Chapter 8 - The House at Lake Armitage
Emily did not go alone.
She simply allowed Meridian to believe she had.
Daniel hid beneath a false compartment in the vehicle. Micah and Aaron followed at a distance using an unregistered motorcycle. Ruiz remained behind to coordinate law enforcement teams he personally trusted.
The address led to a large house overlooking Lake Armitage.
No guards were visible.
No cameras moved above the gates.
The front door stood open.
Emily entered wearing a concealed microphone and a tracking device Daniel had inserted beneath the lining of her shoe.
The house smelled of pine and fresh paint.
Family photographs covered the walls.
Emily appeared in every picture.
In one, she held a newborn baby.
In another, she stood beside a Christmas tree with Sophie at age four.
A third showed Emily teaching Sophie to swim.
None of the events had happened.
The photographs were expertly manufactured memories of a life stolen from her.
A speaker clicked on.
“Welcome home, Elise.”
Dr. Vale’s voice filled the hallway.
Emily followed a trail of lights to the dining room.
A meal had been prepared for two.
At the far end of the table sat Sophie.
She wore a blue dress and white shoes.
Her hands rested neatly in her lap.
Emily forgot every warning Daniel had given her.
“Sophie.”
The girl looked up.
There was no recognition in her eyes.
“My name is Anna.”
Emily stopped.
“Who told you that?”
“My mother.”
Dr. Vale entered from the adjoining room with her wounded arm in a sling.
“She has been Anna for eleven years.”
Emily wanted to attack her.
Instead, she took the chair opposite Sophie.
“Is she my daughter?”
“Yes.”
“Why take her?”
“Because she was never meant to be yours.”
Emily’s voice dropped.
“Explain.”
Vale poured tea.
“The Meridian Circle believed Adrian encoded the master directory inside your long-term memory. We could not reliably extract it without damaging the information. So we created a biological key.”
Emily looked at Sophie.
“Her.”
“Your daughter inherited several neurological markers associated with your memory structure.”
“You bred me.”
Vale did not deny it.
“Who is her father?”
“Micah Rowan.”
Emily stared at her.
The words did not make sense.
“Micah and I were teenagers.”
“Genetic material does not require consent.”
Emily’s chair struck the floor behind her as she stood.
Sophie flinched.
Emily forced herself to stop.
Vale watched with clinical calm.
“The pregnancy was not accidental. Meridian needed a child connected to both strongest surviving subjects.”
Emily’s stomach twisted.
Micah had not known.
Or he had lied.
“What is Phase Two?”
“A synchronized retrieval process. Sophie’s brain patterns can activate the encoded memory within you.”
“And what happens to her?”
Vale took a slow drink.
“She may survive.”
Emily moved across the table and wrapped one hand around Vale’s throat.
Sophie stood.
“Don’t hurt her!”
Emily froze.
Vale smiled despite the pressure on her neck.
“She believes I am her grandmother.”
Emily released her.
The speaker clicked again.
A man’s voice filled the room.
“Enough.”
A section of wall opened.
Adrian Voss stepped into the dining room.
He was older than the man in Emily’s fragmented memories. His hair had turned white. A burn scar covered the left side of his neck.
Emily could not move.
“Dad.”
Adrian looked at her with grief.
“I’m sorry.”
She slapped him.
The sound echoed through the room.
Sophie gasped.
Emily struck him again.
“You knew she was alive.”
“Yes.”
“You let me bury a blanket.”
“I had no choice.”
“You always had a choice.”
Adrian did not defend himself.
Vale stepped back toward the hidden door.
Adrian drew a pistol and aimed at her.
“Sit down, Helena.”
For the first time, Vale looked surprised.
Adrian moved beside Sophie.
“I did not bring Elise here for the procedure.”
“Then why?” Vale asked.
“To end it.”
He pressed a remote control.
The house lights turned red.
Explosive warning alarms began to pulse throughout the building.
Daniel climbed from beneath the floor access behind the kitchen and aimed his weapon at Vale.
Micah and Aaron entered through the rear doors.
Micah saw Sophie.
Then he looked at Emily.
“What is this?”
Emily’s expression told him before anyone spoke.
Micah’s face emptied.
“No.”
Vale smiled.
“Meet your daughter.”
A shot shattered the window.
Adrian fell backward.
Blood spread across his shirt.
Outside, armed figures emerged from the trees.
Vale dropped to the floor.
Daniel fired toward the windows.
Micah pulled Sophie behind the stone fireplace.
Emily crawled to her father.
Adrian grabbed her wrist.
“The house is not the facility,” he gasped.
“Where is it?”
“Under the lake.”
The floor shook.
A section of the dining room descended like an elevator.
Emily, Sophie, Adrian, and Vale dropped beneath the house as steel walls closed above them.
Daniel shouted Emily’s name.
Then the floor sealed.
The platform continued downward into darkness.
May you like
Vale smiled at Emily.
“Phase Two has already begun.”
