Chapter 9: The Daughter Nobody Buried
The knocking came again.
Three slow strikes against the medical room door.
Daniel raised his weapon.
"Who's in there?""
No answer.
Nathan moved toward the control panel.
"Boss, we need to get out before the smoke reaches the ventilation system.""
I ignored him.
I was staring at my father.
"What did you mean by sister?""
John looked as though he had aged another twenty years in the last few minutes.
"Her name was Victoria.""
I shook my head.
"Who was she?""
"Your older sister.""
I looked toward the photograph in his hand.
The woman in the hospital gown had my eyes.
The same shape.
The same color.
Even the small mark beneath her left eyebrow was familiar.
I had seen it in the mirror every morning for years.
"Why have I never heard of her?""
My father closed his eyes.
"Because Edward wanted her erased.""
He explained that Victoria had been born before Nathan and me.
She was the first child in the family to inherit the unusual genetic markers Edward had been studying.
At first, Edward had treated her like a daughter.
Then he had treated her like an experiment.
When she was seven, he discovered she could access the early Bluebird system without a physical key.
She only needed to touch the identification panel.
That frightened him.
He believed her abilities could threaten his control.
So he arranged for her to disappear.
John had been told that Victoria died in a hospital.
Elizabeth had been told the same thing.
But neither of them had seen a body.
"Where is she now?"" I asked.
My father looked toward the medical room.
"She's been here.""
The knocking stopped.
I approached the door.
There was a small rectangular window near the top.
I wiped away the condensation.
A woman stood on the other side.
She was wearing a pale hospital gown.
Her hair was dark.
Her face was thin.
But her eyes were unmistakable.
She raised one hand.
Then pressed her palm against the glass.
A small blue light appeared beneath her skin.
I stepped backward.
"Victoria?""
Her lips moved.
I couldn't hear her.
Then she wrote something on the glass with her finger.
*DON'T TRUST JOHN.*
I turned toward my father.
He was crying.
"Why?"" I demanded.
He didn't answer.
Victoria wrote again.
*HE KNOWS WHO KILLED ELIZABETH.*
I felt my chest tighten.
My mother.
The real Elizabeth.
The woman I had been told was dead.
I turned toward John.
"Who killed her?""
He stared at the floor.
"Edward.""
"Did you know?""
He nodded.
"Yes.""
I couldn't believe what I was hearing.
"You knew?""
"I found out years later.""
"And you did nothing?""
"I tried to stop him.""
"By hiding in a basement for six years?""
My father flinched.
Nathan stepped between us.
"Marcus, we have to move.""
I looked toward Victoria.
She was still standing behind the glass.
Her hands were pressed against the door.
I walked toward the control panel.
A digital keypad appeared.
The screen displayed:
*SUBJECT VICTORIA HAYES.*
*STATUS: PERMANENTLY CONTAINED.*
*AUTHORIZATION: FAMILY ROOT REQUIRED.*
I took out the silver key.
Nothing happened.
Nathan examined the panel.
"Try your thumb.""
I pressed the cut on my thumb against the scanner.
The screen flashed green.
A second prompt appeared.
*SECOND AUTHORIZATION REQUIRED.*
Nathan stepped forward.
He pressed his hand against the scanner.
Another green light appeared.
The door unlocked.
Victoria stepped out.
She was much taller than I expected.
And much thinner.
She looked at me for a long time.
Then she touched my cheek.
"Alexander.""
Her voice was weak.
I couldn't speak.
She smiled sadly.
"You look like Mother.""
I swallowed.
"You're really my sister?""
She nodded.
Then she looked at Nathan.
"You're alive.""
Nathan gave a small smile.
"Apparently, we're difficult to kill.""
Victoria's expression changed.
"Michael?""
I nodded.
"He's holding my wife.""
She closed her eyes.
"I know.""
I stared.
"You know where she is?""
Victoria nodded.
"She's in the original Bluebird chamber.""
"Where is that?""
"Under Blackstone headquarters.""
Daniel looked at her.
"Can we get inside?""
Victoria gave a faint smile.
"I can.""
She turned toward the medical room.
Then looked at the monitors.
"Your wife left me something.""
"What?""
"A message.""
She walked to the main console and pressed her palm against the screen.
The system came alive.
A video appeared.
My wife sat in front of a plain white wall.
Her face was bruised, but her eyes were clear.
"Marcus," she said.
I stepped closer.
"If you're watching this, then Victoria has finally come out of containment.""
She looked down briefly.
"I need you to listen carefully. I didn't tell you about our son because I was afraid of what Edward would do if he found out.""
She took a shaky breath.
"His name is Daniel. He's fifteen years old. And he's been raised to believe that Michael is his father.""
I looked toward Nathan.
He shook his head.
"That's not possible.""
The recording continued.
"There's something else. Daniel isn't just a child who was hidden from the system. He's the only person who can destroy it.""
Victoria's eyes widened.
"That's why Michael took him.""
My blood turned cold.
"What?""
My wife looked directly into the camera.
"Marcus, our son is not at Millbrook. He's at Blackstone headquarters.""
She leaned closer.
"And Michael has already started the procedure.""
The video ended.
Nobody moved.
Then Victoria whispered:
"They're going to use the boy to activate the final archive.""
I turned toward her.
"What happens if they succeed?""
She looked at the floor.
"Every person whose identity was erased by Bluebird will become permanently untraceable.""
"Meaning?""
"They'll disappear from every official record. No legal identity. No bank accounts.
No medical records. No proof they ever existed.""
Daniel shook his head.
"How many people?""
Victoria looked at the screen.
"Twenty-seven thousand.""
I felt the room go silent.
Twenty-seven thousand people.
Families.
Children.
Parents.
People who had been told their loved ones were dead.
People who had spent years searching for someone who had never officially existed.
I looked at my father.
"How do we stop it?""
John slowly removed a small metal object from his pocket.
A blue key.
Not the silver key Lucy had given me.
A larger one.
It was shaped like a bird with its wings spread.
"Your wife gave me this before they captured her," he said.
I reached for it.
But he pulled his hand away.
"There's something you must understand.""
"What?""
"Destroying Bluebird will also erase the false identities of everyone currently living under its protection.""
I frowned.
"Why would that matter?""
Victoria answered.
"Because some of those people are innocent.""
She pointed toward the monitor.
A list appeared.
Names.
Thousands of them.
And near the bottom, I recognized one.
*DANIEL HAYES.*
My son.
But beneath his name was another entry.
*BIOLOGICAL STATUS: NOT CONFIRMED.*
I stared at the screen.
"What does that mean?""
Victoria looked at me.
"Your wife has been hiding something from you.""
Before I could ask what, the entire facility shook.
An alarm sounded.
Then a red message appeared.
*BLUEBIRD FINAL ACTIVATION: 00:15:00.*
Fifteen minutes.
Nathan grabbed his jacket.
"We're going.""
I turned toward Victoria.
"Can you get us inside Blackstone?""
She nodded.
"But there's one problem.""
"What?""
She looked directly at me.
"Michael knows you're coming.""
A security camera above the door suddenly turned toward us.
The screen flickered.
Michael's face appeared.
He was smiling.
"Hello, Alexander.""
I stepped closer.
"Where's my wife?""
Michael tilted his head.
"She's right here.""
The camera shifted.
My wife appeared on the screen.
Beside her stood a teenage boy.
Dark hair.
Brown eyes.
A scar above his left eyebrow.
My son.
Michael placed a hand on the boy's shoulder.
"Now, I think it's time we had a family conversation.""
He leaned toward the camera.
"Bring me the blue key, Alexander.""
Then he smiled at the boy.
"Or I'll let your son discover which one of us is his real father.""
The screen went black.
And for the first time since I had opened that coffin, I understood something terrifying.
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The greatest danger wasn't that Michael had stolen my family.
It was that he might have convinced my son that he belonged to him.
