CHAPTER 7 — THE MISSING BOY
CHAPTER 7 — THE MISSING BOY
The Blackwood estate had never looked more threatening.
Rain hammered against the iron gates.
Lightning illuminated the enormous mansion in brief flashes of white.
From a distance, it looked peaceful.
Elegant.
Untouchable.
But beneath the marble floors, behind walls that had stood for generations, something ancient was waiting.
Something Victor Blackwood had spent his entire life believing did not exist.
The original Project Mirror facility.
Hidden beneath his home.
Victor stood in the underground garage, staring at the sealed steel door.
Michael stood beside him.
Daniel and six armed men waited behind them.
Nobody spoke.
Victor looked at Michael.
"You're certain?"
Michael nodded.
"I was brought here."
"When?"
"After they separated us."
Victor frowned.
"You were brought beneath the estate?"
"Yes."
"How long?"
"Three months."
Victor's expression hardened.
"And then?"
"They moved me."
"Where?"
"I don't know."
Victor looked at the steel door.
"How do we open it?"
Michael pointed toward a small panel.
"Your father used his hand."
Victor stepped forward.
He placed his palm against the scanner.
Nothing happened.
He tried again.
Still nothing.
Daniel frowned.
"Maybe it's biometric."
Victor looked at Michael.
"You said his hand."
"I was a child."
Michael shook his head.
"Maybe I remember wrong."
Victor stared at the panel.
Then he noticed something.
A small symbol beneath the scanner.
The black circle.
Three lines.
He touched it.
The panel opened.
Daniel's men raised their weapons.
A cold mechanical voice echoed through the corridor.
"Subject 11 recognized."
Victor froze.
Michael looked at him.
"That's you."
The door opened.
Darkness waited beyond it.
Victor stepped inside.
The lights flickered on one by one.
A long corridor stretched beneath the mansion.
Concrete walls.
Old cameras.
Steel doors.
And numbers.
Victor walked slowly.
He passed Room 05.
Then 06.
Then stopped.
Room 07.
The door was covered in scratches.
Small scratches.
Like someone had dragged their fingernails across the metal.
Lily.
Victor touched the door.
He closed his eyes.
A memory surfaced.
A little girl screaming.
A little boy pounding against the wall.
His father's voice.
"Don't interfere."
Victor opened his eyes.
"I remember this."
Michael stared at him.
"What?"
Victor shook his head.
"Nothing."
Michael stepped closer.
"You remembered something."
Victor looked at him.
"I was here."
"You were."
"I watched."
Michael's face hardened.
"You watched."
Victor nodded.
"I was seventeen."
Michael's expression didn't soften.
"You still watched."
Victor accepted the accusation.
"I know."
They continued.
Room 08.
Michael stopped.
He touched the door.
"This was mine."
Victor looked at him.
"What happened here?"
Michael's expression changed.
"They made me forget you."
Victor's jaw tightened.
"How?"
Michael looked through the small window.
"There was a machine."
"What kind?"
"I don't know."
Michael rubbed his temple.
"They put me inside."
"What did it do?"
"They showed me memories."
Victor waited.
"Some were real."
Michael continued.
"Some weren't."
"Why?"
"They wanted me to stop trusting my own mind."
Victor stared at the room.
"Did it work?"
Michael smiled bitterly.
"For a while."
Then he pointed at the wall.
"There."
Victor looked.
A child's drawing was scratched into the concrete.
Two children holding hands.
Above them was a sun.
Underneath were two names.
LILY.
MICHAEL.
Victor stared.
"They left that?"
Michael shook his head.
"I scratched it."
"When?"
"Before they moved me."
Victor touched the drawing.
"You remembered her."
Michael nodded.
"I never forgot her."
Victor looked away.
For some reason, those words hurt.
Deep beneath the city, Lily woke again.
She was lying on a metal table.
Her wrists were secured.
Bright lights burned above her.
A machine hummed nearby.
She tried to move.
Nothing.
A familiar voice spoke.
"Don't fight it."
Lily turned her head.
Serena stood beside the machine.
"You again."
Serena smiled.
"Yes."
"Where am I?"
"You already know."
"No."
Serena looked around.
"The original facility."
Lily's heart sank.
"Under the Blackwood estate?"
Serena nodded.
Lily stared at her.
"How did you get here?"
"There's more than one entrance."
"And Marcus?"
"Coming."
Lily struggled against the restraints.
"Why?"
Serena didn't answer.
Instead, she picked up a small device.
"Do you know what Subject 07 means?"
Lily glared at her.
"I know what you think it means."
"What?"
"That I'm some experiment."
Serena's expression became cold.
"You were."
"And you?"
Serena looked away.
"So was I."
Lily stared.
"Why do you hate me?"
Serena's jaw tightened.
"Because you survived."
"I didn't ask to."
"I know."
Serena leaned closer.
"That's why it hurts."
Lily frowned.
"What happened to you?"
Serena's eyes became distant.
"They used me as the first test."
"Subject 03?"
"Yes."
"What did they do?"
"They tried to erase my memories."
"Did they?"
Serena smiled bitterly.
"No."
She touched her temple.
"They made them worse."
Lily stared at her.
"I remember everything."
"Everything?"
"Every scream."
"Every child."
"Every time someone begged to go home."
Serena's voice cracked.
"And I remember watching your mother choose you."
Lily froze.
"My mother?"
"Yes."
"What did she choose?"
Serena stared at her.
"You."
Lily shook her head.
"No."
"She chose Subject 07."
"What about Michael?"
Serena looked away.
"She couldn't save both."
Lily's eyes filled with tears.
"You're lying."
"Ask Michael."
Lily's heart stopped.
"What?"
"He knows."
"Knows what?"
Serena didn't answer.
Instead, she activated the machine.
A screen descended from the ceiling.
Old footage appeared.
A young Lily.
A young Michael.
And Elena.
Lily stared.
Her mother was standing between them.
Crying.
A man stood beside her.
Marcus.
He was younger.
But unmistakable.
Marcus said something.
The audio was unclear.
Then Elena shook her head.
She pointed at Lily.
Marcus pointed at Michael.
A heated argument followed.
Then Victor's father entered.
He said one sentence.
The video audio suddenly became clear.
"Choose one."
Lily stopped breathing.
Elena looked at her children.
She was crying.
She touched Lily's face.
Then Michael's.
Finally—
she chose Lily.
The screen went black.
Lily stared in horror.
"No."
Serena looked at her.
"Now you understand."
"No."
"Your mother chose you."
Lily shook her head.
"She wouldn't."
"She did."
"Why?"
Serena's expression hardened.
"Because Project Mirror needed Subject 07."
Lily looked at the machine.
"What makes me different?"
Serena whispered:
"You don't forget."
Lily stared.
"That's impossible."
"No."
Serena stepped closer.
"You don't just remember."
She touched Lily's forehead.
"You remember things that were erased."
Lily's breathing stopped.
"What?"
"That's why they were afraid of you."
Victor and Michael reached the end of the corridor.
A large steel door stood before them.
Above it:
CORE
Victor looked at Michael.
"What is this?"
"The main archive."
"How do we open it?"
Michael pointed.
"There's a code."
Victor looked at the keypad.
"What code?"
Michael closed his eyes.
Then typed.
0-7-0-8.
The door unlocked.
Victor stared.
"Your numbers."
Michael nodded.
Inside was a massive archive room.
Rows of files.
Hard drives.
Old tapes.
Photographs.
Victor walked to the nearest shelf.
He pulled out a file.
SUBJECT 07.
He opened it.
The first page contained a photograph of Lily.
The second—
her mother.
The third—
Victor's father.
The fourth—
Marcus.
Then one final photograph.
Victor stared.
It showed a newborn baby.
A tiny girl.
The name beneath it:
LILY HARPER.
Victor frowned.
The date was fifteen years before the white house incident.
Something was wrong.
He checked the date again.
Lily had been born earlier than he thought.
Daniel stepped closer.
"Boss?"
Victor shook his head.
"These dates don't match."
Michael took the file.
He flipped through it.
Then froze.
"Look."
Victor leaned closer.
A line had been stamped across the page.
GENETIC MATCH CONFIRMED.
Below it:
SUBJECT 07 IS NOT BIOLOGICALLY RELATED TO THE HARPER FAMILY.
Victor stared.
Lily wasn't a Harper.
Michael wasn't a Harper.
Their entire family history had been fabricated.
Victor turned to Michael.
"Who are your real parents?"
Michael looked terrified.
"I don't know."
Victor opened another file.
SUBJECT 08.
The same warning.
IDENTITY FABRICATED.
Michael's face went pale.
"Then who are we?"
Victor looked at the records.
He didn't answer.
Because another file had fallen from the shelf.
It was marked:
SUBJECT 11.
Victor opened it.
His own photograph stared back at him.
His birth date.
His medical history.
Then one sentence.
SUBJECT 11 IS THE BIOLOGICAL SON OF ELENA BLACKWOOD AND MARCUS VALE.
Victor stopped breathing.
Daniel looked at him.
"Boss..."
Victor read it again.
And again.
His hands began to shake.
"No."
Michael stared at him.
"Victor."
Victor stepped backward.
"My father..."
He couldn't finish.
Michael looked at the document.
Then at Victor.
"Your father wasn't your father."
Victor stared at him.
"Marcus is."
Silence.
The world seemed to disappear.
Victor's entire identity collapsed in one sentence.
His mother.
Marcus.
His father.
Project Mirror.
Subject 11.
All connected.
Then the facility alarm began screaming.
Red lights flashed.
A mechanical voice announced:
"UNAUTHORIZED ACCESS."
Michael looked toward the corridor.
"They know we're here."
Victor closed the file.
"Take the records."
Michael grabbed several folders.
Daniel's men moved toward the door.
Then the speakers crackled.
A woman's voice echoed through the facility.
"Victor."
He froze.
His mother's voice.
Elena.
"You shouldn't have opened that file."
Victor looked at the ceiling.
"Where are you?"
"You'll find me where you found the first lie."
Victor's eyes narrowed.
"What lie?"
A pause.
Then:
"Your father's death."
The speakers went silent.
Michael looked at Victor.
"What does that mean?"
Victor's expression became cold.
"My father may not have died when we thought."
Daniel looked shocked.
"But the funeral—"
"Was twenty years ago."
Victor shook his head.
"That doesn't mean the body was his."
Suddenly—
a gunshot echoed from the corridor.
One of Daniel's men fell.
Michael pulled Victor behind a shelf.
More gunfire followed.
Victor raised his weapon.
"Stay down."
A figure appeared in the doorway.
Black suit.
Gun in hand.
Victor recognized him.
Thomas.
The security officer everyone believed was dead.
Victor stared.
"You."
Thomas smiled.
"You always were slow."
Daniel raised his weapon.
"Don't move."
Thomas laughed.
"You really think this is about me?"
Victor aimed at him.
"Where is Lily?"
Thomas's smile disappeared.
"Too late."
"What did you do?"
"I delivered her."
"To whom?"
Thomas stepped backward.
"Her father."
Victor froze.
"Marcus?"
Thomas smiled.
"No."
He disappeared into the darkness.
"Someone much worse."
Lily stared at the ceiling.
The machine above her hummed louder.
Serena stood beside her.
"Ready?"
Lily struggled.
"Get away from me."
Serena looked at the monitor.
"Once this begins, you won't be able to stop it."
"What will happen?"
"You'll remember."
Lily's heart raced.
"Everything?"
"Everything."
"Then why are you doing this?"
Serena's eyes filled with tears.
"Because I need you to remember something for me."
"What?"
"The last night."
Lily frowned.
"What last night?"
"The night Michael disappeared."
Lily shook her head.
"I remember."
"No."
Serena leaned closer.
"You remember the version they gave you."
She pressed a button.
The machine came alive.
Lily screamed.
Images flooded her mind.
A white room.
Michael.
Elena.
Marcus.
Victor.
A gun.
Blood.
A locked door.
Then—
another memory.
One she had never seen before.
A man carrying Michael away.
Lily screamed his name.
But someone grabbed her.
Young Victor.
He was crying.
He whispered:
"I'm sorry."
Then he placed something in her hand.
A small metal pendant.
The same pendant she had found years later.
Lily opened her eyes.
Her breathing was ragged.
She stared at Serena.
"Victor saved me."
Serena shook her head.
"No."
"He did."
"Not alone."
Lily stared.
"Who helped him?"
Serena looked toward the door.
A shadow appeared beneath it.
Then the door opened.
Marcus stepped inside.
He looked at Lily.
"Finally."
Lily stared at him.
"What do you want?"
Marcus smiled.
"I want the memory."
"What memory?"
"The one your mother hid inside you."
Lily shook her head.
"I don't have anything."
Marcus walked closer.
"You do."
He pointed toward her temple.
"That's why everyone who knows the truth has spent fifteen years searching for you."
Lily stared.
"What is inside my memory?"
Marcus leaned closer.
"The location of the original Project Mirror archive."
Lily froze.
"You already found it."
Marcus smiled.
"Not the real one."
He turned toward Serena.
"Did she remember?"
Serena nodded.
"Partially."
Marcus looked at Lily.
"Then we'll make her remember the rest."
Lily struggled against the restraints.
"You'll never control me."
Marcus smiled.
"I'm not trying to control you."
He leaned close.
"I'm trying to wake you up."
The machine's lights intensified.
Lily screamed.
And somewhere deep beneath the Blackwood estate—
every locked door opened at once.
Victor stood in the corridor.
Thomas was gone.
Lily was still missing.
And the files had revealed a truth that could destroy everything he believed about his family.
Daniel approached.
"Boss."
Victor turned.
"We found something."
"What?"
"There's a hidden elevator."
"Where?"
"Behind the archive."
Victor followed him.
The elevator doors opened.
Inside was a single button.
No floor number.
Only the Project Mirror symbol.
Victor pressed it.
The elevator began descending.
Ten floors.
Twenty.
Thirty.
Then deeper.
Much deeper than the mansion's foundation should have allowed.
Michael stood beside him.
"Where does this go?"
Victor looked at the descending numbers.
"I don't know."
The elevator finally stopped.
The doors opened.
A massive underground chamber stretched before them.
At the center stood a glass wall.
Behind it—
dozens of empty rooms.
And on the far wall was a giant number.
00
Michael stared.
"What is this?"
Victor stepped forward.
Then he saw the words beneath the number.
PROJECT MIRROR — ORIGINAL SUBJECT
Michael's face went pale.
"Original subject?"
Victor nodded.
Then the lights came on.
Inside the glass room stood a single empty bed.
Beside it was a photograph.
Victor picked it up.
It showed a child.
A newborn.
The name underneath was:
SUBJECT 00 — ELENA BLACKWOOD.
Victor stared.
His mother had not been the scientist behind Project Mirror.
She had been its first subject.
And beneath the photograph, written in red ink, was one final sentence:
SUBJECT 00 CREATED SUBJECTS 07, 08, AND 11.
Michael looked at Victor.
"That's impossible."
Victor slowly shook his head.
"No."
He stared at the photograph.
"That's the truth."
Suddenly the lights went out.
A woman's voice whispered through the darkness.
"Victor."
He raised his gun.
"Mom?"
The voice answered:
"Don't trust Michael."
Victor froze.
Michael stared at him.
"What?"
The voice continued.
"He isn't your brother's brother."
Silence.
Then Elena whispered:
"He's the missing boy."
The lights came back on.
Michael was gone.
Victor stared at the empty room.
The only thing left behind was a photograph.
May you like
On the back were four words:
FIND SUBJECT ZERO FIRST.
