Chapter 15 - The Guardian Steps Into the Light
The room became deathly silent.
The Director turned another page.
The journal described secret meetings...
Hidden accounts...
Names erased from history...
But every few pages, the same title appeared again.
The Guardian.
Never a name.
Always a title.
Nathan leaned over the journal.
"Who is he?"
Margaret answered softly.
"The last man your father trusted."
The Director frowned.
"No."
"The last man everyone trusted."
Before anyone could continue...
The lights inside the underground apartment suddenly went out.
Complete darkness.
A deep metallic lock echoed behind them.
The steel door slammed shut.
Several officers reached for flashlights.
Nothing.
The batteries had somehow died.
Only one emergency lamp flickered above the fireplace.
Its weak light revealed a figure standing near the opposite wall.
No one had heard him enter.
He wore a perfectly tailored black overcoat.
Gray gloves.
A silver pocket watch.
His face remained hidden beneath the brim of a dark hat.
Nathan stared.
"You..."
The stranger removed his gloves slowly.
His hands showed no sign of age.
Steady.
Confident.
The Director stepped forward.
"So."
"You finally decided to appear."
The stranger smiled faintly.
"I never disappeared."
"I've been standing beside all of you since the investigation began."
Every officer instinctively looked around.
The stranger laughed.
"No."
"Not them."
He looked directly at Nathan.
"You."
Nathan frowned.
"I've never met you."
The stranger tilted his head.
"Haven't you?"
He reached into his coat and removed an old silver lighter.
Nathan's breathing stopped.
It was engraved with his initials.
N.A.
His father had given him that lighter on his eighteenth birthday.
Nathan had lost it twenty years ago.
"Where did you get that?"
The stranger answered calmly.
"You handed it to me."
Nathan shook his head.
"No..."
"I would remember."
"You don't."
"Because you were never supposed to."
The stranger opened the lighter.
Instead of a flame...
A tiny projector illuminated the wall.
A hidden video began playing.
The image showed a frightened teenage Nathan sitting across from the same mysterious man in this very room.
Nathan looked no older than seventeen.
The younger Nathan spoke directly to the camera.
"If you're watching this..."
"...it means they erased my memory."
The present-day Nathan staggered backward, unable to breathe.
His wife rushed to support him.
"What is this?"
The stranger's expression remained unreadable.
"The truth."
"You came here once before."
"You begged me to make you forget."
Nathan stared at the younger version of himself on the wall.
The boy in the recording slowly lifted a sealed envelope toward the camera.
He whispered one final sentence before the video abruptly ended.
"If I ever remember who the real heir is..."
"...everyone I love will die."
The projector switched off.
The underground room fell silent once more.
The mysterious Guardian looked into Nathan's eyes.
Then, for the first time, he spoke the words that changed everything.
"The choice is yours, Nathan."
"You can recover your memories..."
"Or keep your family alive."
The room froze.
No one moved.
No one breathed.
And before Nathan could answer...
A gunshot echoed somewhere above the underground chamber.
The lights went out again.
Someone screamed.
May you like
Then everything fell into darkness.
End of Part One
