Chapter 10 - The Child Hidden In The Records
The old hospital looked smaller than I expected.
That was the first thing that surprised me.
After everything I had learned, after every secret and every lie, I expected the place where my entire life changed to look terrifying.
Abandoned.
Impossible.
But it didn't.
It was just a building.
Old brick walls.
Faded signs.
A parking lot with cracks running through it.
A place where people had walked in carrying hope and walked out carrying memories they could never erase.
Or maybe memories they were forced to lose.
I sat in the car staring at the entrance.
Nobody spoke.
Daniel sat beside me.
My mother was in the back seat.
Charles had refused to come inside.
That alone told me something.
For the first time since meeting him, he looked afraid.
Not angry.
Not powerful.
Afraid.
"What happened here?"
My question was directed at everyone.
Daniel answered.
"This is where everything changed."
I looked at him.
"That doesn't tell me anything."
He nodded.
"I know."
I hated that answer.
But I was starting to understand something.
Everyone around me carried pieces of the truth.
Nobody carried the whole thing.
Maybe not even me.
We entered through the side entrance.
Victoria had arranged access.
She always seemed to have a way into places.
Another thing I didn't understand about her.
The hallway smelled old.
Like a place that had been closed too long.
The lights flickered above us.
My mother walked slowly beside me.
I noticed her hands shaking.
That was strange.
Because Evelyn Pierce had faced everything.
Project Aurora.
Charles.
Years of hiding.
But this place scared her.
"Mom."
She stopped.
I looked at her.
"You never came back here."
She looked down.
"No."
"Why?"
Her eyes moved toward the end of the hallway.
"Because this is where I lost you."
The words hit me.
"What?"
She took a breath.
"The night you asked me to erase your memories."
I stopped walking.
"You keep saying that."
I looked at her.
"But I don't understand."
My mother looked at me.
"You were twenty-four years old."
I frowned.
"I don't remember."
"I know."
"You keep saying I chose this."
She nodded.
"You did."
"Why?"
Her face broke.
"Because you found the baby."
The hallway suddenly felt colder.
The baby.
The one from the video.
The one who was apparently still alive.
"What baby?"
My mother looked away.
"The baby they wanted to hide."
Daniel stepped forward.
"There's something you need to know."
I turned to him.
"About what?"
He looked at the hospital doors ahead.
"About why you became Subject One."
We walked deeper into the building.
The records room was at the end of the hall.
A place that should have been empty.
But when Victoria opened the door, I immediately knew someone had been there recently.
Files were scattered across the floor.
Drawers were open.
Computer screens were broken.
Someone had searched the room.
"Who came here?"
Victoria walked inside.
Her expression changed.
"They were looking for something."
I looked at the destroyed files.
"What?"
Daniel moved toward a cabinet.
"This."
He pulled out a small metal box.
Locked.
My mother immediately stepped forward.
"No."
Everyone looked at her.
She looked terrified.
"Don't open that."
I stared at her.
"Why?"
She didn't answer.
"Mom."
Her eyes filled.
"Because once you see what's inside, you can't pretend anymore."
I almost smiled.
Pretend?
That word almost sounded funny.
"My whole life has been pretending."
I took the box.
"I think I'm done pretending."
Daniel watched me.
"I'll open it."
I looked at him.
"No."
My voice was calm.
"You've opened enough things for me."
That hurt him.
I saw it.
But I didn't care.
Not yet.
I opened the box.
Inside was a small collection of documents.
Photos.
And one hospital bracelet.
My hands froze.
The bracelet was tiny.
A newborn's bracelet.
I picked it up.
The name was faded.
But still readable.
A name.
Not mine.
Not Lily.
Not Noah.
A name I had never heard before.
"Emma."
Nobody spoke.
I looked at my mother.
"Who is Emma?"
Her face went pale.
Daniel looked away.
Victoria whispered:
"Oh my God."
I turned toward her.
"You know."
She shook her head.
"No."
But her expression said otherwise.
I looked at the documents.
The first page was a medical record.
The second was a birth certificate.
The third was a photograph.
A baby.
Wrapped in a white blanket.
My hands started shaking.
Because the baby looked familiar.
Not because I had seen her.
Because something inside me remembered.
A sound.
A cry.
A hospital room.
My arms holding something small.
My voice whispering:
"I won't let them take you."
I dropped the photograph.
The memory disappeared.
I grabbed the edge of the table.
Daniel caught my arm.
"Are you okay?"
I pulled away.
"Don't touch me."
He stopped.
"I remembered something."
Everyone became still.
"What?"
I looked at the photo.
"I knew her."
My mother started crying.
"Yes."
The answer came quietly.
"You did."
I turned toward her.
"Who was she?"
My mother wiped her tears.
"Your sister."
The world stopped.
I couldn't understand the words.
"My..."
I looked at the bracelet.
"My sister?"
She nodded.
"Emma was born three years after you."
I stared.
"That's impossible."
"No."
My mother stepped closer.
"It's the truth."
I shook my head.
"Why don't I remember having a sister?"
Nobody answered.
Then Daniel said:
"Because they removed her from every record."
I looked at him.
"Who?"
His face became serious.
"The people who created Project Aurora."
I looked back at my mother.
"You let me forget my sister?"
My mother's tears fell.
"I didn't want you to forget."
"Then why?"
"Because Emma was the reason they came after you."
I looked at the bracelet.
"Why?"
My mother took a deep breath.
"Because Emma was the first child born after the research changed."
I waited.
"What does that mean?"
She looked at me.
"Emma had the same ability you did."
The room went quiet.
"She could remember."
I looked at Daniel.
"And she was alive?"
Nobody answered.
That was enough.
My heart started racing.
"Where is she?"
My mother looked at the floor.
"Hannah..."
"Where is my sister?"
Daniel stepped closer.
"We don't know."
I stared at him.
"You said the baby is alive."
He nodded.
"Yes."
"Then where is she?"
He looked at the documents.
"Someone moved her."
"Who?"
Silence.
Then my phone buzzed.
Everyone looked at me.
Unknown number.
A message.
A photo appeared.
My hands went cold.
It was a picture of a woman.
A young woman.
Standing outside a building.
Holding a folder.
I didn't recognize her face.
But I recognized the necklace around her neck.
The same necklace my mother wore in every childhood photo.
The same necklace I had seen in my memories.
Under the picture was a message.
"She has been waiting for you."
Another message arrived.
"The truth was never hidden from you."
A pause.
Then the final message appeared.
"You were hiding it from yourself."
I looked up.
Daniel was staring at the phone.
Because he recognized the address attached to the photo.
His face turned completely pale.
"It's impossible."
"What?"
He looked at me.
"The woman in the picture..."
His voice dropped.
"She's been dead for twenty years."
I looked back at the screen.
The woman's face.
The necklace.
May you like
The location.
Then the hospital door behind us slowly opened.
