CHAPTER 12 — THE NIGHT THEY CAME FOR MY BABY
CHAPTER 12 — THE NIGHT THEY CAME FOR MY BABY
The message remained on the screen.
PROJECT ZERO HAS BEEN REACTIVATED.
For several seconds, nobody moved.
Then Lily began to cry.
Not loudly.
Not like an ordinary newborn.
It was a strange, sudden cry that seemed to echo through the abandoned parking lot.
Anna covered her ears.
“Make it stop.”
I looked at her.
“What?”
“The sound.”
“It’s just my baby crying.”
“No.”
Anna shook her head violently.
“She isn't just crying.”
Luka stepped closer.
“What do you hear?”
Anna stared at Lily.
“A signal.”
My blood ran cold.
“What signal?”
Anna looked at the black drive.
“The same one they used on me.”
Then the lights of the city disappeared.
One by one.
Streetlights.
Buildings.
Traffic signals.
Everything went dark.
Ethan looked toward the road.
“They're here.”
My mother grabbed my arm.
“Who?”
Ethan pointed toward the highway.
Black vehicles were moving toward us.
No headlights.
No license plates.
At least twenty.
Luka pulled out his weapon.
“Get inside.”
“Where?”
“The old warehouse.”
We ran.
I held Lily against my chest.
Anna stayed beside me.
My mother followed.
Ethan slammed the warehouse door behind us.
Seconds later, headlights swept across the windows.
They had found us.
Luka locked the metal door.
“There's another exit?”
Ethan nodded.
“On the east side.”
“Then we move.”
A loud metallic crash came from outside.
Someone was trying to break in.
Luka looked at me.
“Stay behind me.”
I nodded.
Then Lily stopped crying.
The silence was worse.
Anna stared at her.
“She knows they're here.”
I frowned.
“She can't know that.”
Anna shook her head.
“You keep thinking she's an ordinary baby.”
I looked down.
Lily's eyes were open.
Wide.
Unnaturally calm.
She wasn't looking at me.
She was staring toward the door.
Then she smiled.
My heart stopped.
“Why is she smiling?”
Anna whispered:
“Because she recognizes them.”
A second crash shook the building.
Ethan looked through a crack in the wall.
“There are at least thirty.”
My mother went pale.
“Victor?”
“No.”
Ethan shook his head.
“Worse.”
“Who?”
He looked at me.
“Government vehicles.”
The door exploded inward.
Luka fired.
We ran.
Bullets tore through the metal shelves.
Ethan pushed open the emergency door.
“Go!”
I ran with Lily.
Anna followed.
My mother stumbled.
I grabbed her.
“Come on!”
Behind us, Luka fired again.
Then shouted:
“Run!”
We reached the alley.
A black SUV screeched to a stop.
A man jumped out.
“Get in!”
I recognized him.
Dr. Samuel Mercer.
I froze.
“You said you were staying behind.”
“I lied.”
He grabbed my arm.
“You have three minutes before they surround the block.”
I climbed into the vehicle.
Everyone followed.
Mercer slammed the accelerator.
We sped away.
For ten minutes, nobody spoke.
Then I looked at Mercer.
“Who are they?”
“Division Nine.”
“What is Division Nine?”
“The government department created to monitor M-17.”
My mother stared.
“I thought it was dissolved.”
“It was.”
“Then who controls it?”
Mercer looked at me through the mirror.
“Victor doesn't.”
“Who does?”
“Your grandfather.”
Silence.
“My grandfather is dead.”
Mercer nodded.
“Yes.”
“Then how?”
“He left something behind.”
“What?”
“A command system.”
My blood ran cold.
“Project Zero.”
Mercer nodded.
“Exactly.”
I looked at the black drive.
“So the system is active.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because Lily triggered it.”
“How?”
Mercer glanced at her.
“Her birth.”
I stared at my daughter.
“She was born in a hospital.”
“She was born carrying the activation sequence.”
“Which means?”
“Every dormant system connected to M-17 woke up.”
My mother whispered:
“God help us.”
Mercer shook his head.
“God isn't involved.”
He looked at me.
“Your family is.”
We reached a safe house before dawn.
It was a small farmhouse hidden beyond a forest.
No electricity.
No phone service.
No internet.
For the first time in hours, I thought we might be safe.
Mercer inspected the windows.
“Stay inside.”
Luka stood beside me.
“I'll watch the perimeter.”
I looked at him.
“You're exhausted.”
“So are you.”
“I'm serious.”
“So am I.”
He smiled faintly.
Then Lily began crying.
Luka looked at her.
“She likes you.”
I smiled.
“She does.”
He stepped closer.
“Can I hold her?”
I hesitated.
Then handed Lily to him.
He cradled her carefully.
The terrifying man who had once been conditioned to kill me now held my daughter like she was the most fragile thing in the world.
Lily stopped crying.
Luka looked down.
“She trusts me.”
“She does.”
He smiled.
“I don't deserve that.”
I touched his arm.
“You didn't choose what they did to you.”
“No.”
He looked at me.
“But I choose what I do now.”
Then Lily's tiny hand wrapped around his finger.
Luka's eyes filled with tears.
“I'll never let them take her.”
I believed him.
I shouldn't have.
Three hours later, I woke to silence.
Lily was gone.
I sat up.
“Luka?”
No answer.
“Lily?”
Nothing.
I ran into the next room.
The crib was empty.
My heart stopped.
“LUKA!”
Everyone woke.
My mother rushed in.
“Where is she?”
“I don't know!”
Mercer checked the back door.
“It's locked.”
Ethan searched the windows.
“No damage.”
Anna stood completely still.
“What?”
She looked at me.
“They didn't break in.”
“Then where is my daughter?”
Anna pointed toward the floor.
A tiny black symbol had been burned into the wooden boards.
Three lines around a circle.
The same mark that had appeared on Lily's wrist.
Mercer stared at it.
“No.”
“What?”
“They didn't take her.”
“Then where is she?”
He looked terrified.
“She opened the door.”
I stared.
“My baby?”
“She activated the system.”
A monitor suddenly turned on.
There was no electricity.
But the screen lit up anyway.
A camera feed appeared.
Lily was lying in a white room.
Alone.
My heart broke.
“No.”
I rushed toward the screen.
“Where is she?”
Mercer grabbed my arm.
“Don't.”
“That's my daughter!”
“I know.”
“Then tell me where she is!”
He stared at the screen.
“Project Zero.”
A voice came through the speakers.
“Good morning, Elena.”
I froze.
Victor.
“You found her.”
“Give her back.”
“Not yet.”
“What do you want?”
“You.”
“I'll come.”
“I know.”
“Then let her go.”
Victor laughed.
“You still don't understand.”
He zoomed the camera.
Lily was lying beneath a scanner.
“Your daughter isn't my hostage.”
“What is she?”
“The key.”
“To what?”
“The original vault.”
I stared.
“What vault?”
“The place where your grandfather hid the cure.”
My mother went pale.
“What cure?”
Victor smiled.
“The cure for death.”
Mercer stepped forward.
“Victor, listen to me.”
“Samuel.”
“You can't do this.”
“I already did.”
“She's an infant.”
“She is the only viable carrier.”
“For what?”
Victor paused.
Then his voice became cold.
“For Project Zero.”
The screen changed.
A diagram appeared.
Human DNA.
Then another.
Then another.
At the center was a genetic sequence highlighted in red.
VALE PRIME.
Mercer whispered:
“The original sequence.”
Victor continued:
“Your grandfather discovered a biological mechanism capable of repairing cellular damage.”
My mother stared at the screen.
“Immortality.”
“Yes.”
“But why M-17?”
“To stabilize it.”
Victor smiled.
“And Lily is the first successful carrier.”
I looked at my daughter.
“No.”
Victor laughed.
“She was born with it.”
“She doesn't belong to you.”
“She belongs to history.”
“She is my child.”
“Then prove it.”
The screen went black.
I turned toward Mercer.
“We're going.”
“No.”
“We're going.”
“It's a trap.”
“I don't care.”
“If you walk into Project Zero, they will take you too.”
“Then help me.”
He stared at me.
“I can get you inside.”
My mother stepped forward.
“No.”
I looked at her.
“Mom.”
“You can't go.”
“They have my baby.”
“I know.”
“Then what do you expect me to do?”
My mother grabbed my hands.
“You don't understand what Project Zero is.”
“I understand enough.”
“No.”
She shook her head.
“Your grandfather didn't discover immortality.”
I froze.
“Then what?”
“He discovered something worse.”
“What?”
My mother looked at Anna.
Anna whispered:
“Memory.”
I frowned.
“Memory?”
My mother nodded.
“He discovered that memories could be transferred.”
My blood ran cold.
“Between people?”
“Yes.”
“Why would anyone want that?”
My mother looked at Lily.
“Because if you could transfer memories…”
She swallowed.
“…you could transfer identity.”
I understood.
“They want to put someone's memories into Lily.”
“Yes.”
“Whose?”
My mother didn't answer.
Mercer did.
“Your grandfather's.”
The room went silent.
“But he's dead.”
“Yes.”
“So how can they transfer his memories?”
“Because he recorded them.”
“Where?”
“In the genetic code.”
I stared.
“That isn't possible.”
Mercer shook his head.
“Not naturally.”
“But Project Zero…”
“Was designed to make it possible.”
I looked at Lily.
“They want to turn my daughter into him.”
“Yes.”
My mother cried.
“No.”
I looked at her.
“Is there a way to stop it?”
She nodded.
“One.”
“What?”
“Destroy the original bloodline.”
I froze.
“What does that mean?”
“Your blood.”
My mother pointed at me.
“Your blood is the last complete maternal sequence.”
“If I die…”
“Project Zero dies with you.”
I understood.
Victor hadn't kidnapped Lily because he wanted her.
He had kidnapped her because he needed me.
And suddenly his earlier words made sense.
Then prove it.
He wanted me to come.
He wanted my blood.
He wanted my daughter.
And he wanted the last living piece of the Vale bloodline.
That night, we prepared to leave.
Luka checked his weapons.
Ethan studied the building plans.
Mercer packed medical equipment.
Anna sat beside me.
“You don't have to go.”
I looked at her.
“She is my daughter.”
“I know.”
“And you're my sister.”
Anna smiled.
“It's strange hearing you say that.”
“Why?”
“Because I spent twenty-five years believing I had no family.”
I took her hand.
“You do now.”
She looked at me.
“Promise me something.”
“What?”
“If you have to choose…”
She hesitated.
“Choose Lily.”
I nodded.
“I will.”
She smiled.
“Even if it means leaving me?”
“Yes.”
“Good.”
She hugged me.
Then whispered:
“I'll make sure you don't have to.”
We left before sunrise.
A convoy of three vehicles traveled through the forest.
Luka drove.
I sat beside him.
My mother and Anna were behind us.
Ethan and Mercer followed.
The black drive remained in my pocket.
We reached the coordinates.
A massive steel door emerged from the mountainside.
Luka stopped.
Mercer entered a code.
The door opened.
Inside was darkness.
Then lights came on.
A corridor stretched deep underground.
We moved forward.
At the end was a massive chamber.
And in the center…
Lily.
She lay inside a transparent capsule.
Machines surrounded her.
I screamed.
“LILY!”
I ran forward.
Luka grabbed me.
“Wait.”
“No!”
A voice echoed through the chamber.
“Welcome, Elena.”
Victor stepped out of the shadows.
Behind him stood dozens of armed guards.
And beside them…
a man in a wheelchair.
Old.
Weak.
But unmistakably alive.
My mother stopped breathing.
“Impossible.”
I stared.
“Who is that?”
Victor smiled.
“Your grandfather.”
The old man slowly lifted his head.
His eyes met mine.
Then he smiled.
“You have your mother's eyes.”
My heart stopped.
He wasn't supposed to be alive.
Victor stepped aside.
“Meet the man who started everything.”
My grandfather looked at Lily.
Then at me.
And whispered:
“Finally.”
He smiled.
“The final generation has arrived.”
Then every door in the facility locked simultaneously.
And the lights went red.
Luka pulled his weapon.
Mercer whispered:
“We're trapped.”
Victor smiled.
“No.”
He looked at me.
“She's trapped.”
May you like
He pointed toward Lily.
And the capsule began filling with liquid.
