Chapter 6 - The Truth Hidden in My Blood
Someone whispered my name.
"Avery."
The lights remained off.
Nobody moved.
Nobody breathed.
Because everyone in that room knew the same thing.
Someone was standing outside.
Someone who had found us.
Commander Ward reached for his weapon.
Briggs moved in front of me.
I noticed that.
Four days earlier, he had been the person standing against me.
Now he was protecting me.
The irony almost made me smile.
Almost.
Daniel turned toward the door.
His expression changed immediately.
Not fear.
Recognition.
"You know who that is."
It wasn't a question.
Daniel didn't answer.
That was enough.
I stepped closer.
"Who is outside?"
Silence.
"Daniel."
His eyes met mine.
And for the first time since I met him, he looked like a man who had run out of places to hide.
"Someone your father was afraid of."
The hallway light flickered back on.
The door remained closed.
But the shadow disappeared.
Whoever had been outside was gone.
Or wanted us to think they were.
Commander Ward slowly lowered his weapon.
"Everyone stays together."
I looked at him.
"No."
His eyes narrowed.
"What?"
I picked up the photograph from the box.
The picture of me as a child.
The words on the back still burned in my mind.
She was never alone.
"For twelve years, everyone has been telling me what I should know."
I looked around the room.
"My father."
"My mother."
"You."
"All of you decided I couldn't handle the truth."
Nobody spoke.
"So now I decide."
I held up the photograph.
"I want everything."
We moved deeper into the hidden facility.
Daniel carried the box.
Commander Ward carried the old files.
Briggs stayed beside me.
Nobody talked.
Because everyone was thinking about the same thing.
The person behind this.
The person who had been watching.
The person who knew about me before I even knew myself.
Finally, Briggs broke the silence.
"You said your father was investigating why people were interested in you."
I nodded.
"Yes."
"Did he ever tell you anything unusual about your childhood?"
I thought about it.
My childhood.
The memories.
The small details I ignored because they seemed normal.
My father checking the locks every night.
My mother changing phone numbers.
The constant warnings.
Don't tell strangers where you live.
Don't share personal information.
Don't trust people too easily.
Back then, I thought every family was like that.
Now...
I wasn't so sure.
"My parents were careful."
Briggs looked at me.
"Too careful?"
I didn't answer.
Because I knew.
We reached another room.
A smaller archive.
No military markings.
No security signs.
Just a single door.
Daniel inserted the metal key.
The lock opened.
Inside was a wall covered with photographs.
I stopped.
Because every photograph was of me.
Different ages.
Different places.
School.
Training.
Graduation.
My first military assignment.
My stomach tightened.
"Someone was following me."
Daniel nodded.
"For years."
I turned around.
"Who?"
He looked at the wall.
"That's what your father was trying to discover."
I walked closer.
There were dates written beneath each photograph.
Some were recent.
Too recent.
One photograph was taken three months ago.
At Fort Adams.
Before I even arrived.
I touched the image.
"Someone knew I would come here."
Commander Ward looked away.
That told me something.
"Commander."
He didn't respond.
"How much did you know?"
A long pause.
Then:
"More than I told you."
The answer hurt.
Even though I expected it.
"What does that mean?"
Ward took a breath.
"Your father asked me to watch over you."
I stared at him.
"You watched me?"
"Not like that."
"Then explain."
He looked exhausted.
"I protected your records. I blocked certain people from accessing your information. I made sure you stayed invisible."
I laughed quietly.
"Invisible?"
I looked at the photographs.
"Someone was taking pictures of me."
Ward lowered his head.
"I failed."
Daniel opened another file.
Inside was a document.
Old.
Damaged.
But still readable.
He handed it to me.
The title made my heart stop.
PROJECT AURORA.
"What is this?"
Daniel looked at Commander Ward.
Then at me.
"Your father found this twelve years ago."
I read the first page.
It wasn't about weapons.
It wasn't about military operations.
It was about people.
Specifically...
children.
My hands became cold.
"What am I reading?"
Daniel answered quietly.
"A program that studied unusual abilities in children from military families."
I looked up.
"Abilities?"
"Intelligence patterns. Reaction speed. Memory. Adaptation."
I stared at him.
"And what does that have to do with me?"
Nobody answered.
I already knew.
I just didn't want to say it.
Daniel did.
"Your father believed you were selected."
The room went silent.
"For what?"
Daniel looked at the document.
"To become something they could control."
I stepped away.
"No."
Nobody argued.
"No, that doesn't make sense."
My voice became louder.
"My father was a soldier. My mother was a teacher. I had a normal childhood."
Daniel looked at me.
"Did you?"
The question stopped me.
Because suddenly...
I remembered.
The tests.
The doctors.
The strange appointments when I was young.
My mother saying they were just medical checkups.
My father getting angry every time someone mentioned them.
The memory had always been there.
I just never connected it.
Commander Ward spoke quietly.
"When Marcus found out what they were doing, he destroyed the program."
I looked at him.
"Then why are they still looking for me?"
Ward didn't answer.
Daniel did.
"Because your father didn't destroy everything."
He opened the final file.
"He saved one thing."
"What?"
Daniel placed a small device on the table.
A recording.
"Your father's final message."
My hands froze.
"Final?"
Daniel nodded.
"This one was never meant to be found."
The recording started.
Static.
Then my father's voice.
But different.
Broken.
Tired.
"Avery."
I closed my eyes.
Hearing him again was harder this time.
"If you are watching this, then the people I feared have found you."
A pause.
"I need you to understand something."
The screen showed my father's face.
"I did not hide you because you were weak."
My eyes filled.
"I hid you because you were the strongest person I knew."
I looked down.
"Your ability was never the thing they wanted."
The recording paused.
Then:
"They wanted your choice."
Nobody moved.
"They wanted to prove that someone could be shaped. Controlled. Programmed."
My father leaned closer to the camera.
"But I learned something."
His voice became firm.
"They were wrong."
The screen flickered.
"Because Avery Mitchell was never created by them."
A pause.
"She was created by love."
I covered my mouth.
For the first time in years...
I felt like I understood him.
Not completely.
But enough.
Then my father's expression changed.
Fear.
Real fear.
"If you're seeing this, there is one person you must find before they do."
A name appeared on the screen.
Everyone froze.
Commander Ward stepped closer.
"No."
I looked at him.
"You know that name."
His face went pale.
Because he did.
My father continued.
"This person knows the truth about Project Aurora."
The screen showed the name.
A person I had never met.
A person connected to my past.
A person who had been hiding in plain sight.
Then the recording ended.
Nobody spoke.
I stared at the name.
Then I heard footsteps outside the archive.
Slow.
Calm.
Coming closer.
Briggs looked toward the door.
"Someone followed us."
Commander Ward reached for his weapon.
Daniel whispered:
"They found the room."
The handle began to turn.
And then a voice came from the other side.
A voice I recognized.
A voice I never expected to hear again.
May you like
"Open the door, Avery."
It was my mother.
