Chapter 5 - The Name My Mother Hid From Me
The message was still glowing on my phone.
They found your children.
For several seconds, I forgot how to breathe.
The alarms continued screaming around me.
People were moving through the darkness.
Someone knocked over a chair.
Someone shouted for security.
But all I could see was that photograph.
Lily.
Noah.
Sleeping in their beds.
Completely unaware that their lives had just been pulled into something I didn't understand.
"Hannah."
Daniel's voice cut through the chaos.
I looked up.
He was standing in front of me.
The same man who had sat at my dinner table.
The same man my children had laughed with.
The same man whose name was written beside mine on a document that made no sense.
"Where are they?"
My voice barely worked.
Daniel looked at my phone.
His face changed.
Not confusion.
Not surprise.
Fear.
"They're at home."
"Then why are you standing here?"
That question hit him.
Because he knew exactly what I meant.
Why wasn't he already running?
Why wasn't he already protecting them?
Why was he frozen?
"I need you to listen to me."
"No."
I stepped back.
"I have listened all day."
My voice cracked.
"I listened when you said you were lonely. I listened when you warned me to be careful. I listened when you told me you were protecting me."
I held up my phone.
"Now someone is watching my children."
The entire lobby went silent around us.
"I need answers."
Daniel looked at Charles.
Then Victoria.
Then back at me.
Finally, he said:
"We need to leave."
I laughed.
A small, broken sound.
"That's your answer?"
"No."
He moved closer.
"It's the only way to keep them safe."
I wanted to hate him.
I really did.
But there was something in his eyes.
Something that told me he wasn't pretending.
Not now.
Not about this.
Charles stepped forward.
"He's right."
I looked at him.
"You don't get to agree with him."
His expression tightened.
"I know."
"Do you?"
I held the birth certificate in my hand.
"My entire life has been a lie."
Charles didn't argue.
That made it worse.
"My mother told me you abandoned us."
He looked down.
"I know."
"She told me she raised me alone."
"I know."
"She told me you were gone."
His voice became quieter.
"Because she wanted you to hate me."
The words stopped me.
"Why?"
Charles looked at the paper in my hand.
"Because if you loved me, they could use you to find me."
I stared at him.
"They?"
Nobody answered.
Again.
That word.
That impossible word.
They.
Like there was some invisible enemy controlling everything.
Like my entire life had been a hiding place.
Victoria picked up the fallen documents.
"Hannah, there is something you need to understand."
I looked at her.
"Please don't tell me you know another secret."
Her expression softened.
"I know this is overwhelming."
"That's not an answer."
She nodded.
"You're right."
She handed me the folder.
"Read the first page."
I looked down.
The file contained years of information.
Medical records.
School records.
Addresses.
Photographs.
But the first page was different.
At the top was a title.
PROJECT AURORA.
I frowned.
"What is this?"
Charles looked away.
Daniel closed his eyes.
Like he had been waiting for this moment.
Victoria answered.
"Your mother was part of a research program."
I stared at her.
"What kind of research?"
She hesitated.
Then:
"A program designed to study memory, genetics, and identity protection."
I almost laughed.
"That sounds insane."
"It was."
Victoria's voice was serious.
"But it was real."
I looked at Daniel.
"And what does this have to do with me?"
Nobody spoke.
Then Charles answered.
"Everything."
The lights suddenly returned.
The emergency alarms stopped.
The lobby became quiet again.
Almost too quiet.
A security guard rushed toward the entrance.
"Mr. Reed."
Daniel turned.
The guard looked nervous.
"There is something you need to see."
Daniel's face changed.
"What?"
The guard handed him a tablet.
Daniel looked at the screen.
Then immediately gave it back.
"No."
My heart dropped.
"What?"
He looked at me.
"Hannah..."
"What happened?"
He didn't answer.
I grabbed the tablet.
He tried to stop me.
But I saw it.
A security camera feed.
My apartment building.
The hallway outside my door.
The timestamp was from ten minutes ago.
The camera showed someone standing outside my apartment.
A man.
Wearing a dark coat.
Holding something in his hand.
I zoomed in.
The image was blurry.
But I could see enough.
He was holding an old photograph.
A photograph of me.
I looked at Daniel.
"Who is that?"
Daniel didn't answer.
Charles did.
And his voice was almost a whisper.
"Someone who should have been dead."
The words made my skin crawl.
"What does that mean?"
Charles looked at the screen.
"That means your mother wasn't the only person who disappeared."
The room went silent.
I stared at the image.
The stranger outside my apartment.
The person who had been watching my children.
The person holding my photograph.
Then the camera feed changed.
The man stepped closer to my front door.
He lifted his hand.
And placed something on the ground.
A package.
Daniel immediately grabbed his phone.
He made a call.
No greeting.
No explanation.
Just one sentence.
"Get to Hannah's apartment now."
I looked at him.
"Why?"
His face was pale.
"Because that package isn't a threat."
I waited.
"What is it?"
He looked at the screen again.
"It's an invitation."
I didn't understand.
Then my phone buzzed.
A new message.
This time from my mother.
The screen showed only one sentence.
"Hannah, if you are reading this, it means he found you."
My hands shook.
Another message appeared.
"He is not coming for your children."
I stared at the words.
May you like
Then the final message arrived.
"He is coming to show you what Daniel did the night you were born."
