Chapter 11 - Hollow Creek
Three weeks after Lily left intensive care, Claire drove north toward Hollow Creek.
She wanted Lily to remain home, but her daughter refused.
“Rose might be sick too,” Lily said.
Claire could not argue with that.
Dr. Warren traveled with them, along with Rebecca and Jordan. Melissa stayed behind with Elena to testify before a federal grand jury.
Daniel remained in jail without bail.
Evelyn had been released into monitored house arrest after cooperating with investigators.
The road to Hollow Creek climbed through dense forests and narrow mountain passes. Cell service disappeared twenty miles outside town.
Hollow Creek consisted of a gas station, a diner, a church, and several dozen houses surrounded by pine trees.
They found the address from Anna’s photograph at the end of an unmarked road.
The cabin was abandoned.
Its windows were boarded.
The front door had been nailed shut.
Jordan photographed the property while Dr. Warren examined old utility markings.
Rebecca stood near the porch, trembling.
“I remember this place.”
“You were here?” Claire asked.
“When I was thirteen. Miriam brought me for treatment.”
“What treatment?”
“I don’t remember everything. They kept me sedated.”
Lily walked toward the black tree behind the cabin.
It was dead, its branches twisted against the pale sky.
The same tree she had drawn at Jordan’s kitchen table.
“Mom,” she called. “The door is here.”
Claire followed.
At the base of the tree, hidden beneath leaves, was a metal hatch.
Dr. Warren forced it open.
A ladder descended into darkness.
The underground room beneath the cabin contained medical supplies, a generator, and a wall covered with photographs.
Every photograph showed a child.
Some wore hospital gowns.
Some stood beside families who appeared unaware of the camera.
A red line connected photographs across generations.
Claire found Anna, Rebecca, herself, Melissa, and Lily.
Beside Lily’s photograph was another girl around twelve years old.
Rose Ellison.
She had dark red hair and gray eyes.
A recent date had been written below her image.
Rebecca touched the photograph.
“I don’t understand.”
A tape recorder sat on a table.
Claire pressed play.
Anna’s voice filled the room.
“Rose is not Rebecca’s daughter. She is Miriam’s final subject.”
Rebecca stared at the machine.
Anna continued.
“Miriam created Rose using preserved genetic material from both family lines. She believed combining the Vale resistance with the Mercer activation would produce a child capable of surviving every version of the compound.”
Dr. Warren lowered his head.
“You knew?” Claire asked.
“I knew embryos had been created. I believed they were destroyed.”
“Who carried her?”
“I don’t know.”
The recording continued.
“Rose was placed with an adoptive family in Hollow Creek. If Meridian finds her, they will use her blood to stabilize the program.”
A sound came from above.
The hatch slammed shut.
Jordan rushed to the ladder.
Locked.
The generator stopped.
Darkness filled the room.
Then a young girl’s voice sounded through a speaker.
“You shouldn’t have come.”
Claire switched on her flashlight.
“Rose?”
Silence.
“Are you Rose Ellison?”
“Yes.”
“We’re here to help you.”
“No, you’re here because they wanted you to find me.”
Rebecca approached the speaker.
“Who wanted us to find you?”
“The woman who looks like Melissa.”
Claire remembered the figure in green.
“Miriam?”
Rose laughed softly.
“Miriam Vale died twelve years ago.”
“Then who visited Lily?”
“The same person who gave me a new name.”
A ventilation fan began turning.
Sweet-smelling gas entered the room.
Dr. Warren covered Lily’s mouth with his jacket.
Claire climbed the ladder and struck the hatch with a metal tool.
“Rose, open the door!”
“You brought them exactly what they needed.”
“What?”
“Lily.”
Claire looked toward her daughter.
Lily swayed.
The flashlight slipped from Claire’s hand.
May you like
The last thing she heard was Rose whispering through the speaker.
“I’m sorry. They promised to give me my family back.”
