CHAPTER 11 THE SECOND GIRL
The heart monitor screamed.
Adrian stared at the child standing in the doorway.
Same face.
Same dark hair.
Same silver pendant.
Same eyes.
She looked exactly like Lily.
For several seconds, nobody moved.
Then Lily whispered:
“That's her.”
Adrian looked down.
“Who?”
“My sister.”
The other girl smiled.
“Hello, Lily.”
Lily took one hesitant step forward.
Adrian immediately caught her shoulder.
“Stay beside me.”
The girl tilted her head.
“You don't remember me?”
Adrian's blood ran cold.
“I've never seen you.”
“Yes, you have.”
“When?”
The girl's smile faded.
“When you forgot.”
Anna stepped in front of Adrian.
“Who are you?”
The girl looked at her.
“You know.”
“No.”
“You've seen my photograph.”
Anna's face changed.
“What photograph?”
The girl pointed toward the floor.
Adrian looked down.
His grandfather's bloodstained photograph.
The image showed Adrian as a child.
His mother beside him.
And the same little girl standing behind them.
Adrian picked it up.
His hands trembled.
“That photograph was taken thirty years ago.”
The girl nodded.
“Yes.”
“You weren't born yet.”
She smiled.
“I was.”
Anna stared.
“That's impossible.”
The girl walked closer.
“My name is Claire.”
Adrian's eyes narrowed.
“Claire Moretti?”
She nodded.
“Claire Elena Moretti.”
Elena.
His mother's name.
Adrian felt the room closing around him.
“How old are you?”
Claire smiled.
“Six.”
Lily stared.
“Me too.”
“Yes.”
“Are we twins?”
Claire's expression softened.
“No.”
Lily frowned.
“Then why do we look the same?”
Claire looked at Adrian.
“Because we were made from the same blood.”
Adrian's face went cold.
“Who made you?”
Claire's smile disappeared.
“My grandfather.”
Adrian grabbed Vincent's radio.
“Lock down the estate.”
Static.
Then nothing.
He tried again.
“Vincent?”
No response.
Adrian looked at Anna.
“Where's Vincent?”
“He went upstairs.”
Adrian's instincts screamed.
Something was wrong.
He turned toward the stairs.
“Stay here.”
Anna caught his arm.
“No.”
Adrian looked at her.
“This isn't a negotiation.”
“You can't fight everyone.”
“I don't need to.”
He glanced toward Claire.
“I need answers.”
Claire spoke quietly.
“Your grandfather isn't upstairs.”
Adrian froze.
“Where is he?”
“Underneath us.”
Anna's expression changed.
“There is another level?”
Claire nodded.
“Three.”
Adrian stared.
“How do you know?”
“I lived there.”
Silence.
Adrian crouched in front of her.
“Claire.”
She looked at him.
“Did my grandfather hurt you?”
“No.”
“Did he hurt Lily?”
“No.”
“Did he hurt Anna?”
“No.”
“Then what did he do?”
Claire looked down.
“He taught us.”
“To do what?”
“To remember.”
A metallic door opened beneath the estate.
Adrian, Anna, Lily, and Claire descended a narrow staircase.
The walls were covered with children's drawings.
Hundreds.
Some showed houses.
Some showed families.
Some showed men with guns.
Others showed the same faceless father.
Adrian stopped.
He recognized the drawings.
Lily had made many of them.
But these were older.
Much older.
The paper was yellow.
Some were dated twenty years ago.
Adrian touched one.
A faceless man stood beside two little girls.
Underneath were three words.
FATHER WILL RETURN.
Anna stared.
“These aren't Lily's.”
“No,” Adrian said.
Claire shook her head.
“They're mine.”
Adrian looked at her.
“You drew these?”
“Yes.”
“When?”
“When I was little.”
Adrian's eyes narrowed.
“You're six.”
Claire smiled.
“Not according to the calendar.”
Adrian stopped walking.
“What does that mean?”
Claire didn't answer.
Anna whispered:
“She's been alive before.”
Adrian looked at her.
“What?”
“She isn't six.”
Claire nodded.
“I've been six for a long time.”
Adrian felt a chill move through him.
“What did they do to you?”
Claire looked toward the dark corridor.
“They stopped me from growing.”
The underground laboratory was enormous.
Steel tables.
Medical equipment.
Refrigerated cabinets.
Computer servers.
Photographs.
Adrian's stomach twisted.
He had seen places like this before.
Not officially.
Not in any country he could name.
But he recognized the architecture.
The kind of facility built for experiments nobody wanted discovered.
Anna walked toward a row of files.
She opened one.
Her face went pale.
“Adrian.”
He approached.
The folder carried a number.
SUBJECT 03.
Inside was a photograph of Claire.
The same face.
The same age.
The photograph was dated:
2007.
Adrian stared.
“That's nineteen years ago.”
Anna nodded.
Claire was six in the photograph.
Exactly as she was now.
Adrian looked at her.
“Why hasn't she aged?”
Claire answered:
“Because they kept changing me.”
“What does that mean?”
“Every time my body started to grow, they reset it.”
Adrian's face hardened.
“Reset how?”
Anna closed the file.
“Don't make her explain this.”
Adrian looked at her.
“Why?”
“Because she doesn't need to remember everything.”
Claire shook her head.
“I remember.”
She pointed toward the file.
“They called it Project Echo.”
Adrian's eyes narrowed.
“What was Project Echo?”
Claire looked at him.
“You.”
Adrian stopped breathing.
“Me?”
Claire nodded.
“They took your DNA.”
“When?”
“Before you were eighteen.”
His expression changed.
“My father.”
“Yes.”
“My grandfather.”
“Yes.”
“Elena?”
Claire shook her head.
“No.”
“Then who?”
“Daniel Cross.”
Adrian clenched his fists.
“What did he do?”
Claire walked toward the central computer.
“He created copies.”
Adrian stared.
“Copies of what?”
“Bloodlines.”
Anna stepped closer.
“You mean clones?”
Claire nodded.
Adrian looked at the files.
There were dozens.
SUBJECT 01.
SUBJECT 02.
SUBJECT 03.
SUBJECT 04.
He opened another.
Photograph.
A newborn.
Another.
A toddler.
Another.
A six-year-old girl.
Another.
A boy.
Adrian's face went pale.
“How many?”
Claire whispered:
“Thirty-seven.”
Anna covered her mouth.
“Thirty-seven children?”
“Thirty-seven attempts.”
Adrian looked at the files.
“Attempts at what?”
Claire pointed toward the final folder.
SUBJECT 38 — SUCCESSFUL.
Adrian opened it.
His own photograph appeared.
Underneath:
GENETIC MATCH: 100%
Then another photograph.
Lily.
Adrian's breathing stopped.
GENETIC MATCH: 99.97%
He stared.
“Lily.”
Anna stepped beside him.
“What does that mean?”
Adrian looked at Claire.
“She's not my biological daughter.”
Claire shook her head.
“She is.”
“Then why does the file say—”
“Because they changed her.”
Adrian looked at Lily.
“What did they change?”
Claire's voice became quiet.
“Her memory.”
Lily looked confused.
“I don't understand.”
Adrian crouched beside her.
“You don't have to.”
“But why does everyone keep talking about me?”
“Because you're important.”
“Am I in trouble?”
Adrian's heart broke.
“No.”
He pulled her close.
“You are never in trouble.”
Claire watched them.
Then she said:
“She remembers the first time.”
Adrian looked up.
“What first time?”
“When you held her.”
Adrian's expression changed.
“I held her when she was a baby.”
“Yes.”
“I remember.”
“No.”
Claire shook her head.
“You remember the version they gave you.”
Adrian stared.
“What really happened?”
Claire looked at Lily.
“She was born before you were supposed to know.”
A sound echoed through the laboratory.
Footsteps.
Adrian drew his weapon.
Anna moved beside him.
“Someone's coming.”
The lights flickered.
Then a man's voice came through the speakers.
“Adrian.”
Adrian recognized it.
Daniel Cross.
“You finally found the children.”
Adrian's jaw tightened.
“Where are you?”
“Watching.”
“Show yourself.”
“No.”
“Coward.”
Cross laughed.
“You still think this is about revenge.”
“What is it about?”
“Survival.”
Adrian looked around.
“Thirty-seven children?”
“Thirty-seven failures.”
“You experimented on children.”
“We were trying to preserve the Moretti bloodline.”
“You murdered them.”
“We saved one.”
Adrian looked at Lily.
“Her?”
“No.”
A pause.
“The other one.”
Adrian's eyes moved toward Claire.
Cross continued.
“Claire is the only successful biological replica.”
Adrian stared.
“Replica?”
“Your genetic structure was damaged by the disease.”
Cross's voice became clinical.
“We needed a compatible bloodline.”
“So you created Claire.”
“Yes.”
“And Lily?”
“Lily was different.”
Adrian's grip tightened.
“What did you do to Lily?”
Cross went silent.
Then:
“She was never supposed to survive.”
Adrian's face changed.
“What?”
“She was an accident.”
Lily looked up at him.
“Daddy?”
Adrian moved closer.
Cross continued.
“Sarah was supposed to deliver a stillborn child.”
Adrian froze.
“She didn't.”
“No.”
“Why?”
“Because Lily survived.”
Adrian's eyes burned.
Cross laughed softly.
“That's why your family spent six years hiding her.”
Adrian looked at Sarah.
She stood near the doorway.
Crying.
“You knew.”
Sarah nodded.
“I knew she was supposed to die.”
Adrian's voice cracked.
“And you saved her.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
Sarah looked at Lily.
“Because she was my daughter.”
Cross's voice returned.
“And because Lily survived, the entire system failed.”
Adrian looked toward the ceiling.
“What system?”
“The inheritance protocol.”
“What does Lily have?”
“Choice.”
Adrian frowned.
Cross explained:
“Claire carries your blood.”
“Anna carries your blood.”
“Lily carries your blood.”
“But only Lily has the neurological marker required to unlock the final Ledger.”
Adrian stared at Lily.
“What neurological marker?”
“The ability to access memories that were never consciously experienced.”
Adrian thought of the drawings.
The faceless father.
The eyes.
The locations.
The messages.
Lily had been remembering things nobody had taught her.
Cross continued.
“She doesn't merely draw.”
“She retrieves.”
The laboratory doors suddenly locked.
Red lights flashed.
CONTAINMENT ACTIVE.
Adrian turned.
“Open the doors.”
Cross laughed.
“No.”
“You're trapping your own people.”
“I don't need them anymore.”
“What does that mean?”
“It means the experiment is complete.”
Adrian's blood ran cold.
“Why?”
“Because all three daughters are together.”
Anna looked at Claire.
Claire looked terrified.
“What happens now?” Lily asked.
Cross answered:
“The Ledger opens.”
The central computer activated.
Three biometric scanners rose from the floor.
One for Adrian.
One for Anna.
One for Lily.
Adrian stepped in front of Lily.
“No.”
Cross's voice became cold.
“You can't stop it.”
Adrian raised his gun toward the camera.
“I can stop you.”
“You think killing me changes anything?”
“Yes.”
“You don't even know where I am.”
“Then I'll find you.”
Cross laughed.
“Adrian…”
A pause.
“Look behind you.”
Adrian turned.
A large screen illuminated.
Live footage.
A hospital room.
Dr. Elena Maren stood beside a bed.
On the bed was Adrian.
The same Adrian who was standing in the laboratory.
Adrian's face went white.
“What…”
The camera angle widened.
The man in the hospital bed opened his eyes.
It was him.
Same face.
Same scars.
Same shoulder wound.
Same heart monitor.
Adrian couldn't breathe.
Anna whispered:
“That's impossible.”
Cross spoke softly.
“Which one of you is real?”
The man on the hospital bed slowly sat up.
Then looked directly into the camera.
And smiled.
Adrian stared.
His grandfather's voice came through the speakers.
“Now you finally understand, Adrian.”
The old man's voice sounded almost amused.
“You weren't the first.”
Adrian looked at Claire.
Then Lily.
Then Anna.
His entire reality collapsed.
“What am I?”
The answer came through the speakers.
“You are Subject Seven.”
Silence.
Adrian's hand began shaking.
“Who is the original?”
The screen changed.
A photograph appeared.
A young man.
Eighteen years old.
Adrian.
But beneath the photograph was a name.
SUBJECT ZERO.
Anna stepped backward.
“No.”
Claire whispered:
“They lied to you.”
Lily began crying.
Adrian stared at the image.
For three years, he had believed he was protecting his daughter from the darkness surrounding his family.
He had been wrong.
The darkness wasn't surrounding him.
It was inside him.
And now he was beginning to understand why every memory of his childhood contained gaps.
Why his father's death never made sense.
Why his mother had disappeared.
Why his heart carried a disease nobody had explained.
Why Lily's drawings always showed a faceless father.
Maybe she wasn't trying to draw Adrian.
Maybe she was trying to draw the man she remembered before he became Adrian.
The original.
The real father.
The man who had existed before the experiment.
A sudden explosion rocked the laboratory.
Glass shattered.
Smoke filled the room.
Vincent's voice shouted through the chaos.
“ADRIAN!”
Adrian turned.
Vincent was standing in the doorway.
Blood covered his shirt.
But he was alive.
“Get the girls!”
Adrian grabbed Lily.
Anna grabbed Claire.
“Move!”
They ran.
Behind them, the laboratory erupted in flames.
The screens went black.
The speakers crackled one final time.
Cross whispered:
“You have ten minutes.”
Adrian looked back.
“For what?”
Cross answered:
“Before Subject Zero wakes up.”
The transmission ended.
Adrian stared into the flames.
Then he looked at the three girls.
His daughters.
Three pieces of a truth that had been buried for decades.
And suddenly his heart monitor began to beep faster.
Not because of fear.
Because something was happening inside his body.
Something familiar.
Something ancient.
A memory.
A room.
A woman screaming.
A newborn crying.
And a younger version of himself whispering:
“If they ever make another one of me… don't let him become a father.”
Adrian stopped.
He knew that voice.
It was his own.
But it belonged to a man who had supposedly died twenty-eight years ago.
He looked at Vincent.
“Get us out.”
Vincent nodded.
Adrian looked once more at the burning laboratory.
“Then find Subject Zero.”
Anna stared at him.
“Why?”
Adrian's eyes hardened.
“Because if he's alive…”
He looked at Lily.
“…then I need to know which one of us is her real father.”
Behind them, the flames swallowed the laboratory.
And beneath the smoke, hidden in a sealed chamber nobody had found—
a heart monitor began beating.
Slowly.
Steadily.
Alive.
A man opened his eyes.
He looked exactly like Adrian Moretti.
He smiled.
May you like
And whispered:
“Finally.”
