Chapter 7: The Woman in the Photograph
"You're too late.""
The words seemed to freeze the air.
Emma stared at the man standing at the end of the corridor.
He had Daniel's face.
Daniel's body.
Daniel's voice.
But he wasn't Daniel.
And he wasn't Ethan.
Ethan raised his gun.
"Don't move.""
The stranger smiled.
"You still carry that.""
Ethan's finger tightened around the trigger.
"You remember me?""
"Of course.""
Daniel stepped in front of Emma and Lily.
"Who are you?""
The stranger laughed softly.
"That's the question you should have asked nine years ago.""
Emma looked at Daniel.
His expression was rigid.
"Who is he?""
Daniel didn't answer.
The stranger did.
"My name is Jonathan.""
Ethan's face changed.
"No.""
Jonathan smiled.
"Yes.""
Emma looked between them.
"Who is Jonathan?""
Ethan lowered the gun by an inch.
"He was the director.""
"Director of what?""
"The program.""
Daniel whispered, "We thought you were dead.""
Jonathan's smile disappeared.
"You always thought the convenient thing.""
He stepped forward.
The emergency light above him flickered.
Emma noticed something strange.
The man's face looked almost exactly like Daniel's—but not perfectly.
The eyes were darker.
The jaw was narrower.
The expression seemed colder.
Like someone who had been taught to imitate another person without ever understanding him.
Jonathan looked at Lily.
"And you're the one they kept.""
Lily hid behind Emma.
Jonathan tilted his head.
"Do you remember me?""
"No.""
"That's unfortunate.""
Emma stepped forward.
"Where is Sophie?""
Jonathan's eyes moved to her.
"That's better.""
"Where is my daughter?""
A small smile returned.
"You still call her your daughter.""
"She is my daughter.""
"Then you should know where she is.""
"I don't remember.""
"Exactly.""
Jonathan looked almost pleased.
"They did a remarkable job.""
Daniel grabbed his arm.
Jonathan moved with frightening speed.
He twisted free and drove Daniel into the wall.
Emma screamed.
Ethan raised the gun again.
Jonathan held Daniel by the throat.
"Tell her.""
Daniel struggled.
"Tell her what?""
"What you did.""
"I saved her.""
"You erased her.""
"I had no choice.""
Jonathan's eyes hardened.
"There's always a choice.""
He released Daniel.
Daniel collapsed against the wall, coughing.
Emma rushed toward him.
Jonathan didn't stop her.
He simply stood there.
Waiting.
Emma knelt beside Daniel.
"Are you hurt?""
He shook his head.
"Where is Sophie?""
Daniel looked at her.
"I don't know.""
Jonathan laughed.
"Still lying.""
Emma stood.
"Why are you doing this?""
Jonathan looked at her.
"Because you deserve the truth.""
"Then tell me.""
"You've been asking the wrong man.""
His gaze settled on Daniel.
"Ask your husband why Sophie was never reported missing.""
Emma turned.
"What?""
Jonathan continued.
"No police report. No search. No funeral.""
Emma looked at Daniel.
"Is that true?""
Daniel didn't answer.
"Daniel.""
His silence was enough.
Emma stepped backward.
"You told me she died.""
"I thought she did.""
"Did you report her?""
"No.""
"Why?""
"Because I was told she was gone.""
"By whom?""
Jonathan answered.
"Me.""
Emma stared at him.
Jonathan walked farther into the corridor.
"I told Daniel Sophie had died.""
"Why?""
"Because I needed him to stop looking.""
Ethan raised his gun again.
"You ruined both of them.""
Jonathan turned.
"No. I preserved the experiment.""
"The experiment was over.""
"Was it?""
Jonathan gestured toward Lily.
"Look at her.""
Emma tightened her grip around Lily.
"Leave her alone.""
Jonathan's voice became calm.
"Lily is proof.""
"Proof of what?""
"That memory can survive.""
Emma frowned.
Jonathan continued.
"Your daughter remembers people and places she was never told about. She remembers Sophie. She remembers this building. She remembers what happened before she was old enough to understand it.""
Daniel slowly stood.
"That's why you took her.""
Jonathan looked at him.
"That's why I watched her.""
"You're sick.""
"No.""
Jonathan smiled.
"I'm patient.""
A distant alarm suddenly began ringing.
Emma flinched.
Red lights flashed along the corridor.
Ethan looked toward the stairwell.
"We need to move.""
Jonathan nodded.
"Yes.""
Daniel looked at him.
"Why?""
"Because they know you're here.""
Emma's heart jumped.
"Who?""
Jonathan looked toward the ceiling.
"The people who inherited the program.""
Ethan swore.
"There shouldn't be anyone left.""
"There are always people left.""
Jonathan reached into his coat and tossed a keycard onto the floor.
It slid to Emma's feet.
"That opens the exit.""
Daniel stared at it.
"Why help us?""
Jonathan looked directly at Emma.
"Because I'm finished running.""
Then he turned and disappeared into a side passage.
Ethan started after him.
Daniel grabbed his shoulder.
"Let him go.""
"He knows where Sophie is.""
"He's baiting us.""
"Then why give us the key?""
Daniel stared at the passage where Jonathan had vanished.
"I don't know.""
Emma picked up the keycard.
"What does it open?""
Ethan pointed toward a steel door at the end of the corridor.
"Probably that.""
They hurried toward it.
Lily stayed close to Emma.
At the door, Emma swiped the card.
A green light appeared.
The lock released.
Beyond the door was a narrow concrete tunnel.
Emma stared into darkness.
"Where does this go?""
Daniel shook his head.
"I don't know.""
Ethan checked his weapon.
"We find out.""
They moved through the tunnel.
Water dripped from overhead pipes.
Their footsteps echoed.
After several minutes, Emma noticed numbers painted on the wall.
17.
16.
15.
She stopped.
"Why are the numbers counting down?""
Ethan looked ahead.
"Because we're approaching the older section.""
Daniel frowned.
"Older than the lab?""
"Much older.""
Lily whispered,
"That's where she is.""
Emma looked down.
"Who?""
"Sophie.""
A door appeared at the end of the tunnel.
Emma's heart hammered.
Ethan tried the handle.
Locked.
Daniel reached for the key.
"The one from the vent?""
He inserted it.
The lock clicked.
The door opened.
Inside was a room filled with photographs.
Hundreds of them.
Pinned across every wall.
Emma stepped inside.
She immediately saw herself.
At sixteen.
At twenty.
At twenty-five.
At the hospital.
At her wedding.
Pregnant.
Holding baby Lily.
Sleeping.
Driving.
Walking.
There were photographs of her life she had never seen before.
She backed away.
"Someone has been watching me forever.""
Ethan walked toward the far wall.
"Not forever.""
He pointed.
"This starts nineteen years ago.""
Emma followed his finger.
The first photograph was dated October 2007.
She was standing outside a coffee shop.
A young Daniel stood twenty feet away.
Beside him was Ethan.
And behind them was another woman.
Emma stared.
She knew her.
Even after all these years.
The same blonde hair.
The same pale blue eyes.
The same face she had seen on the hospital photograph.
But the name beneath it wasn't Sophie.
It was:
*DR. ELENA VALE*
Emma whispered,
"Elena.""
Ethan nodded.
"She ran the memory division.""
"She was Daniel's colleague?""
"More than that.""
Emma looked at Daniel.
"What was she to you?""
Daniel swallowed.
"My sister.""
Emma stared at him.
"You told me you had no sister.""
"I know.""
Jonathan's voice came through a hidden speaker.
"Another lie.""
Daniel closed his eyes.
Emma turned slowly.
"How many people have you lied about?""
Daniel couldn't answer.
Then Lily pointed toward a photograph near the center of the wall.
"Mom.""
Emma stepped closer.
The photograph showed her standing outside a hospital room.
She was holding a baby.
Not Lily.
Another baby.
A newborn girl wrapped in a white blanket.
Next to Emma stood Elena.
And next to Elena was a little girl of about seven.
Sophie.
Emma stared.
The image felt wrong.
Not because Sophie was there.
Because Emma recognized the little girl's expression.
She was looking at Emma with hatred.
Emma touched the photograph.
"I knew her.""
Daniel stood behind her.
"Yes.""
"What did I do to her?""
He hesitated.
"Nothing.""
"She hated me.""
"She was scared.""
"Why?""
Daniel looked at the photograph.
"Because she thought you were going to take her sister.""
Emma turned.
"Lily wasn't born yet.""
Daniel nodded.
"They were twins.""
Emma's breath caught.
"Then why does Lily remember Sophie?""
"Because they spent time together.""
"Where?""
Daniel looked toward the back of the room.
There was another photograph.
A small underground nursery.
Two cribs.
Two babies.
And a note beneath them.
*SUBJECT 03 / SUBJECT 04 — MEMORY LINK CONFIRMED*
Emma felt tears roll down her face.
"Someone made them remember each other.""
Ethan shook his head.
"No.""
Emma looked at him.
"They discovered they already did.""
Silence.
Then a door slammed somewhere behind them.
Everyone turned.
The exit had closed.
The lights went red.
A voice came through the speakers.
Not Jonathan.
Not Daniel.
A woman's voice.
Calm.
Professional.
"Emma Mercer.""
Emma froze.
"You have five minutes.""
Daniel stepped forward.
"Who is this?""
The woman ignored him.
"At the end of the corridor is a viewing room.""
Emma stared at the dark passage beyond the photographs.
"In that room," the voice continued, "you will find the final recording.""
"Final recording of what?"" Emma demanded.
"Your memory.""
The speakers crackled.
"You wanted the truth.""
Emma's hands shook.
"You have five minutes to decide whether you want it.""
Ethan looked at Daniel.
"What does she mean?""
Daniel didn't answer.
The woman continued.
"Because once you watch the recording, there will be no forgetting it again.""
The lights above the corridor began turning on one by one.
A path appeared in the darkness.
Lily grabbed Emma's hand.
"Mom, don't.""
Emma looked down.
"Why?""
Lily's eyes filled with tears.
"Because that's where she waits.""
"Who?""
Lily looked into the corridor.
"Sophie.""
A final light came on.
At the very end stood a little girl.
Blonde hair.
White dress.
Bare feet.
Her face was hidden in shadow.
Emma stopped breathing.
"Is that her?""
Lily nodded.
"Yes.""
The girl slowly lifted her head.
She looked directly at Emma.
Then she smiled.
Emma knew that smile.
It was the smile from the photograph.
The smile she had forgotten.
The girl raised one hand and pointed toward the viewing room.
Behind her, on the wall, someone had written three words in red.
*YOU LEFT ME.*
Emma's knees weakened.
Daniel whispered her name.
She didn't hear him.
Because the girl had spoken.
And her voice was unmistakable.
"Mom...""
May you like
She paused.
"Do you remember me now?""
