Chapter 10 - the thing that wore familiar voices)
The first thing that came through the red door was darkness.
Not the absence of light.
Something thicker.
It poured across the floor like smoke.
Daniel shoved Owen behind him.
Evelyn screamed.
“Don't let it touch you.”
The darkness moved toward Daniel.
His eyes ignited.
Red light pushed it back.
Vanessa laughed through the speakers.
“There.”
Daniel looked around.
“What do you want?”
“You.”
“Then come get me.”
“I already did.”
The darkness stopped.
A figure appeared inside it.
Claire.
Not the real Claire behind glass.
Another Claire.
Perfect.
Young.
Exactly as she had looked the week before her supposed death.
Daniel stared.
The copy smiled.
“Danny.”
Claire shouted through the glass.
“Don't look at her!”
The copy stepped forward.
Daniel's red eyes flickered.
“You miss me.”
He said nothing.
“You've missed me every second.”
“She's not you.”
“You don't believe that.”
The real Claire slammed her fist against the glass.
“Daniel!”
The copy ignored her.
“I can take away the last four years.”
Daniel's breath shook.
“You can have Claire.”
The copy looked toward Owen.
“You can have your children young again.”
Owen whispered, “Dad.”
“You can have every breakfast.”
Every Christmas.
Every bedtime.
No funeral.
No grief.
No Vanessa.
Daniel's glowing eyes dimmed.
Claire pressed both hands against the glass.
“Daniel Mercer.”
He looked at her.
Claire's voice softened.
“I would never ask you to erase our children's lives.”
Daniel closed his eyes.
The copy smiled.
Then Daniel's eyes reopened.
Brighter red.
He looked directly at the false Claire.
“My wife would know that.”
The copy's face twisted.
Its jaw opened too far.
Owen screamed.
Daniel stepped forward.
Red light exploded across the chamber.
The darkness retreated.
The false Claire dissolved.
Vanessa stopped laughing.
Daniel looked toward the speakers.
“You needed me angry.”
No answer.
“You needed this.”
His eyes burned.
Claire understood.
“She needs your blood active.”
Evelyn nodded.
“To open something deeper.”
The floor shook.
A circular symbol appeared beneath Daniel's feet.
Lines carved into the concrete glowed red.
Vanessa whispered.
“Exactly.”
Daniel jumped aside.
Too late.
A drop of blood fell from his palm.
He hadn't noticed the cut.
It struck the symbol.
The entire underground complex came alive.
Machines powered on.
Doors opened.
Alarms screamed.
Owen's hidden camera suddenly emitted a high-pitched tone.
He ripped it from his blazer.
“What is happening?”
Vanessa answered.
“Thank you for bringing the key.”
Owen stared at the camera.
Mr. Kelly had given it to him.
The realization came slowly.
His teacher.
The camera.
Vanessa knew.
Owen whispered, “Mr. Kelly.”
Vanessa laughed.
“Excellent.”
Daniel looked at his son.
“Your teacher works for them?”
Claire shouted.
“The camera is transmitting.”
Owen threw it onto the floor.
Daniel crushed it beneath his shoe.
Vanessa's voice continued through the speakers.
“Too late.”
A heavy mechanical sound came from beneath the chamber.
Something unlocked.
Claire's glass door opened.
Daniel rushed forward.
Claire stepped out.
For the first time in four years, husband and wife stood face to face without a barrier.
Daniel touched her cheek.
Claire touched his.
They had approximately two seconds.
Then the floor split open.
Claire grabbed Owen.
Daniel caught the edge of the wall.
Evelyn fell.
Marcus caught her.
Below them, hundreds of red lights appeared.
Owen thought they were machinery.
Then they blinked.
Eyes.
The same eyes Daniel had dreamed about.
Claire whispered.
“Oh God.”
May you like
Vanessa spoke one final sentence before the speakers died.
“Welcome back, Mercer.”
