Chapter 7: The Children Who Remembered
The cage doors slammed open all at once.
Metal shrieked against concrete.
Children screamed.
Eli was the first to move.
He grabbed Kayla's hand and pulled her toward the nearest doorway.
“Everybody run!”” he shouted.
Nia lunged toward the glass partition.
“Eli!””
Her mother caught her wrist.
“No. Don't go through that door.””
Nia ripped free.
“He's six years old!””
“And that is exactly what they want.””
A red emergency light flickered on.
The basement filled with pulsing crimson.
Nia could hear running feet on the other side of the glass.
Small feet.
Bare feet.
Desperate feet.
She slammed her shoulder against the locked door.
“Open!””
Nothing.
Then the door clicked.
Nia stepped through.
The children rushed toward her.
Kayla crashed into her waist.
“Officer!””
“I'm here.””
“Where do we go?””
Nia looked down the corridor.
Every hallway looked identical.
Her mother shouted from behind the glass.
“Left!””
Nia turned.
“What?””
“Left corridor! The right one leads to the loading bay!””
Nia guided the children left.
Bear came through the door behind them.
“Eli!””
The boy ran straight into him.
Bear wrapped both arms around him.
“I've got you.””
Eli clung to his vest.
“They opened all the doors.””
“I know.””
“We have to find the others.””
Bear looked at Nia.
“How many are there?””
Nia glanced toward the adjoining hall.
“Five here.””
“Only five?””
Her mother answered from behind them.
“The others were moved.””
“Where?””
She pointed toward the floor.
“Underneath us.””
Bear stared.
“There's another level?””
Nia's mother nodded.
“Two.””
A loud bang shook the basement.
Everyone jumped.
Someone had slammed a steel door upstairs.
Nia raised her weapon.
“Who is that?””
Her mother looked frightened.
“Security.””
“How many?””
“Three.””
“Armed?””
“Yes.””
Bear moved closer.
“Then we need to get the children out.””
Nia nodded.
“Mom, where's the exit?””
Her mother looked at Eli.
Then at Bear.
“There isn't one.””
Silence.
“What?”” Nia asked.
“The emergency exits were sealed years ago.””
Nia's face hardened.
“You built this place?””
Her mother shook her head.
“I built the first version.””
“You knew there were cages.””
“I knew there was a room.””
“You knew enough.””
Her mother flinched.
“I didn't know about the transfers.””
“Stop.””
Nia's voice echoed.
“I'm done hearing what you didn't know.””
Her mother lowered her eyes.
Eli tugged Bear's vest.
“Grandpa.””
Bear crouched.
“What is it?””
“Mommy said the lights would go out.””
Bear looked at Nia.
“Why?””
Eli pointed toward a small red box on the wall.
“Because she told me what to do.””
Nia walked toward it.
A handwritten label had been taped across the cover.
*WHEN THE LIGHTS GO OUT, PULL THIS.*
Nia opened the box.
Inside was a thick black switch.
She looked at her mother.
“What does this do?””
“Don't.””
“Mom.””
“Don't pull it.””
A gunshot cracked upstairs.
The children screamed.
Bear pulled Eli down.
Nia made her decision.
She yanked the switch.
The entire building went dark.
Then the floor beneath them vibrated.
Somewhere underground, machinery began to move.
A hidden section of the wall slid sideways.
Behind it was a narrow staircase.
Nia stared.
“That's the second level.””
Her mother nodded.
“Where the real records were kept.””
“Then that's where we're going.””
Bear shook his head.
“With the children?””
“There's no other exit.””
He looked at Eli.
The boy nodded.
“Mommy said we have to go down.””
Bear's face tightened.
“Why would Ava tell you that?””
Eli looked at him.
“Because the bad men don't know about the bottom.””
They descended.
Nia went first.
Bear carried one exhausted child in his arms while another held the back of his vest.
Kayla stayed beside Nia.
Behind them came Nia's mother.
Halfway down, Nia whispered,
“Mom.””
“Yes?””
“Did Ruby come down here?””
Her mother stopped.
“Yes.””
“When?””
“The night of the fire.””
Nia's chest tightened.
“She escaped?””
Her mother nodded.
“I helped her.””
“Then why did everyone say she died?””
“I had to make your father believe she was dead.””
“You could have told me.””
“You were twelve.””
“I was her sister.””
“You were his daughter.””
Nia turned.
Her mother looked devastated.
“That's why.””
They reached the bottom.
The corridor was colder.
Concrete walls.
No windows.
No cameras.
At the end stood a steel door marked:
*ARCHIVE B.*
Nia tried the handle.
Unlocked.
Inside were filing cabinets.
Hundreds of them.
Bear swept his flashlight across the shelves.
“There's enough paper in here to bury a city.””
Nia opened the nearest drawer.
Files.
Children's names.
Dates.
Medical records.
Payments.
Photographs.
She pulled one folder.
*RUBY BROOKS.*
Her hands shook.
She opened it.
First page:
*AGE: 12*
*STATUS: TRANSFERRED*
Second page:
*TRANSFER LOCATION: UNKNOWN*
Third page:
A photograph.
Ruby.
Alive.
Not twelve anymore.
Older.
Maybe eighteen.
Then another.
Twenty-five.
Another.
Thirty.
Nia stared.
“She survived.””
Her mother nodded.
“I told you.””
“Where is she?””
“I don't know.””
“You're lying.””
“No.””
“You kept her alive.””
“I tried.””
Bear stepped closer.
“What happened after the fire?””
Nia's mother looked toward him.
“Ruby ran.””
“From the police?””
“From your father.””
Bear's face hardened.
“My daughter helped her?””
“Yes.””
“And then?””
“They both disappeared.””
Nia turned another page.
A handwritten note was clipped inside.
*RUBY REFUSES TO DISCLOSE CURRENT LOCATION.*
Below that:
*SUBJECT HAS CONTACT WITH SURVIVING CHILDREN.*
Nia's eyes widened.
“Ruby wasn't just hiding.””
Her mother shook her head.
“She was getting them out.””
Bear stared at the document.
“Ava was helping her.””
“Yes.””
A sound came from the corridor.
Footsteps.
Heavy.
Approaching.
Nia closed the file.
“Everyone quiet.””
The children crouched behind filing cabinets.
Bear positioned himself at the door.
His fists tightened.
Nia whispered to her mother.
“Where's the second exit?””
“There.””
She pointed to the back wall.
A narrow ventilation door.
Nia approached it.
Locked.
She examined the latch.
No key.
Then she remembered the metal badge.
Seventeen.
She pulled it from her pocket.
The shape matched a slot beneath the latch.
She inserted it.
Click.
The door opened.
Cold air rushed through.
Beyond it was another tunnel.
“Move.””
The children entered.
Bear followed.
Nia's mother stopped.
Nia grabbed her arm.
“You're coming.””
Her mother shook her head.
“Someone needs to slow them down.””
“No.””
“You won't make it otherwise.””
“Mom.””
Her mother smiled through tears.
“You were always stubborn.””
Footsteps grew louder.
Nia stared at her.
Then she saw something in her mother's hand.
A small silver key.
“What does that open?””
Her mother looked down at it.
“Your father's office.””
Nia's expression changed.
“Where?””
“At the end of the tunnel.””
“Then come with us.””
Her mother hesitated.
A gunshot tore through the archive room.
The filing cabinet beside Nia exploded with sparks.
“GO!””
They ran.
The children disappeared into the tunnel.
Nia looked back.
Her mother stood in the doorway.
“Nia!””
Nia stopped.
“Don't trust Bear.””
Nia's eyes widened.
“What?””
Her mother stared directly at Bear.
“He didn't start the fire.””
Bear's face went blank.
Nia looked between them.
“Then who did?””
Her mother whispered,
“He helped your father set it.””
Bear's eyes closed.
Nia couldn't breathe.
“Bear?””
The bikers' leader stood motionless.
Eli was only a few feet away.
He heard everything.
“Grandpa?””
Bear looked at the boy.
His face crumpled.
“I was twenty-six,” he whispered.
Nia raised her weapon.
“Explain.””
Bear slowly lifted his hands.
“I didn't know there were children in the building.””
“My mother says you were there.””
“I was.””
“Why?””
“Ava called me.””
“About what?””
“She found the cages.””
“Then why would you help my father?””
“I didn't know what he planned.””
Another gunshot came from the archive.
Bear flinched.
Nia kept the weapon trained on him.
“You said you were protecting the children.””
“I am.””
“After helping burn the place down?””
Bear's voice cracked.
“I thought I was saving Ava.””
Eli started crying.
“Grandpa…”
Bear stepped toward him.
Nia raised the gun.
“Don't move.””
Bear stopped.
“I never meant for her to disappear.””
“Where did she go?””
He looked at the floor.
“Your father took her.””
Nia's heart pounded.
“You let him?””
“He threatened Eli.””
Nia froze.
“Eli wasn't even born yet.””
Bear looked at the boy.
“No.””
He swallowed.
“There was another baby.””
Nia's face drained.
“My mother said Eli wasn't the baby in the photograph.””
Bear nodded.
“Ava had twins.””
The tunnel seemed to contract around them.
“One was Eli.””
Bear's voice dropped.
“The other was Ruby's daughter.””
Nia stared.
“Where is she?””
A distant cry echoed through the tunnel.
All of them turned.
A little girl appeared at the far end.
Maybe ten years old.
Barefoot.
Dark curls.
A scar beneath one eye.
She stared directly at Nia.
Then at Bear.
Then she held up a photograph.
Nia walked closer.
The photograph showed Ava.
Beside her stood Ruby.
And between them were two babies.
On the back, written in Ava's handwriting:
*ONE CHILD WAS GIVEN TO BEAR.*
*ONE CHILD WAS GIVEN TO THE BROOKS FAMILY.*
Nia looked at her mother.
Her mother was gone.
The tunnel behind her was empty.
“Mom?””
No answer.
The little girl spoke.
“She was taken.””
Nia turned.
“By who?””
The girl looked toward Bear.
Then she whispered,
“By the man who just left the archive.””
Bear's eyes widened.
“Mason.””
Nia ran toward the tunnel.
But the girl grabbed her hand.
“Officer Brooks.””
Nia looked down.
The girl's eyes were full of tears.
“There's something you need to know.””
“What?””
“She isn't your mother.””
Nia froze.
The girl pointed at the photograph.
“Your real mother is the woman in the basement.””
A second later, the lights in the tunnel came back on.
And at the far end stood Ava.
Older.
Bloodied.
Alive.
May you like
Holding a gun.
Pointed directly at Bear.
