He's waiting.”
“For what?”
Orson whispered,
“For you.”
Raina looked down at her unborn child.
Then toward the window.
Her voice was quiet.
“Then let him wait.”
She turned toward Clara.
“We're going to Montana.”
Clara nodded.
“But we have one problem.”
“What?”
Clara looked at Orson.
“Victor is already there.”
Raina froze.
And somewhere hundreds of miles away, inside an abandoned ranch house beneath the Montana mountains, a man stood beside an old wooden crib.
Victor Black placed a hand on the empty mattress.
Then he smiled.
“Come home, little one.”
May you like
He looked at the photograph of Raina.
“Your mother has been waiting for you.”
