Chapter 11 - Below St. Catherine’s
The hidden elevator remained behind a concrete wall.
Workers opened it under police supervision.
The elevator shaft descended two floors below the known basement.
There was no power, so the tactical team used ropes.
They found a corridor lined with observation rooms.
Small beds stood behind thick glass panels.
Children’s drawings remained taped to the walls.
Most depicted houses.
Some showed faceless adults.
One drawing showed two identical boys holding hands while a black figure cut the space between them with scissors.
Ethan stared at it for a long time.
The name ADRIAN was written in the corner.
The underground level had not been abandoned.
Fresh footprints marked the dust.
A generator hummed behind a locked door.
The police discovered medical equipment, computer servers, and refrigeration units containing blood samples.
Some labels dated back thirty years.
Others were less than a month old.
Noah’s name appeared on seven containers.
Emily had to leave the room.
She pressed both palms against the corridor wall and fought to breathe.
Seven samples.
Margaret had taken Noah to Victor repeatedly.
Ethan stood behind her.
“I’m sorry.”
“You didn’t know.”
“I should have known.”
“We both should have.”
“No. She was my mother. I brought her into our home.”
Emily turned.
“And I let her convince me I was imagining things.”
They stood in silence, sharing blame neither of them truly deserved.
Detective Bennett called them into the control room.
Security logs showed recent activity.
Margaret had entered the underground level four nights earlier.
Adrian entered six minutes later.
Victor arrived at dawn.
The final camera recording showed an argument.
Margaret shouted, “You said you would leave Noah alone.”
Victor answered, “The child is the first stable inheritor.”
“He is five.”
“He is an asset.”
Adrian stood between them.
He looked exactly like Ethan except for a thin scar along his chin.
Margaret turned toward him.
“You don’t have to obey Victor anymore.”
Adrian smiled.
“You think I obey him?”
Victor looked uneasy.
Adrian continued.
“You both made the same mistake. You thought the child you kept was the valuable one.”
“He is,” Victor said.
“No. Ethan carries the mutation, but his body suppresses its full expression.”
Adrian placed a folder on the table.
“The gene activates only when paired with mine.”
Victor stared at him.
“What are you saying?”
“We were never separate candidates. We were two halves of the same sequence.”
The recording ended.
Bennett looked at Ethan.
“Does that make scientific sense?”
“Not without more information.”
The servers contained that information, but most files were encrypted.
One document had been left open deliberately.
It described a process involving cells from both twins and a compatible descendant.
Ethan, Adrian, and Noah.
Together, their genetic material could produce a therapy capable of rapidly rebuilding damaged immune tissue.
Potential applications included cancer treatment, organ transplantation, and recovery from radiation exposure.
It could save millions of lives.
It could also be patented for billions of dollars.
“Victor wants all three of you,” Emily said.
Bennett shook her head.
“Victor wanted them.”
“What changed?”
“Watch Adrian’s body language.”
They replayed the footage.
Victor appeared nervous.
Margaret appeared desperate.
Adrian appeared in control.
“He took over the project,” Bennett said.
A loud alarm sounded in the corridor.
Red emergency lights began flashing.
An officer shouted from the server room.
“Fire!”
Smoke poured beneath the door.
The team evacuated.
As Ethan climbed the rope toward the basement, he heard music through the alarm.
The melody from Anna’s music box.
He looked back.
A speaker in the corridor had switched on.
Adrian’s voice followed.
“Do you remember this place, brother?”
Ethan froze.
Another memory struck him.
He was nine.
Margaret had brought him underground because Victor demanded follow-up testing.
Ethan wandered away while the adults argued.
He entered a room and found another boy behind glass.
The boy looked exactly like him.
They pressed their palms against opposite sides of the window.
“What’s your name?” young Ethan asked.
The boy answered, “They call me Adrian.”
“I’m Ethan.”
“No,” Adrian said. “That’s my name.”
Victor entered and dragged Ethan away.
Adrian screamed and struck the glass.
Ethan remembered turning toward Margaret.
“Why does he look like me?”
Margaret placed a cloth over his mouth.
The memory disappeared into darkness.
Back in the burning corridor, Ethan whispered, “I met him.”
Emily pulled him toward the rope.
“We have to go.”
“He knew me.”
“Ethan!”
They escaped seconds before flames consumed the control room.
Firefighters contained the blaze, but the servers were destroyed.
The refrigerated samples were removed safely.
One container, however, was empty.
Its label read A.H.
Adrian Hale.
Inside the lid was a message.
May you like
I no longer need my sample.
I have the original.
