CHAPTER 9 THE MAN WHO KILLED HIMSELF
For three seconds, nobody moved.
Daniel's voice still echoed through the archive.
I was the one who killed Alexander Vale.
Amelia stared at the intercom.
Her hands were shaking.
Sarah had gone completely still.
Richard slowly raised his weapon toward the ceiling.
"Daniel?"
No answer.
Richard pressed the intercom.
"Daniel, answer me."
Static.
Then his voice returned.
"I knew you'd find the archive eventually."
Amelia stepped closer.
"You said you killed Alexander."
"Yes."
"But Alexander was you."
Silence.
Then:
"Exactly."
Amelia felt a cold sensation move through her body.
Richard looked at her.
"He's talking about the identity."
"No."
Amelia shook her head.
"He's hiding something."
Sarah whispered:
"He always did."
Amelia turned toward her.
"Then tell me."
Sarah looked at the floor.
"I don't know everything."
"You knew he was Alexander."
"Yes."
"You knew he became Daniel."
"Yes."
"You knew he was alive."
"Yes."
"Then what don't you know?"
Sarah's eyes filled.
"The night Alexander disappeared..."
She paused.
"...I wasn't there."
Amelia frowned.
"What?"
"I was taken."
Richard looked at her.
"By Edward?"
Sarah nodded.
"Yes."
Amelia's face hardened.
"Then how do you know what happened?"
"Because Thomas told me."
"Years later?"
"No."
Sarah looked at Amelia.
"That same night."
SEPTEMBER 17, 1997
3:17 A.M.
The archive screen suddenly changed.
A timestamp appeared.
29 YEARS AGO
Then a video began.
A hospital corridor.
Dark.
Empty.
A young Thomas Hayes ran down the hallway.
His uniform was soaked with rain.
His face was terrified.
He reached a door.
Stopped.
Opened it.
Inside was Sarah.
She was unconscious.
A newborn baby lay beside her.
Amelia.
Thomas rushed toward them.
Then he heard a voice behind him.
"Don't touch the child."
Thomas turned.
General Edward Hayes stood in the doorway.
Young.
Powerful.
Cold.
Two armed men stood behind him.
Thomas stepped in front of Sarah and the baby.
"Get out."
Edward stared at him.
"You're making a mistake."
"She's my wife."
"Not anymore."
Edward pointed toward the baby.
"Give me the child."
Thomas shook his head.
"No."
Edward's expression hardened.
"You don't understand what she represents."
"I understand exactly what she represents."
"A threat."
"My daughter."
"She's Alexander Vale's daughter."
Thomas stepped closer.
"She's a baby."
Edward's eyes remained cold.
"She's the final descendant."
Thomas looked down at Amelia.
Then back at his father.
"You'll never touch her."
Edward sighed.
"I hoped you wouldn't make me do this."
The video stopped.
Amelia stared at the screen.
"That's it?"
Richard shook his head.
"No."
The computer displayed:
FILE 2 OF 17
Another video began.
This one showed a different room.
Alexander Vale stood beside a hospital bed.
Sarah was awake.
The newborn Amelia was in his arms.
He looked exhausted.
Sarah whispered:
"They're coming."
"I know."
"What do we do?"
Alexander looked toward the door.
"We disappear."
Sarah's eyes filled.
"Together?"
Alexander shook his head.
"No."
She understood immediately.
"No."
"I'll take him away from you."
"Alexander—"
"They're looking for me."
Sarah grabbed his arm.
"They're looking for the baby."
"Exactly."
He looked at Amelia.
"If they think I'm still alive, they'll keep searching."
Sarah whispered:
"What are you going to do?"
Alexander looked at the camera.
"I'm going to die."
Amelia's heart stopped.
The video continued.
Alexander placed Amelia into Sarah's arms.
Then he removed his dog tag.
He handed it to Thomas.
"After tonight, there is no Alexander Vale."
Thomas stared at him.
"What will you call yourself?"
Alexander looked down at the dog tag.
"Daniel Cross."
Thomas shook his head.
"Why?"
"Because Daniel Cross already died."
Amelia frowned.
Richard looked confused.
Sarah stared at the screen.
The recording continued.
Alexander explained:
"They've already created a dead soldier with that name."
"Nobody will search for a man who's supposed to be dead."
Thomas asked:
"And what happens to Alexander Vale?"
Alexander smiled sadly.
"He dies tonight."
The video ended.
Amelia slowly turned toward the intercom.
"So that's what Daniel meant."
Sarah nodded.
"He killed Alexander."
"He erased himself."
"Yes."
"But why say it like that?"
Sarah closed her eyes.
"Because he wanted you to understand."
"Understand what?"
"That the man you think is Daniel..."
Sarah opened her eyes.
"...was born Alexander."
Amelia stared at the screen.
The mystery suddenly became clearer.
Alexander Vale hadn't been murdered.
He had murdered his own identity.
He had become Daniel Cross.
And everyone—including his daughter—had been taught to believe Alexander was dead.
But that wasn't the end of the story.
The archive displayed:
FILE 3 OF 17
Amelia clicked it.
A photograph appeared.
Thomas.
Sarah.
Alexander.
And a fourth person.
General Edward Hayes.
The date:
SEPTEMBER 18, 1997
One day after Amelia's birth.
Beneath the photograph:
TRANSFER FAILED.
Amelia frowned.
"What transfer?"
Richard looked closer.
"I don't know."
Sarah whispered:
"I do."
She pointed at the screen.
"That's the night Thomas took you."
"Where?"
"To his house."
"Why?"
"Because Edward wanted you."
Amelia's eyes narrowed.
"But why?"
Sarah looked at her.
"Because Edward believed you were more valuable than the archive."
A loud metallic bang shook the basement.
Everyone froze.
Richard raised his weapon.
The steel doors trembled.
Someone was trying to force them open.
Amelia looked at the countdown.
11:42
"How long until the archive releases?"
Richard checked the screen.
"Eleven minutes."
Sarah looked terrified.
"We have to leave."
"No."
Amelia shook her head.
"We're not leaving."
"They'll kill us."
"Maybe."
Amelia turned toward the files.
"But if this archive goes public, the truth survives."
Richard stepped closer.
"Not if they destroy the servers."
Amelia looked at him.
"Can they?"
"Yes."
"Then we copy everything."
Richard laughed bitterly.
"There's too much."
"Then we find the most important evidence."
Sarah walked toward the cabinet.
"The original orders."
"What?"
"Edward's orders."
"Where?"
"Thomas told me he hid them."
"Where?"
Sarah pointed toward the back wall.
"Behind the clock."
Amelia looked at the frozen clock.
3:17
She removed it from the wall.
A small compartment appeared.
Inside was a sealed envelope.
She opened it.
One document.
Signed by Edward Hayes.
OPERATION SEVENTEEN — FINAL AUTHORIZATION
Amelia read the first line.
Then the second.
Her face changed.
"Mom."
Sarah stepped closer.
"What?"
Amelia handed her the document.
Sarah read it.
Her hands began trembling.
"No."
"What?"
Sarah looked at Richard.
"That's not possible."
"What does it say?"
Sarah couldn't speak.
Richard took the document.
His eyes moved across the page.
Then he looked at Amelia.
"Your grandfather didn't create Project Seventeen."
Amelia frowned.
"What?"
"He inherited it."
"From whom?"
Richard looked at the signature.
"Someone named..."
He stopped.
Amelia grabbed the page.
At the bottom was another name.
DIRECTOR SAMUEL CROSS
She froze.
"Cross?"
Sarah whispered:
"Daniel's father."
Amelia stared.
"Daniel's father created Project Seventeen?"
Richard nodded.
"Apparently."
Another explosion shook the basement.
The lights flickered.
A voice came through the intercom.
"Amelia."
Daniel.
She looked up.
"Why are you doing this?"
His voice was quiet.
"Because I need you to leave."
"No."
"You don't understand."
"I understand that you lied to me."
"I lied to keep you alive."
"You told me you killed Alexander."
"I did."
"You erased yourself."
"Yes."
"Why?"
"Because I couldn't protect you as Alexander."
"And as Daniel?"
Silence.
"I could."
Amelia looked at the speaker.
"Where are you?"
No answer.
"Daniel."
"I have ten minutes."
"Until what?"
"Until they reach you."
"Who?"
"The people who took me."
"Are you captured?"
A pause.
"No."
Richard stared at Amelia.
Daniel continued.
"I'm inside their facility."
Amelia's eyes widened.
"You're undercover."
"Yes."
"Where?"
"I can't tell you."
"Then why call?"
"Because you need to know something."
"What?"
"Edward isn't the man giving the orders."
Amelia looked at Sarah.
Daniel continued.
"He's only protecting someone."
"Who?"
Silence.
Then:
"Your grandfather died eight years ago."
Amelia froze.
"What?"
"Edward Hayes died in a private clinic in Maryland."
Sarah's face changed.
"Then who was the man in the basement?"
Daniel answered:
"An impersonator."
Richard's eyes widened.
Amelia looked toward the corridor.
The man who had appeared before them.
The man who had claimed to be her grandfather.
The man who knew everything.
An impostor.
"Who is he?"
Daniel's voice became urgent.
"He's the director of Project Seventeen."
"Name."
A pause.
Then:
"Samuel Cross."
Amelia stared.
Daniel's father.
The original creator.
The man whose name appeared on the document.
The man who had supposedly died decades ago.
Another impossible ghost.
Richard whispered:
"He's alive."
Daniel answered through the speaker.
"Yes."
A gunshot sounded near him.
Daniel's voice became strained.
"I have to go."
"Daniel!"
"Amelia."
She stopped.
"I need you to listen carefully."
"I'm listening."
"Don't trust anyone who tells you the archive must be destroyed."
"Why?"
"Because that's exactly what they want."
"Who?"
Daniel took a breath.
"Everyone who is named in it."
The line went dead.
Amelia stared at the intercom.
Richard slowly lowered his weapon.
"We have a problem."
"What?"
"The archive."
"What about it?"
"If Daniel is right..."
He pointed at the files.
"...then Samuel Cross has been alive for decades."
Sarah shook her head.
"He couldn't be."
"Why?"
"I watched him die."
Amelia turned.
"When?"
Sarah's face became haunted.
"September 18, 1997."
"The day after I was born."
Sarah nodded.
"He was in the hospital."
"Did you see the body?"
"No."
"Then you don't know."
Sarah looked at Amelia.
"I heard the explosion."
"What explosion?"
"The room where Samuel was supposed to be."
Richard looked at the document again.
"This is getting worse."
Amelia picked up another file.
The name on the front made her stop.
CROSS, SAMUEL — STATUS: UNKNOWN
She opened it.
Inside was a photograph.
Samuel Cross.
Young.
Standing beside a laboratory door.
On the wall behind him was the symbol of Project Seventeen.
But someone had written across the photograph in red ink:
HE NEVER LEFT.
Amelia flipped it over.
A second photograph fell out.
An old family photograph.
Samuel Cross.
His wife.
A young Daniel.
And another child.
A little girl.
Amelia stared.
"Who is she?"
Sarah looked at the photograph.
Her face drained of color.
"I don't know."
Richard picked it up.
He studied the girl.
Then looked at Amelia.
"Amelia..."
"What?"
"Look at her."
Amelia did.
The little girl had the same eyes.
The same shape of face.
The same distinctive birthmark beneath her left eye.
The exact birthmark Amelia had.
Her hand instinctively touched her own cheek.
"No."
Sarah whispered:
"That's impossible."
Richard stared at the photograph.
"Unless..."
Amelia's heart began racing.
"Unless what?"
Richard turned the photograph over.
A date was written on the back.
JUNE 1979
Beneath it:
THE SECOND CHILD — AMELIA
She dropped the photograph.
"What?"
Sarah picked it up.
Her hands shook violently.
"That's not your name."
"Then why is it written there?"
"I don't know."
Amelia stared at the little girl.
The same eyes.
The same birthmark.
The same face.
A terrifying thought entered her mind.
"Mom."
Sarah looked at her.
"What if I'm not the only Amelia?"
The archive suddenly beeped.
FILE 17 OF 17
A final file appeared.
PROJECT SEVENTEEN — ORIGINAL FAMILY REGISTER
Amelia opened it.
Seventeen family names filled the screen.
At the bottom was one final designation.
PRIMARY SUBJECT: AMELIA HAYES
Then:
ORIGINAL IDENTIFIER: AMELIA CROSS
Amelia stopped breathing.
Sarah covered her mouth.
Richard whispered:
"Your identity wasn't changed to protect you."
Amelia stared at the screen.
"What?"
"Your identity was changed because..."
Richard looked at Sarah.
Sarah finally said the words.
"Because Amelia Cross was never supposed to exist."
The countdown continued.
08:11
08:10
08:09
And somewhere deep beneath the city, a phone began ringing.
A man answered.
"She's opened the register."
The voice on the other end asked:
"Does she know?"
The man smiled.
"Not yet."
"And Daniel?"
"He failed."
"And Sarah?"
"With her."
A pause.
Then the voice asked:
"And Amelia?"
The man looked at an old photograph.
A little girl.
Same eyes.
Same birthmark.
Same name.
He whispered:
"She finally found her sister."
Then he hung up.
Above him, hidden behind a wall of monitors, one screen showed Amelia standing inside the archive.
And beside her—
another live feed.
A woman.
Twenty-nine years old.
Dark hair.
Blue eyes.
The same birthmark beneath her left eye.
She was sitting in a dark room.
May you like
Watching Amelia.
And smiling.
