CHAPTER 8 — HER BROTHER
CHAPTER 8 — HER BROTHER
Victor stood completely still.
The underground chamber was silent.
Too silent.
Michael was gone.
One second he had been standing beside Victor.
The next—
nothing.
No footsteps.
No door opening.
No sound.
Only the photograph lying on the floor.
FIND SUBJECT ZERO FIRST.
Victor picked it up.
His hands were steady.
His mind was not.
Daniel rushed into the chamber.
"Boss!"
Victor turned.
"Where is Michael?"
Daniel looked around.
"He was right here."
"I know."
"We checked every exit."
"Then check again."
Daniel motioned to the guards.
They spread through the chamber.
Victor stared at the glass room.
The empty bed.
The old machines.
The photograph of Elena.
Subject Zero.
His mother had been the beginning.
Not the scientist.
Not the mastermind.
The first subject.
And somehow—
she had been connected to Lily.
To Michael.
To him.
Victor turned to Daniel.
"Seal the facility."
Daniel nodded.
"Already done."
"No one gets in."
"And no one gets out."
Victor looked toward the dark corridor.
"Especially Michael."
Daniel hesitated.
"Boss..."
Victor turned.
"What?"
"Do you believe her?"
Victor knew who he meant.
Elena.
He looked at the empty space where Michael had been.
"I don't know."
Then he looked at the photograph.
"But I know she wants me to doubt him."
Daniel frowned.
"Why?"
"Because if Michael is telling the truth..."
Victor paused.
"...then Marcus is lying."
"And if Michael is lying?"
Victor's eyes hardened.
"Then Lily is in more danger than we thought."
Lily screamed.
The machine above her finally stopped.
Her body shook.
Sweat covered her forehead.
Her wrists were still restrained.
Marcus stood beside her.
Serena watched from the corner.
Lily opened her eyes.
She remembered.
Not everything.
But enough.
The white house.
The basement.
The locked doors.
Her mother.
Michael.
Victor.
And one more person.
A boy.
A boy who had always been with them.
A boy whose face she couldn't remember.
Lily stared at Marcus.
"What did you do to him?"
Marcus frowned.
"Who?"
"The third child."
Serena's expression changed.
Marcus became still.
Lily knew she had hit something.
"There were three of us."
Marcus said nothing.
"Three children."
Lily's voice grew stronger.
"Michael."
She swallowed.
"Me."
Then she whispered:
"And him."
Serena looked away.
Marcus stepped closer.
"Your memories are incomplete."
"Then complete them."
"You aren't ready."
"I've already remembered."
Marcus smiled.
"No."
He leaned closer.
"You remembered what we wanted you to remember."
Lily stared at him.
"You altered my memories."
"Yes."
"Why?"
"Because the truth would have destroyed you."
Lily laughed bitterly.
"You don't get to decide what destroys me."
Marcus looked at Serena.
"Leave us."
Serena hesitated.
Then she walked toward the door.
Before leaving, she looked at Lily.
There was something strange in her eyes.
Not hatred.
Fear.
The door closed.
Marcus pulled a chair beside Lily.
"You want the truth?"
"Yes."
"Then listen."
Lily waited.
"Your brother Michael is not your biological brother."
Lily's face went blank.
"What?"
"He was placed beside you."
"You're lying."
"He was selected."
"You're lying."
"He was assigned to you."
"No."
Marcus continued.
"Subject 08 was designed to bond with Subject 07."
Lily stared.
"You said he was my brother."
"He became your brother."
Lily's eyes filled with tears.
"That's not the same thing."
"No."
Marcus looked at her.
"But he loved you."
Lily's heart broke.
"Then why did you take him?"
"Because his attachment to you made him unstable."
"You separated us."
"Yes."
"And tortured him."
Marcus didn't deny it.
"We tested him."
"You destroyed his childhood."
"We learned from him."
Lily's voice cracked.
"He's my brother."
Marcus looked at her.
"Maybe."
"What does that mean?"
"Blood isn't the only thing that makes family."
Lily stared.
"Then why are you telling me this?"
Marcus smiled.
"Because you need to understand why he disappeared."
"Why?"
"Because he wasn't supposed to survive."
Lily froze.
Marcus leaned closer.
"He wasn't Subject 08."
"What?"
"He was Subject 11."
Lily's heart stopped.
"No."
"Yes."
"Subject 11 was Victor."
Marcus smiled.
"That's what they wanted everyone to believe."
Lily stared at him.
"Then who is Victor?"
Marcus's expression changed.
"That's the question."
Victor walked deeper into the facility.
The walls were covered with old photographs.
Children.
Scientists.
Security guards.
Doctors.
His father.
His mother.
Marcus.
And Lily.
He stopped at one photograph.
It showed three children standing in front of the white house.
Lily.
Michael.
And another boy.
Victor recognized the third child.
It was him.
But the photograph had been altered.
His face had been scratched out.
Victor touched it.
"Why?"
Daniel stood behind him.
"Boss."
Victor turned.
Daniel held a folder.
"We found another archive."
"Where?"
"Behind the laboratory."
Victor opened it.
The first page read:
SUBJECT 11 — PRIMARY IDENTITY: UNKNOWN.
Victor frowned.
"Unknown?"
Daniel nodded.
"Keep reading."
Victor did.
Physical age: 17.
Memory integrity: unstable.
Emotional attachment: Subject 07.
Victor stopped.
"Subject 07."
Daniel nodded.
"That's Lily."
Victor stared at the page.
The next line was worse.
Subject 11 believes he is Victor Blackwood.
Victor's heart stopped.
He turned the page.
False identity successfully implanted.
His fingers went numb.
Daniel stared.
"Boss..."
Victor whispered:
"They made me believe I was Victor."
Daniel looked confused.
"But you are Victor."
Victor shook his head.
"Am I?"
He turned another page.
There was a photograph.
A teenage boy.
The face was hidden.
But the number was clear.
11.
Beneath it:
Original identity: MICHAEL HARPER.
Victor stopped breathing.
The room seemed to tilt.
Michael.
Lily's brother.
Subject 08.
Subject 11.
All the same person?
Impossible.
Victor stared at the photograph.
"No."
Daniel said nothing.
Victor looked at the final page.
A handwritten note.
Identity transfer successful.
Michael Harper has been conditioned to believe he is Victor Blackwood.
Victor Blackwood has been declared deceased.
Victor stepped backward.
His hand hit the wall.
"Then who died?"
Daniel looked at him.
"We don't know."
Victor stared into the darkness.
A memory surfaced.
A funeral.
A coffin.
His mother crying.
His father standing beside him.
But Victor remembered being there.
He remembered being seventeen.
He remembered watching the coffin.
He remembered everyone telling him:
Your mother died.
But perhaps—
the person inside the coffin had never been Victor.
Perhaps someone had been buried under his name.
Victor's stomach turned.
"Find my birth certificate."
Daniel nodded.
"Already did."
"And?"
Daniel hesitated.
"It doesn't exist."
Victor looked at him.
"What?"
"There is no original birth record for Victor Blackwood."
Victor's blood ran cold.
"Then what am I?"
Daniel looked at the file.
"We don't know."
Lily stared at Marcus.
"Where is Michael?"
Marcus didn't answer.
"Where is he?"
"He left."
"Where?"
"To find the truth."
"You expect me to believe that?"
Marcus smiled.
"You shouldn't believe anyone."
"Not even you?"
"Especially me."
Lily glared.
"Then why are you helping me?"
Marcus's smile disappeared.
"Because your mother made a promise."
"What promise?"
"She promised to end Project Mirror."
Lily stared.
"And?"
"She failed."
"Why?"
"Because she loved you."
Lily's eyes filled with tears.
Marcus continued.
"She chose to save you instead of destroying the project."
"She chose me?"
"Yes."
"What about Michael?"
"She tried."
Lily's voice broke.
"Did she love him?"
Marcus looked at her.
"She loved both of you."
"Then why did she choose me?"
Marcus answered quietly.
"Because you were the only one who could remember."
Lily closed her eyes.
"Remember what?"
"The original experiment."
"What experiment?"
Marcus leaned closer.
"The creation of memory itself."
Lily stared.
"You mean..."
"You were never being tested for memory."
He paused.
"You were being used to create it."
The door suddenly opened.
Serena rushed inside.
"Marcus."
He turned.
"What?"
"Victor is here."
Marcus smiled.
"I know."
"No."
Serena shook her head.
"You don't understand."
"What?"
"He found the archive."
Marcus's expression changed.
"Which one?"
"The original."
Silence.
Marcus looked at Lily.
Then back at Serena.
"Did he open it?"
"Yes."
Marcus swore under his breath.
"What did he see?"
"Everything."
Marcus stared at the floor.
"Then we don't have much time."
Lily watched them.
"What did he see?"
Neither answered.
She struggled against the restraints.
"Tell me!"
Serena looked at her.
"Victor knows."
"Knows what?"
"Who he really is."
Lily froze.
"What do you mean?"
Serena whispered:
"Victor isn't Victor."
Lily's heart stopped.
"No."
"He was another subject."
"Which one?"
Serena hesitated.
Then:
"Eleven."
Lily stared.
The room seemed to disappear.
"No."
Serena looked at her.
"Michael was never Subject 11."
Lily's breathing stopped.
"Then who?"
Serena answered:
"Victor."
Far beneath the mansion, Victor stood before the original archive.
The files were scattered around him.
His entire life had become a lie.
His name.
His memories.
His childhood.
His father.
His mother.
Everything.
Then he saw one final file.
It was locked.
The cover read:
SUBJECT 11 — FINAL IDENTITY
Victor opened it.
Inside was a photograph.
A little boy.
Four years old.
Standing beside Lily.
Victor stared.
The boy was Michael.
But the name beneath the photograph was:
VICTOR BLACKWOOD.
Victor's hands began shaking.
A second photograph followed.
A seventeen-year-old boy.
The face had been altered.
The name:
MICHAEL HARPER.
Victor looked at both.
Two names.
One face.
He suddenly remembered.
The night at the white house.
He hadn't been Victor.
He had been Michael.
He had been the boy standing beside Lily.
The boy who held her hand.
The boy who promised to protect her.
The boy who disappeared.
The boy who had been conditioned into becoming someone else.
Victor staggered backward.
"No..."
A voice came from behind him.
"Now you remember."
Victor turned.
Elena stood in the doorway.
Alive.
Older.
Tired.
But unmistakably his mother.
Victor raised his gun.
"You lied to me."
Elena's eyes filled with tears.
"I protected you."
"You erased me."
"I saved you."
"You turned me into someone else."
"You were dying."
Victor's voice broke.
"Who am I?"
Elena stepped closer.
"You are my son."
"Which son?"
She stopped.
Victor's eyes filled with rage.
"Am I Victor?"
Elena whispered:
"No."
Victor's face collapsed.
"Michael?"
Elena nodded.
"Yes."
Silence.
Victor lowered his weapon.
For the first time in fifteen years—
he remembered his real name.
Michael.
He remembered Lily.
He remembered the white house.
He remembered holding her hand.
And he remembered one more thing.
A promise.
I'll always find you.
Victor looked at his mother.
"Where is Lily?"
Elena's expression changed.
"Marcus took her."
"Where?"
"I don't know."
"Mom."
"I don't know."
Victor stepped toward her.
"Then find out."
Elena nodded.
"But there's something you need to know first."
"What?"
She looked at him with tears in her eyes.
"The real Victor Blackwood is alive."
Victor froze.
"What?"
Elena continued.
"Your father's real son survived."
Victor stared.
"Then who have I been?"
"A replacement."
"Why?"
"Because the real Victor was the only person Marcus could never control."
Victor's eyes narrowed.
"Where is he?"
Elena looked away.
"He's been missing for fifteen years."
Victor's heart pounded.
"Where?"
She whispered:
"With Lily."
Lily's restraints suddenly released.
She fell from the table.
Serena caught her.
"Come on."
Lily pushed her away.
"Where are you taking me?"
"Out."
"Why?"
"Because Marcus is going to kill you."
Lily stared.
"I thought you worked for him."
"I did."
"Then why help me?"
Serena's eyes filled with tears.
"Because I finally understand."
"Understand what?"
"That he lied to all of us."
Lily stared.
"About what?"
Serena whispered:
"Subject 07 was never the experiment."
She looked toward the door.
"She was the witness."
Lily froze.
"Witness to what?"
Serena took her hand.
"The death of Victor Blackwood."
Lily's heart stopped.
"Victor died?"
"Fifteen years ago."
"Then who is he?"
Serena looked at her.
"Your brother."
Lily stared.
"No."
Serena nodded.
"The boy you thought was Michael..."
She paused.
"...was never Michael."
Lily's eyes filled with tears.
"Then where is my brother?"
A gunshot exploded.
Serena fell.
Lily screamed.
Marcus stood in the doorway.
He held a smoking gun.
Serena collapsed to the floor.
Lily stared at Marcus in horror.
Marcus looked at her.
"Your brother?"
He smiled.
"You've already met him."
Lily's heart stopped.
"Who?"
Marcus raised the gun.
"Victor."
The lights went out.
At the same moment, Victor stood beside Elena.
He suddenly heard a voice in his head.
A little girl's voice.
Michael.
He closed his eyes.
Lily.
His sister.
Not a memory.
A truth.
Then another memory surfaced.
A promise made fifteen years ago.
A promise he had forgotten.
If they take me, find Lily.
Victor opened his eyes.
His mother's face was wet with tears.
"Where is she?"
Elena whispered:
"Below us."
Victor looked toward the floor.
"The original chamber."
"Yes."
He turned toward the elevator.
Elena grabbed his arm.
"Michael."
He stopped.
She had not called him Victor.
Not once.
Michael looked at her.
"What?"
"Don't go alone."
He pulled his arm free.
"I've been alone for fifteen years."
He looked back at her.
"Not anymore."
Then he stepped into the elevator.
As the doors closed, Elena whispered:
"I'm sorry."
Michael looked at her.
"For what?"
She didn't answer.
The doors shut.
The elevator descended.
One floor.
Two.
Three.
Then deeper.
Until the display stopped at:
LEVEL 07.
The doors opened.
Michael stepped into darkness.
And there, at the end of the corridor—
stood Lily.
Blood on her cheek.
Tears in her eyes.
She looked at him.
He looked at her.
Neither spoke.
Then Lily whispered the name she had carried in her heart for fifteen years.
"Michael."
His eyes filled with tears.
He smiled.
"Found you."
But behind Lily—
Marcus raised his gun.
And this time, he wasn't aiming at Lily.
He was aiming at Michael.
"Welcome back, Subject 11."
May you like
The gunshot came.
And Lily threw herself between them.
