Chapter 7 - THE MOTHER WITHOUT A NAME
The woman stopped several feet from Piper.
“I used to sing to you when storms kept you awake.”
“Celia did that too.”
“She learned the song from recordings.”
“What song?”
The woman began humming.
Piper’s grip tightened around the stool.
The melody was soft and uneven, almost like a lullaby remembered through pain.
Piper’s eyes filled with tears before she could stop them.
“You could have learned that from a recording too.”
“I could have.”
The woman did not move closer.
“You had a birthmark beneath your left shoulder. It looked like a crescent moon. When you were three, you hated it because another child called it a bruise. I drew a face beside it with washable ink and told you the moon needed a friend.”
Piper’s stool lowered slightly.
Nobody spoke.
Elena touched the scars on her cheek.
“I cannot prove seventeen missing years in one minute.”
“Where were you?”
“Below this school for part of them. In private facilities for the rest.”
“My father kept you prisoner?”
“Your father told himself he was keeping the program safe.”
Piper looked toward Adrian.
“You said she never left the lower level.”
“I believed she died here.”
“I nearly did,” Elena said.
She faced Nell.
“Evan helped me escape eight months ago.”
Nell stepped forward.
“Then where is he?”
“He remained behind.”
“Why?”
“To retrieve the master index and destroy the conditioning files.”
“You let him stay?”
“I begged him to leave.”
“Where is he now?”
“I don’t know.”
Nell’s anger rose.
“Everyone keeps saying that.”
Elena approached the unconscious man in the chamber and removed the projection mesh completely.
“He is part of Marcus’s response team. If he was used as a decoy, Marcus expects us to take the B3 route.”
“Is that where Evan is?” Mr. Hale asked.
“No. It is where Marcus wants Nell.”
Adrian looked at the blue box.
“The archive chamber is on B3.”
“Yes.”
“And the box must be connected there.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
Elena studied the timer.
“Evan created the purge.”
Nell stared at her.
“What will it erase?”
“The entire Continuity Program.”
“Then why is everyone trying to stop it?”
“Because the archive is tied to more than records. It controls financial accounts, security systems and automated evidence releases. When the purge finishes, protected files will be sent to journalists, investigators and families.”
“That sounds good,” Piper said.
“It would be, except Marcus changed the sequence.”
Elena pointed to the timer.
“If the box reaches zero without the compass key, the system will release altered files instead of originals.”
Nell understood.
“Marcus will frame innocent people.”
“And protect the guilty.”
Mr. Hale held the box tighter.
“Then we connect the compass.”
“Not yet,” Elena warned. “The key has two parts.”
“What is the second?”
“Evan.”
Nell felt a sharp ache beneath her ribs.
“My brother is the other key?”
“His voice, fingerprint and biometric pattern were embedded when he created the purge. Without him, we cannot verify the files.”
“Then we find him.”
Elena looked toward the B3 card.
“Marcus wants you to believe Evan is on B3. He is not.”
“How do you know?”
“Because I moved him.”
Nell crossed the distance between them.
“Where?”
Elena lowered her voice.
“Inside the school.”
“We are inside the school.”
“Not this building.”
A heavy alarm sounded.
Red letters appeared on every monitor.
UNAUTHORIZED ACCESS: NORTH RESIDENCE.
Piper looked at Elena.
“What is the North Residence?”
“The original headmaster’s house,” Adrian said. “It has been abandoned for decades.”
Elena shook her head.
“Nothing at Westbridge is abandoned.”
The monitors switched to security footage.
A young man limped through a dark hallway.
Nell recognized him instantly.
This was the real Evan.
He wore no projection mesh. His face was thin, and one arm hung stiffly at his side, but he moved with the familiar uneven stride caused by an old soccer injury.
“Evan,” Nell whispered.
He reached a locked door and held something toward the camera.
Their father’s watch.
The screen zoomed in on the engraving.
TWO HANDS FIND NORTH.
Nell touched the compass.
Adrian understood.
“The watch and compass are paired keys.”
Elena nodded.
“Michael Carter divided access between his children.”
A shadow moved behind Evan.
Nell shouted at the screen.
He turned.
A masked person struck him from behind.
The footage ended.
The blue box displayed a new message.
BIOMETRIC KEY 41B CAPTURED.
TRANSFER TO ARCHIVE CHAMBER IN 90 MINUTES.
Nell looked at Elena.
“How do we reach the North Residence?”
“Through the old gym tunnel.”
Adrian checked the unconscious response agent’s pockets again.
“We need weapons.”
Mr. Hale frowned.
“We need the police.”
“The school’s communications are blocked,” Adrian said.
“Officer Grant is upstairs.”
“If Grant is still alive.”
Piper flinched.
Nell looked at her.
“You can stay here.”
“No.”
“This is not one of your videos.”
“I know.”
“People may die.”
Piper wiped blood from her forehead.
“My real mother is standing in front of me. My father may have imprisoned her for seventeen years. He has Evan, and he plans to frame me if I disobey him.”
Her voice hardened.
“I’m done standing where he puts me.”
Elena looked at her daughter with a mixture of pride and sorrow.
They left the observation room through a service passage leading beneath the old gym.
As they moved, Nell heard Mr. Hale whisper to Adrian.
“You did not tell them everything.”
Adrian answered quietly.
“Neither did Elena.”
Nell pretended not to hear.
But she stayed close enough to catch Mr. Hale’s next question.
“Does Nell know what happened to her father’s body?”
Adrian glanced toward her.
“No.”
“And Evan?”
“He found out.”
Nell stopped.
Before she could confront them, an explosion shook the tunnel.
The ceiling cracked.
Elena screamed for everyone to run.
The passage collapsed between Nell and the others.
When the dust settled, Nell found herself alone with Piper on one side.
The others were trapped behind tons of concrete.
Then a flashlight appeared in the darkness ahead.
A man stepped into view.
He wore her father’s watch.
May you like
But he was not Evan.
He was the father Nell had buried six years ago.
