Chapter 6: The Name on the Birth Certificate
The singing stopped.
For several seconds, no one moved.
Emma stared at the dead monitors.
The last words from the hidden speaker seemed to hang in the underground chamber.
Look at the birth certificate.
Lily was trembling.
"What birth certificate?""
Emma turned toward her daughter.
"Yours.""
Lily looked confused.
"I don't have one.""
Daniel's face tightened.
"Of course you do.""
"But I've never seen it.""
Emma looked at him.
"Neither have I.""
Ethan stepped toward the cabinets lining the wall.
"Then we find it.""
Daniel caught his arm.
"Wait.""
Ethan pulled free.
"We don't have time.""
"Those files could be a trap.""
"Everything tonight could be a trap.""
Ethan opened a metal drawer.
Folders spilled toward the floor.
Emma stepped closer.
"What are you looking for?""
"Records.""
He started throwing folders onto a table.
School registration.
Immunization records.
Insurance documents.
Old property deeds.
Nothing.
Daniel opened another cabinet.
His hands moved quickly through the paperwork.
Emma watched him.
"You've done this before.""
"I've looked for documents.""
"Down here?""
He didn't answer.
She stared at him.
"How many times?""
Daniel finally looked at her.
"Three.""
Emma felt a fresh wave of betrayal.
"You've been coming into this room.""
"Not for years.""
"When?""
"Six months ago.""
"Why?""
Daniel looked toward the dead monitors.
"Because I found out someone had been altering Lily's records.""
Emma's heart pounded.
"What records?""
"Her school records. Medical history. Insurance.""
"Why would anyone do that?""
"I didn't know.""
"Did you ask the doctor?""
"Yes.""
"And?""
"The doctor swore the records were correct.""
Emma's voice dropped.
"So who changed them?""
Daniel looked at Ethan.
"We thought it was them.""
Ethan shook his head.
"They didn't need to change them.""
Emma frowned.
"What does that mean?""
Ethan walked toward a filing cabinet marked with a faded red number.
"It means Lily's identity may have been built.""
He opened it.
Inside were dozens of birth records.
Different names.
Different dates.
Different families.
Emma stared.
"This is sick.""
Ethan pulled out a thin folder.
There was no name on it.
Only a date.
September 14, 2017.
Emma reached for it.
Daniel stopped her.
"Let me.""
He opened it.
The first page was a hospital birth record.
Emma saw her own name.
*MOTHER: EMMA MERCER*
Her hands began shaking.
"That's mine.""
Daniel turned the page.
His own name appeared.
*FATHER: DANIEL MERCER*
Emma exhaled.
"So it's real.""
Ethan stood beside her.
"Keep reading.""
The next page contained a handwritten correction.
*PATIENT IDENTITY VERIFIED: LILY ANNE MERCER*
Emma frowned.
"What is wrong with that?""
Ethan pointed lower.
Beneath the corrected name was another name.
Partially blacked out.
Emma touched the paper.
"Can we remove that?""
Daniel shook his head.
"It was deliberately obscured.""
"By whom?""
Ethan turned the page.
A photograph had been stapled there.
Emma stared at it.
It was Lily as a newborn.
Daniel beside her.
Emma in a hospital bed.
A nurse holding the baby.
Everything looked ordinary.
Except Emma suddenly recognized the nurse.
She stepped back.
"No.""
Daniel looked at her.
"What?""
Emma pointed.
"Her.""
The nurse's face was partly visible beneath a surgical mask.
Only her eyes showed.
But Emma knew those eyes.
The same pale blue eyes she had seen in the old photograph.
The blonde woman.
The woman from the underground lab.
The woman whose voice had spoken through the speaker.
"That's her.""
Ethan stared.
"You remember?""
Emma nodded.
"She was at the hospital.""
Daniel looked stunned.
"I never saw her.""
"I did.""
"Are you sure?""
Emma closed her eyes.
The memory came in fragments.
A hallway.
Machines beeping.
Daniel arguing with someone outside a delivery room.
A woman leaning over Lily.
And Emma saying:
"Don't let her take my baby.""
Daniel's face turned pale.
"What?""
Emma opened her eyes.
"I said that.""
"Yes.""
"You remember?""
"I remember you were confused.""
"I wasn't confused.""
Daniel stared at her.
"You were sedated.""
Emma looked at the birth certificate.
"Maybe.""
Ethan took the photograph from her hand.
He flipped it over.
There was writing on the back.
*TRANSFER COMPLETED — SUBJECT 04*
Emma's stomach turned.
"Subject 04.""
Ethan nodded.
"There were four children.""
"And Lily was one of them?""
"Maybe.""
Emma looked at him.
"Maybe?""
"Because this record doesn't prove she was born here.""
Daniel's expression hardened.
"She was.""
Ethan shook his head.
"The paper proves the hospital documented a birth.""
"She's my daughter.""
"I'm not questioning that.""
"Then stop talking like she isn't.""
Ethan met his eyes.
"I'm saying someone may have replaced the child you were supposed to take home.""
Silence.
Emma felt the world tilt.
"No.""
Daniel said nothing.
Lily stood behind them, crying.
"My name is Lily.""
Emma turned immediately.
"Yes.""
"I'm Lily.""
"Of course you are.""
"I remember being in the hospital.""
Emma froze.
"What do you remember?""
Lily wiped her eyes.
"A lady.""
"What lady?""
"She had yellow hair.""
Emma's breath caught.
"What did she tell you?""
Lily frowned.
"She said I had to forget.""
Daniel crouched beside her.
"When did she say that?""
"Before Mom came in.""
Emma stared at Daniel.
"Before I came in?""
Lily nodded.
"Mom was crying.""
"I was?""
"You said you wanted your baby.""
Emma felt tears sting her eyes.
"And what happened?""
Lily looked toward the far corner of the room.
"She gave me to you.""
Emma swallowed.
"Who?""
Lily whispered,
"The other girl.""
Nobody spoke.
Ethan slowly turned.
"What other girl?""
Lily looked at him.
"Sophie.""
Daniel suddenly backed away.
"No.""
Emma looked at him.
"What?""
Daniel shook his head.
"No.""
Ethan's voice became very quiet.
"Lily, what did Sophie look like?""
Lily pointed toward Emma.
"She looked like Mommy.""
Emma went cold.
"How?""
"Same hair.""
"Same eyes?""
Lily nodded.
"Same face.""
Ethan stared at Emma.
Daniel whispered,
"That's impossible.""
Lily continued.
"Sophie told me she was my sister.""
Emma's knees nearly buckled.
"I don't have another daughter.""
Lily looked confused.
"Yes, you do.""
Daniel grabbed the table.
Emma turned toward him.
"Tell me.""
"Emma—"
"Tell me now.""
He looked broken.
"Sophie was your daughter.""
The words landed with brutal finality.
Emma shook her head.
"No.""
"You gave birth to twins.""
She stared at him.
"Twins?""
He nodded.
"You lost one.""
"When?""
"Nine years ago.""
"Why don't I remember?""
Daniel's voice cracked.
"Because they made you forget.""
Emma looked at Lily.
"You knew?""
Lily shook her head.
"I only remember pieces.""
Ethan pulled a chair toward Emma.
"Sit.""
She ignored him.
"Why was I told Lily was my only child?""
Daniel answered.
"Because Sophie died.""
Lily suddenly screamed.
"No!""
Everyone froze.
"She's not dead!""
Daniel turned toward her.
"Lily—"
"She isn't!""
Emma crouched beside her.
"How do you know?""
Lily pointed toward the ceiling.
"Because she talks to me.""
Emma's blood turned cold.
"Where?""
"At night.""
"What does she say?""
Lily whispered,
"She says she's waiting.""
"For what?""
Lily looked directly at Emma.
"For Mommy to remember where she left her.""
Emma couldn't breathe.
Daniel closed his eyes.
Ethan whispered,
"That's it.""
Emma looked at him.
"What?""
"The memory.""
"Which memory?""
"The one they erased.""
Emma looked at the photograph again.
Something about it was wrong.
Not the nurse.
Not Lily.
Not Daniel.
The background.
A hospital room number appeared on the wall.
317.
Emma stared.
"That room.""
Daniel looked over.
"What about it?""
"I remember.""
Her voice was barely audible.
"I remember leaving that room.""
Ethan stepped closer.
"What happened?""
Emma pressed one hand against her forehead.
"There was a baby.""
Daniel whispered,
"Sophie.""
"No.""
Emma shook her head.
"There were two cribs.""
Daniel's face changed.
"And?""
"I took Lily.""
"Where did you leave Sophie?""
Emma's eyes widened.
"I...""
The memory shattered before she could reach it.
She cried out.
A monitor suddenly came back to life.
One screen.
Then another.
A live security feed appeared.
The Mercer house.
The upstairs hallway.
Emma watched herself on the screen.
Except she wasn't in the underground room.
The woman on the monitor stood in the hallway outside Lily's bedroom.
She was wearing a white hospital gown.
Blonde hair fell over her shoulders.
She looked directly into the camera.
Then she smiled.
Emma stopped breathing.
Because the woman's face was identical to hers.
Lily whispered,
"Sophie.""
The image cut to black.
A message appeared across the screen.
*COME FIND ME, MOM.*
Then another line appeared underneath.
*BEFORE HE DOES.*
Emma stared at the screen.
"What does she mean, 'he'?""
Daniel didn't answer.
Because Ethan had suddenly drawn his gun.
He was staring at the doorway.
Emma followed his gaze.
Someone was standing at the far end of the underground corridor.
A man.
Tall.
Motionless.
Watching them.
Daniel whispered one word.
"Ethan.""
Ethan didn't turn.
"That's not me.""
The figure stepped into the light.
It had Daniel's face.
But this time there were two differences.
No wedding ring.
And a fresh line of blood running from its mouth.
It smiled.
Then said,
"You're looking for Sophie.""
May you like
A pause.
"You're too late.""
