Chapter 10 - The Door Beneath the Floor
The floor unlocked.
Claire grabbed Emily.
Jacob turned his wheelchair toward the sound.
A section of concrete beneath them split apart.
Metal doors slid sideways.
Cold air rushed upward.
Daniel shouted, “Back!”
A deep mechanical vibration shook the room.
Then the floor dropped.
Claire screamed as the ground beneath her feet shifted.
Jacob grabbed the edge of a metal console.
Daniel lunged toward Claire.
Anna seized Emily.
Elias fell against the wall.
Their father didn't move.
He simply watched.
As if he had been waiting for this moment.
The opening beneath them widened.
A staircase descended into darkness.
Jacob stared at his father.
“You knew.”
His father smiled.
“I built it.”
“You knew this would happen.”
“Yes.”
“Then stop it.”
“No.”
Jacob's face hardened.
“Why?”
His father looked toward Claire.
“Because she has to go down there.”
Claire tightened her arms around Emily.
“No.”
His father looked at the child.
“She is the only one who can open the final door.”
Daniel stepped forward.
“Don't listen to him.”
Their father laughed.
“You still think you're protecting them.”
Daniel raised his weapon.
“I am.”
“You failed six years ago.”
Daniel's expression changed.
Their father continued.
“You failed when you changed the explosives.”
“You knew?”
“I knew everything.”
“You let Jacob believe I killed him.”
“I needed him angry.”
Jacob stared at them.
“What are you talking about?”
Daniel turned.
“Jacob, we need to leave.”
“Not until I understand.”
“We don't have time.”
“You've been saying that for six years.”
Daniel looked toward the opening.
“Then understand this.”
He pointed down.
“That is where they kept the original records.”
Jacob stared.
“Records of what?”
“Everything.”
Claire looked at him.
“Everything?”
Daniel nodded.
“Every operation. Every payment. Every child. Every person your father blackmailed.”
Jacob's voice became quiet.
“And my daughter?”
Daniel looked at Emily.
“She was the last one.”
Claire felt her chest tighten.
“The last one?”
“The final child born into the program.”
Their father interrupted.
“She wasn't born into anything.”
Daniel turned toward him.
“She was born because you ordered it.”
Claire froze.
Jacob stared at his father.
“What?”
Daniel's voice shook with anger.
“You knew Claire was pregnant.”
Their father remained silent.
“You knew she was carrying Jacob's child.”
“Yes.”
“You wanted the baby.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
Their father looked at Emily.
“Because blood matters.”
Jacob rolled forward.
“Stop talking about her like she's property.”
His father looked at him.
“You still don't understand.”
“I understand enough.”
“No.”
His father's expression became strangely calm.
“You think this is about an empire.”
Jacob said nothing.
“It isn't.”
“Then what is it?”
His father looked toward the opening.
“Legacy.”
Claire shook her head.
“That's what every monster says when he wants to justify what he's done.”
His father looked at her.
“You have no idea what your family is capable of.”
Anna stepped forward.
“She does now.”
Their father looked at Anna.
“You survived because I allowed it.”
“No.”
Anna shook her head.
“I survived because Daniel saved me.”
“He saved you from me.”
“Yes.”
“That makes him a traitor.”
Anna smiled.
“Then I'm proud to be one.”
A sharp alarm sounded.
Daniel looked at the monitors.
“Someone is overriding the lockdown.”
Elias moved toward the control panel.
“Who?”
Daniel stared at the screen.
“Cross.”
Jacob's face hardened.
“He's here.”
“Yes.”
“How long?”
Daniel checked the security feed.
“Less than two minutes.”
Claire looked at the staircase.
“Then we go down.”
Jacob looked at her.
“Claire.”
“The door is the only place he can't reach us.”
Daniel shook his head.
“You don't know what's down there.”
“No.”
Claire looked at Emily.
“But she does.”
The little girl was staring at the stairs.
Her face was pale.
She whispered,
“Daddy.”
Jacob looked at her.
“Yes?”
“Don't let Grandpa come with us.”
Jacob's expression changed.
“Why?”
Emily pointed toward the older man.
“He doesn't go downstairs.”
Her father smiled.
“Why don't you tell them what happens when I do?”
Emily began crying.
Claire held her tighter.
“It's okay.”
Emily shook her head.
“No.”
Jacob rolled toward her.
“Tell me.”
Emily looked at him.
“Grandpa disappears.”
Jacob frowned.
“What does that mean?”
“He goes into the dark room.”
“Which room?”
Emily pointed down the stairs.
“The last one.”
Daniel looked at Jacob.
“We need to move.”
Jacob nodded.
“Everyone.”
His father stepped forward.
“I don't think so.”
Daniel raised his weapon.
“Stay back.”
His father smiled.
“You still don't understand the rules.”
He reached into his coat.
Jacob raised his weapon.
“Don't.”
His father slowly removed a small remote.
He pressed one button.
The staircase lights turned on.
One by one.
They illuminated the descent.
At the bottom was a massive steel door.
A red symbol was painted across it.
Claire stared.
She recognized the symbol.
It was the same mark beneath her watch.
Her breathing stopped.
“What is that?”
Daniel looked at her.
“The program's insignia.”
Claire touched her wrist.
“No.”
Daniel nodded.
“You were never just a witness.”
Jacob looked at her.
“What does that mean?”
Claire couldn't answer.
The symbol seemed to trigger something inside her.
A memory.
A room.
A table.
A newborn.
Her own voice.
“I'll do it.”
Claire stumbled backward.
Jacob caught her.
“What happened?”
“I remember.”
“What?”
Claire stared at the door.
“I opened it before.”
Daniel's face changed.
“When?”
“Six years ago.”
Jacob stared.
“You've been here before?”
Claire nodded slowly.
“I remember walking down these stairs.”
Anna stepped closer.
“What else?”
Claire's eyes filled with tears.
“I was carrying Emily.”
Jacob's face went pale.
“And?”
“I was afraid.”
“Of what?”
Claire whispered,
“Of myself.”
Silence.
Daniel looked at her.
“You remembered.”
Claire nodded.
“I did something.”
“What?”
“I locked someone inside.”
Jacob's voice became quiet.
“Who?”
Claire looked at the steel door.
“I don't know.”
A loud metallic bang came from below.
Everyone froze.
Another bang.
Then another.
Something was hitting the other side.
Jacob stared.
“Someone is trapped down there.”
Daniel shook his head.
“No.”
“What?”
Daniel's face had gone pale.
“That's not someone.”
The banging stopped.
A woman's voice came through the door.
Soft.
Weak.
“Claire?”
Claire froze.
She knew that voice.
Her sister.
Anna stepped forward.
“That's impossible.”
The voice came again.
“Please.”
Anna's face drained of color.
“I'm here.”
Claire looked at her.
“That's not me.”
Anna shook her head.
The voice from behind the door whispered,
“Anna.”
Anna stepped backward.
“No.”
Jacob looked between them.
“What is happening?”
Daniel stared at the steel door.
His expression was one of pure fear.
“There's another one.”
Claire's heart stopped.
“Another what?”
Daniel didn't answer.
Their father smiled.
“Now you understand.”
Jacob turned toward him.
“Explain.”
His father looked at Claire.
“Your father was never the only person who knew about the twins.”
Claire's eyes widened.
“Twins?”
Anna whispered,
“What do you mean?”
Their father smiled.
“There were three.”
Silence.
Claire shook her head.
“No.”
Anna's face went white.
“That's impossible.”
“It was supposed to be.”
Jacob stared.
“Three daughters?”
Their father nodded.
“Three girls.”
Claire couldn't breathe.
“Where is the third?”
He looked toward the steel door.
“Behind it.”
Another voice came from the darkness.
A child's voice.
Small.
Frightened.
“Mommy?”
Claire's entire body froze.
Emily suddenly screamed.
“That's not Mommy!”
The steel door began unlocking.
One bolt.
Then another.
Then another.
Daniel raised his weapon.
“Everyone back.”
The final lock clicked.
Claire grabbed Emily.
Jacob positioned himself in front of them.
Anna stood beside Claire.
Elias raised his gun.
Their father simply smiled.
The steel door opened one inch.
Then two.
Cold air poured through.
A pale hand appeared around the edge.
Claire stared at it.
There was a scar on the wrist.
The same scar she carried.
The same scar Anna carried.
The hand tightened around the door.
Then a woman's face slowly appeared in the gap.
Claire stopped breathing.
Anna whispered,
“No.”
Because the woman behind the door had Claire's face.
May you like
Anna's face.
And she was wearing the same military dog tag that Daniel had given Jacob...
