Chapter 9 - The Room That Never Existed
The phone continued ringing.
Nobody moved.
Nobody breathed.
Because everyone in the room was staring at the same name.
Elena Valenti.
Dante stared at Clara.
The nurse looked terrified.
"Answer it."
His voice was quiet.
But everyone heard the command.
Clara's hands shook as she picked up the phone.
She didn't say anything.
For several seconds, there was only silence.
Then a voice came through the speaker.
"Dante."
The entire world stopped.
Because he knew that voice.
He had heard it every morning.
Every night.
In his memories.
In his dreams.
Elena.
His wife.
The woman who died nineteen days ago.
Dante stepped closer.
"Elena?"
His voice broke slightly.
Only slightly.
But enough.
Clara looked at him.
Marco looked away.
Even Victor lowered his eyes.
The voice on the phone was soft.
"Dante, if you are hearing this, then they failed to stop you."
Dante grabbed the phone from Clara.
"Where are you?"
Silence.
Then Elena spoke again.
"I need you to listen."
His hand tightened.
"Elena, where are you?"
"I don't have much time."
Dante closed his eyes.
For nineteen days, he had imagined hearing her voice again.
But never like this.
Never through a phone.
Never after everyone told him she was gone.
"Tell me where you are."
"I can't."
The answer hurt.
"Why?"
"Because if you know, they will know."
Dante looked around the room.
At everyone.
At the secrets.
At the lies.
"Who are they?"
Elena paused.
Then whispered:
"The same people who took our son."
Dante's breathing changed.
"He's alive?"
A long silence followed.
Then:
"Yes."
The word almost broke him.
Alive.
His son was alive.
After nineteen days of believing everything had been taken from him.
Alive.
Dante closed his eyes.
"Where is he?"
"I hid him."
"Where?"
"I need you to trust Clara."
Dante looked at the nurse.
Clara lowered her head.
"I don't understand."
Elena continued.
"Clara saved our son."
Dante stared at her.
The woman who had been hiding something.
The woman who admitted moving his baby.
The woman he almost believed had betrayed him.
"Why didn't she tell me?"
"Because I asked her not to."
Dante looked at Clara.
The nurse started crying.
"Elena came to me before the explosion."
Clara's voice was barely audible.
Dante turned.
"What?"
Clara wiped her tears.
"She knew something would happen."
The phone remained in Dante's hand.
Elena continued.
"Clara was the only person I trusted inside the hospital."
Dante looked at Adrian.
Then Victor.
Then Marco.
"So you trusted a nurse more than everyone else."
"Yes."
The answer was immediate.
Because Elena knew.
She knew exactly who would betray them.
Dante looked down.
"Why didn't you tell me?"
Elena's voice softened.
"Because you would have tried to fight."
Dante almost smiled.
Almost.
She knew him.
"You know me."
"Better than anyone."
Silence.
Then Elena said:
"Dante, you cannot go after them."
His expression changed.
"What?"
"You heard me."
"Someone took our son."
"I know."
"Someone killed you."
"I know."
"And you want me to do nothing?"
"No."
Her voice became serious.
"I want you to survive long enough to get him back."
Those words changed something.
Because Elena wasn't asking him to forgive.
She wasn't asking him to forget.
She was asking him to think.
The way only she could make him.
"Where is Room 0?"
Dante asked.
Everyone looked at him.
The phone went silent.
Then Elena answered:
"Under the old maternity wing."
Clara looked up.
"How did you know?"
Dante ignored the question.
"Why does that room exist?"
Elena took a breath.
"Because your father built it."
Dante froze.
"My father?"
"Yes."
"Why?"
"Because he knew one day your family would be betrayed."
Marco looked at Dante.
Victor closed his eyes.
The truth was getting closer.
But every answer opened another question.
"What is inside?"
Elena whispered:
"The truth."
Dante looked at the underground elevator.
"About what?"
"Everything."
The call became weaker.
"Elena?"
"Dante..."
Her voice trembled.
And for the first time, he heard fear.
Not for herself.
For him.
"When you find our son..."
A pause.
"Do not believe the first thing you see."
Dante frowned.
"What does that mean?"
The line crackled.
"Because the person who brings him back..."
Another pause.
"May not be trying to save him."
The call ended.
Dante stood frozen.
The silence afterward was unbearable.
Clara looked at him.
"I'm sorry."
Dante slowly turned.
"You should have told me."
"I wanted to."
"But you didn't."
Clara nodded.
"I was scared."
Dante understood.
Because everyone was scared.
Everyone except him.
Or maybe he was just better at hiding it.
Marco stepped forward.
"We need to go."
Dante looked at him.
"Where?"
"Room 0."
Victor shook his head.
"No."
Everyone turned.
Victor looked serious.
"You cannot go there."
Dante stared.
"Why?"
"Because that room was never meant to be opened."
Dante stepped closer.
"You know what's inside."
Victor didn't answer.
Dante grabbed his coat.
"Move."
Victor blocked him.
"No."
The room went silent.
Because nobody stopped Dante Valenti.
Nobody.
Dante looked at him.
"You have lied to me for years."
Victor didn't move.
"You helped hide my wife's secrets."
"I was protecting you."
"Stop saying that."
Dante's voice became cold.
"Everyone who betrays me says the same thing."
Victor looked hurt.
But he moved.
Dante walked toward the elevator.
Clara followed.
Marco followed.
Adrian hesitated.
Dante looked back.
"You too."
The doctor looked surprised.
"Why?"
"Because you know more than anyone."
Adrian slowly nodded.
They entered the old elevator.
The doors closed.
The numbers descended.
One floor.
Two floors.
Three.
The hospital above them became quieter.
The modern building disappeared.
The walls changed.
Old concrete.
Old wires.
Old security cameras.
A part of the hospital nobody knew existed.
The elevator stopped.
The doors opened.
A dark hallway waited.
At the end was a metal door.
No sign.
No number.
Nothing.
Except one small engraving.
Dante walked closer.
His flashlight moved across the metal.
Three words appeared.
Valenti Bloodline Archive.
Marco stopped behind him.
"I never saw this room."
Victor said nothing.
Dante looked at the lock.
It wasn't electronic.
It wasn't a key.
It was a scanner.
A DNA scanner.
Dante placed his hand against it.
The machine activated.
A green light appeared.
The door unlocked.
Everyone watched.
The door slowly opened.
Inside was a room filled with files.
Photographs.
Medical records.
And one small crib.
Dante stepped forward.
Then stopped.
Because inside the crib was a blanket.
The same blanket Elena had wrapped around their son the night he was born.
And on top of it was a note.
Written in Elena's handwriting.
Dante picked it up.
Only one sentence was written.
If you found this room, it means the person who betrayed us is already inside.
Dante looked up.
Slowly.
May you like
Because behind him...
The door locked itself.
