Chapter 20 - The House With No ShadowsThird House did not exist above ground.
Edward drove into the Maine forest with Thomas in the passenger seat and the corrupted archive inside an encrypted drive.
Federal teams waited miles away.
Catherine, Lily, Noah, and Marcus operated from a mobile command station.
The coordinates led Edward to cracked concrete surrounded by pine trees.
An old hospital foundation.
Nothing else.
Then headlights flashed twice from beneath the earth.
A ramp opened.
Edward drove down.
The door sealed behind them.
Artificial daylight filled the underground chamber.
White walls.
White ceilings.
No windows.
No natural shadows.
Thomas whispered, “Third House.”
A man waited.
William Caldwell.
No screen.
No recording.
Alive.
Edward stopped walking ten feet away.
William examined him.
“Age has improved you.”
Edward hit him.
One punch.
William fell.
Security officers raised weapons.
Thomas moved between them.
William lifted one hand.
“No.”
Blood ran from his nose.
William laughed.
“I wondered whether you would.”
Edward stared down at him.
“I’ve imagined doing worse.”
William stood.
“That is why you failed as a father.”
Thomas stepped forward.
“And you succeeded?”
William’s face softened.
“Thomas.”
“Don’t.”
William led them through the facility.
Children studied in classrooms.
None looked imprisoned.
That was the horror.
They looked cared for.
Teachers smiled.
Meals were warm.
Bedrooms were immaculate.
The cage had evolved.
Edward spotted Samuel through glass.
Eleven years old.
Dark hair.
Edward’s eyes.
Thomas’s expression.
Samuel stared at them.
Then ran.
The door opened.
He slammed into Thomas first.
Thomas nearly fell from the force.
Samuel clung to him.
“You came back.”
Thomas wrapped both arms around him.
“I’m sorry.”
Samuel looked at Edward.
He did not run to him.
He only stared.
“You’re my father.”
Edward crouched.
“I think biologically, yes.”
Samuel blinked.
“You don’t know?”
“I didn’t know you existed until yesterday.”
Samuel looked toward William.
William said nothing.
Samuel’s face changed.
A truth entered him all at once.
“You said he abandoned me.”
Edward felt rage rise.
But this moment belonged to Samuel.
So he did not defend himself first.
He said only:
“I’m sorry you were made to believe that.”
Samuel began crying.
Edward did not touch him until Samuel moved first.
Then the boy stepped forward.
Edward held him.
Over Samuel’s shoulder, Edward saw William watching.
Not emotionally.
Clinically.
Studying the reunion.
Even now.
Collecting data.
Edward understood something.
His father had never stopped being a researcher.
Edward released Samuel.
“Where are the other children?”
Samuel wiped his face.
“Sleeping wing.”
“Are they connected to the fire system?”
Samuel’s eyes sharpened.
William noticed.
Too late.
Samuel whispered:
May you like
“Not anymore.”
The lights went out.
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