Chapter 15 - The Woman Who Knew the Ending
Patricia looked different.
Not frightened.
Not weak.
Not confused.
Calm.
Too calm.
Claire slowly closed the file.
“You knew Nora was alive.”
Patricia nodded.
“You knew where she was.”
“Yes.”
“You knew my mother was alive.”
Patricia hesitated.
“Yes.”
Claire's eyes filled with anger.
“You lied to me.”
“I did.”
“For nineteen years.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
Patricia stepped into the room.
“Because you asked me to.”
Claire froze.
“What?”
Patricia looked at her.
“When you were seven, you knew what was happening.”
“I was a child.”
“You were.”
“But you said I asked you.”
“You did.”
Patricia placed a small recorder on the table.
Claire stared at it.
“You recorded me?”
“Before we separated you from Nora.”
Patricia pressed play.
A child's voice filled the chamber.
Claire's voice.
“If they find me, they'll use me to find Nora.”
Patricia looked at Claire.
“You understood the danger.”
The recording continued.
“If I forget, don't tell me.”
Claire's eyes widened.
“Why?”
The child answered herself.
“Because if I remember too soon, they'll know.”
The recording ended.
Claire stood motionless.
Patricia continued.
“You weren't hiding the truth from yourself.”
“You were hiding it from them.”
Claire whispered:
“Who are they?”
Patricia looked toward Graves.
He stood at the far end of the room.
His expression was unreadable.
Patricia said:
“The people who started Nightglass.”
Claire turned.
“What do you mean?”
Patricia walked toward the six files.
“Black Meridian was never the real enemy.”
Graves stiffened.
Patricia continued.
“They were only one branch.”
Claire stared.
“What was above them?”
Patricia touched the active file.
“Something called the Directorate.”
Richard looked stunned.
“I thought the Directorate was destroyed.”
Patricia smiled sadly.
“So did everyone.”
Claire looked between them.
“Who leads it?”
Patricia did not answer.
The underground lights suddenly flickered.
A monitor on the wall turned on.
Nora appeared on the screen.
She looked directly at Claire.
“Claire.”
Claire stepped toward the monitor.
“Nora.”
Nora's eyes filled with tears.
“You finally remembered enough.”
Claire whispered:
“Tell me everything.”
Nora shook her head.
“Not yet.”
“Why?”
“Because there is one thing you still don't remember.”
Claire frowned.
“What?”
Nora looked past the camera.
Toward someone standing outside the frame.
Her expression changed.
Fear.
Then recognition.
Then something like relief.
She whispered:
“He's there.”
Claire looked at Graves.
“What does that mean?”
Nora answered:
“The man who saved us.”
Graves stepped forward.
“I don't know what she's talking about.”
Nora smiled faintly.
“You always say that.”
The screen went black.
Everyone remained silent.
Then Claire noticed something on the floor.
A military identification card.
It had fallen from Graves's coat.
She picked it up.
The name printed on it was not Ethan Graves.
It was another name.
A name Claire had seen before.
On the first page of the Nightglass file.
The name of the operator officially listed as killed nineteen years ago.
Claire looked up.
Graves was gone.
The chamber door stood open.
Patricia stared into the empty corridor.
Richard whispered:
“He knew.”
Ryan asked:
“Knew what?”
Patricia answered:
“That Claire would remember.”
Claire looked down at the identification card.
For the first time, she understood why Graves had recognized her tattoo.
Why he had seemed terrified.
Why he had known so much.
And why he had never once tried to remove the mark from her arm.
The tattoo wasn't a symbol of the dead.
It was a symbol of the survivors.
Claire turned toward the dark corridor.
Somewhere beyond it, footsteps disappeared into the underground facility.
Then her phone vibrated.
One new message.
No sender.
Only a photograph.
Claire opened it.
Her blood ran cold.
The photograph showed Nora.
Her biological mother.
Patricia.
Richard.
Daniel.
Graves.
And Claire.
All standing together.
Not nineteen years ago.
Not yesterday.
Tonight.
On the back of the photograph was a single sentence.
YOU HAVE BEEN LOOKING FOR THE WRONG PERSON.
Claire stared at the words.
Then another message appeared.
THE REAL NIGHTGLASS OPERATION STARTS WHEN YOU FIND OUT WHO YOU ARE.
She slowly lowered the phone.
Behind her, the underground door locked itself.
And somewhere in the darkness, a woman's voice whispered her name.
“Claire.”
This time, Claire knew the voice.
It was her own.
May you like
The lights went out.
The story had only just begun.
