CHAPTER 13 — THE BROTHER WHO WAS NEVER SUPPOSED TO EXIST
Sarah couldn't hear the wind anymore.
She couldn't hear the engines.
She couldn't hear the distant sirens.
All she could hear was one sentence.
Your twin is alive.
She stared at Mark.
"Say it again."
Mark swallowed.
"Your twin is alive."
Sarah shook her head.
"No. My mother told me Daniel was my brother."
"He is."
"Margaret said he was my twin."
"He is."
"Then why did you tell me he was inside the network?"
Mark looked away.
"Because I didn't know how else to explain it."
Sarah stepped closer.
"You knew?"
"Not everything."
"How much?"
Mark hesitated.
"Enough to know that the man we called Daniel isn't the whole story."
Daniel stood several feet away.
He had gone completely still.
"Mark."
Mark looked at him.
"You knew?"
"No."
"Then why are you looking at me like that?"
"Because I saw your file."
Daniel's expression changed.
"What file?"
"The original Black Winter intake record."
Sarah stepped between them.
"Where?"
Mark answered:
"The mountain."
Daniel shook his head.
"My file was destroyed."
"No."
Mark's voice was quiet.
"It was hidden."
"By whom?"
"Samuel."
Sarah felt a chill.
"My father."
Mark nodded.
"Your father knew Daniel's identity would eventually become a problem."
Daniel stared at him.
"Why?"
Mark looked at Sarah.
"Because Daniel wasn't supposed to survive."
Silence.
Sarah felt as if the ground had shifted beneath her.
"What are you saying?"
Mark took a breath.
"Daniel was the first successful subject."
Thomas immediately stepped forward.
"Successful at what?"
"Memory integration."
Thomas frowned.
"That's what Samuel said."
Mark shook his head.
"No."
He looked at Daniel.
"Daniel wasn't carrying memories."
"He was generating them."
Thomas stared.
"That changes everything."
Sarah turned.
"Explain."
Thomas spoke carefully.
"If Daniel's brain was modified to generate artificial memories instead of merely receiving them..."
"He could create memories."
Mark nodded.
"Exactly."
Sarah looked at Daniel.
"That's why they wanted him."
"Yes."
"That's why they kept him alive."
"Yes."
Daniel's voice trembled.
"Then why did they let me escape?"
Mark didn't answer.
Sarah did.
"They didn't."
Everyone looked at her.
Sarah's face went pale.
"You escaped because someone released you."
Mark nodded.
"Your father."
Sarah stared.
"But why?"
Mark looked toward the mountain.
"Because Samuel discovered what Daniel could do."
"What?"
"He could rewrite memories."
Sarah's heart stopped.
THE FIRST ESCAPE
The memory came to Daniel suddenly.
A cold room.
A steel chair.
His father standing in front of him.
Daniel was seventeen.
Older than the boy in the earlier memory.
Stronger.
Angrier.
Samuel held a photograph.
"Do you know who this is?"
Daniel stared.
"Sarah."
"Your sister."
"I know."
"No."
Samuel stepped closer.
"You don't."
Daniel frowned.
"Of course I do."
Samuel shook his head.
"You know the memory of her."
Daniel stared.
"What?"
"Your memory of Sarah was implanted."
Daniel's blood ran cold.
"No."
"You never met her before the procedure."
Daniel's breathing became faster.
"I remember her."
"That's the point."
Samuel placed another photograph on the table.
A little girl.
Sarah.
Fourteen years old.
Daniel stared at her.
"I remember this."
"You shouldn't."
"Why?"
"Because the memory hasn't happened yet."
Daniel froze.
Samuel whispered:
"You aren't remembering the future."
"You're predicting it."
Daniel looked at his father.
"How?"
"Your brain is connecting patterns faster than ours."
Samuel's voice trembled.
"You can see possibilities."
Daniel shook his head.
"That's impossible."
"I thought so too."
Samuel looked toward the observation window.
"They don't."
"Who?"
"Mercer."
Daniel stood.
"I want to see Sarah."
Samuel shook his head.
"You can't."
"Why?"
"Because the moment you meet her, they will know."
Daniel's eyes hardened.
"I don't care."
Samuel grabbed his shoulder.
"If you love your sister, you'll stay here."
Daniel froze.
"Love?"
Samuel nodded.
"You already remember loving her."
"But I haven't met her."
Samuel whispered:
"That's what makes you dangerous."
THE BROTHER IN THE SHADOWS
Sarah stared at Daniel.
"How long have you known me?"
Daniel's eyes filled with tears.
"Since before you knew me."
Sarah shook her head.
"That doesn't make sense."
"I know."
"Then explain."
Daniel stepped closer.
"When I was a child, they showed me your photographs."
"Why?"
"To teach me who I was supposed to protect."
Sarah's heart tightened.
"Me?"
"You."
"And Lily?"
Daniel nodded.
"Later."
"Why?"
"Because they knew you would eventually have a daughter."
Sarah stared.
"How could they know?"
Daniel whispered:
"Because they had been watching our family for generations."
Elena suddenly spoke.
"Not generations."
Everyone turned.
Elena looked toward the snow.
"Centuries."
Sarah stared at her.
"What?"
Elena's voice was barely audible.
"Black Winter didn't begin with Margaret."
Sarah's stomach tightened.
"Then who began it?"
Elena shook her head.
"The idea did."
"What idea?"
"That memories could survive death."
She looked at Daniel.
"Your ancestors believed knowledge was too valuable to disappear."
Sarah frowned.
"They wanted immortality."
Elena nodded.
"But not immortality of the body."
"Immortality of memory."
Thomas whispered:
"And Margaret turned that belief into science."
"Yes."
Sarah looked at Daniel.
"Then why was I chosen?"
Elena looked at her.
"Because you were the first natural carrier."
Sarah shook her head.
"No."
Elena nodded.
"You were born with a neurological pattern unlike anyone else in the family."
"And Lily inherited it."
"Yes."
Sarah looked at Lily.
Her daughter was sleeping in the ambulance.
"Then why does she remember things I don't?"
Elena smiled sadly.
"Because children don't always inherit memories."
She touched Lily's forehead through the glass.
"Sometimes they inherit the ability to remember."
THE REAL REASON MARK DISAPPEARED
Sarah turned toward Mark.
"You said you went into the mountains looking for my twin."
Mark nodded.
"Yes."
"How did you know about him?"
Mark looked down.
"Because Samuel contacted me."
Sarah froze.
"My father contacted you?"
"Two years ago."
"After he supposedly died?"
"Yes."
"What did he say?"
Mark swallowed.
"He told me you were in danger."
"From Mercer?"
"From Daniel."
Sarah stared.
"Why would Daniel be dangerous?"
"Because Mercer had activated him."
Daniel stepped forward.
"That's a lie."
Mark looked at him.
"I saw the evidence."
"What evidence?"
"Your memory logs."
Daniel's face changed.
"What did they show?"
Mark answered:
"You killing thirty-seven people."
Silence.
Daniel went pale.
"I never did that."
"I know."
"Then why are there records?"
"Because someone put them there."
Sarah understood.
"Mercer."
Mark nodded.
"He created a false memory."
"For Daniel."
"Yes."
"To make everyone believe he was dangerous."
Mark looked at Daniel.
"But the problem was..."
He paused.
"The memory became real to him."
Daniel's face twisted.
"I remember it."
Sarah moved closer.
"You remember killing them?"
Daniel nodded.
"Every face."
"Every scream."
"Every bullet."
"But I didn't do it."
Sarah held his hand.
"I believe you."
Daniel looked at her.
"You shouldn't."
"Why?"
"Because sometimes I don't know which memories are mine."
Sarah squeezed his hand.
"Then we'll find out together."
Daniel's eyes filled with tears.
For the first time in his life, he didn't look like a weapon.
He looked like a frightened boy who had spent decades questioning his own mind.
THE SECOND MESSAGE
A phone began ringing.
Everyone froze.
It was Sarah's.
She looked at the screen.
Unknown number.
Mark shook his head.
"Don't answer."
Sarah answered anyway.
"Hello?"
A woman's voice whispered:
"Sarah."
Sarah recognized it.
Margaret.
"What do you want?"
"Your family."
"You won't get them."
"You don't understand."
"Then explain."
Margaret's voice became colder.
"Your father lied to you."
Sarah looked toward Elena.
"About what?"
"Daniel."
Sarah's stomach tightened.
"What about him?"
"He's not your twin."
Sarah froze.
Daniel stared.
Mark's expression hardened.
Margaret continued:
"He was created from you."
Sarah couldn't breathe.
"What?"
"Your father took your neural pattern before you were old enough to remember."
Sarah stared at Daniel.
Margaret continued:
"He used it to create another child."
Sarah's voice shook.
"That's impossible."
"Is it?"
Margaret laughed softly.
"Ask Elena."
Sarah looked at her mother.
Elena was crying.
"Mom?"
Elena couldn't answer.
Sarah's voice broke.
"Tell me she's lying."
Elena closed her eyes.
"She's not."
Daniel stepped backward.
"No."
Sarah stared at Elena.
"What did Dad do?"
Elena whispered:
"He used your cells."
Sarah felt sick.
"To create Daniel?"
"Yes."
Daniel shook his head.
"I'm not real."
Sarah immediately grabbed him.
"Don't say that."
"But if I was created from you—"
"You're my brother."
"Am I?"
Sarah held his face.
"You're my brother."
Daniel cried.
"Even if I wasn't born naturally?"
"Yes."
"Even if they made me?"
"You're still my family."
Daniel broke down.
Sarah hugged him.
But the voice on the phone continued.
"You still don't understand."
Sarah looked at the screen.
"What now?"
Margaret said:
"Daniel isn't the only one."
Sarah froze.
"There were three."
Her blood turned cold.
"Three what?"
"Three children."
"Created from your neural pattern."
Sarah's eyes widened.
"Where are the others?"
Margaret answered:
"One is dead."
"One is here."
Sarah's heart pounded.
"And the third?"
Margaret smiled through the phone.
"The third is coming for you."
The call ended.
THE THIRD CHILD
Thomas stared at Sarah.
"She could be bluffing."
Elena shook her head.
"She isn't."
Sarah turned.
"How do you know?"
"Because I saw the third child."
"When?"
"Twenty years ago."
"Who was it?"
Elena hesitated.
"A girl."
Sarah's heart stopped.
"How old?"
"About your age."
"Where is she?"
Elena whispered:
"Mercer took her."
Sarah frowned.
"Why?"
"Because she was different."
"How?"
"She could erase memories."
Daniel looked up.
"What?"
Elena nodded.
"Daniel could create them."
"Sarah could carry them."
"The third child could remove them."
Thomas whispered:
"A complete system."
Elena nodded.
"Create."
"Store."
"Erase."
Sarah stared at the snow.
"And Lily?"
Elena looked at her.
"Lily can do all three."
Sarah's blood ran cold.
"That's why Mercer wants her."
"Yes."
"That's why Margaret wants me."
"Yes."
"Then what does Margaret want?"
Elena's face became grim.
"To complete the family."
THE RETURN OF EVAN
A vehicle suddenly appeared through the snow.
Black.
No headlights.
Mark immediately raised his weapon.
"Everyone inside."
The SUV stopped.
The driver's door opened.
A man stepped out.
Sarah stared.
The man looked older.
Exhausted.
A scar crossed his cheek.
His eyes were haunted.
But Sarah knew him instantly.
"Evan."
Her voice was barely audible.
The man stopped.
Daniel stared at him.
"Uncle Evan?"
Evan looked at Daniel.
Then Sarah.
Then Lily.
He whispered:
"I'm sorry."
Sarah stepped forward.
"You shot Mom."
Evan nodded.
"I know."
"You made me believe I did."
"I know."
"Why?"
"Because Samuel ordered me to."
Sarah froze.
"My father?"
Evan shook his head.
"No."
He looked toward the mountain.
"Your father didn't order me."
"Then who?"
Evan answered:
"Margaret."
Sarah's heart stopped.
"But she wasn't there."
"She didn't need to be."
Evan stepped closer.
"She controlled everyone."
"Even Samuel."
"Even Elena."
"Even me."
Sarah stared.
"What did she want?"
Evan looked at Lily.
"The same thing she wants now."
"Her?"
"No."
He shook his head.
"All of you."
Sarah frowned.
"Why?"
Evan's voice became bitter.
"Because the family was never the experiment."
He looked at Daniel.
"It was the backup."
Sarah felt a chill.
"Backup for what?"
Evan whispered:
"For Margaret."
THE WOMAN WHO NEVER DIED
A helicopter appeared above the trees.
Its searchlight swept across the snow.
Mark shouted:
"DOWN!"
Everyone dropped.
Bullets struck the ambulance.
Glass shattered.
Evan returned fire.
Reeves dragged Sarah toward the SUV.
"Move!"
Sarah grabbed Lily.
Daniel helped Elena.
Mark covered them.
The helicopter circled.
Then a voice came through its loudspeaker.
"Sarah Carter."
Sarah looked up.
Mercer.
"You can't run forever."
Sarah shouted:
"You already lost!"
Mercer laughed.
"No."
The helicopter turned.
Its side door opened.
A woman stood inside.
Silver hair.
Black coat.
Margaret.
Sarah stared.
But something was wrong.
The woman didn't look ninety anymore.
She looked thirty.
Young.
Beautiful.
Impossible.
Daniel whispered:
"That's not her."
Sarah looked at him.
"What?"
Daniel shook his head.
"I've seen that face before."
"Where?"
"In my memories."
"Whose?"
Daniel stared at Margaret.
"Yours."
Sarah's blood ran cold.
Margaret smiled.
Then the helicopter disappeared into the storm.
Sarah looked at Daniel.
"What did you see?"
Daniel whispered:
"She looked exactly like you."
Sarah couldn't speak.
Elena closed her eyes.
"Then it's begun."
Sarah turned.
"What?"
Elena looked at her daughter.
"Margaret transferred herself."
"Into whom?"
Elena stared at Sarah.
"Into you."
Sarah felt the world disappear.
"No."
Elena nodded.
"The memories you've been recovering..."
"They aren't all yours."
Sarah's blood turned cold.
"Some belong to Margaret."
Elena whispered:
"And she's waking up."
Sarah looked at Lily.
Her daughter suddenly opened her eyes.
She stared directly at Sarah.
"Mommy."
Sarah knelt.
"What?"
Lily whispered:
"She's inside you."
Sarah froze.
"Who?"
Lily's eyes filled with tears.
"Great-Grandma."
Then Lily screamed.
The scream was so powerful that every vehicle alarm around them activated simultaneously.
Sarah grabbed her daughter.
"Lily!"
Lily clutched her head.
"Make her stop!"
"Who?"
"Great-Grandma!"
"What is she doing?"
Lily screamed:
"She's looking through your eyes!"
Sarah suddenly felt something move inside her mind.
A memory.
Not hers.
A woman standing in front of a mirror.
Margaret.
Young.
Smiling.
Then the woman turned.
And Sarah saw her own face.
Margaret whispered:
"At last."
Sarah gasped.
The memory vanished.
She opened her eyes.
Everyone was staring at her.
Mark whispered:
"Sarah?"
She looked at him.
For a moment, she couldn't remember his name.
Then—
she smiled.
A cold, unfamiliar smile.
And spoke in a voice that wasn't hers.
"Hello, Mark."
Mark's face went pale.
Sarah's eyes changed.
"Did you miss me?"
Daniel stepped backward.
"No."
Elena began crying.
"Margaret."
Sarah's body went rigid.
Then the voice inside her whispered:
"Let's finish what we started."
May you like
Sarah screamed.
And somewhere deep inside her mind, another woman opened her eyes.
