Chapter 9: The Man With His Face
Darius stared at the phone.
Nobody moved.
It rang again.
He picked it up.
“Hello?””
A man's voice answered.
“You finally remembered.””
Darius's blood ran cold.
“Who are you?””
A quiet laugh.
“You've been asking the wrong question.””
Darius looked around the ballroom.
“Where are you?””
“Closer than you think.””
The call ended.
Camille covered her mouth.
Darius turned toward her.
“You know that voice.””
She shook her head.
“I don't.””
“You're lying again.””
Naomi stepped closer.
“I know it.””
Darius looked at her.
“Who?””
Naomi's eyes fixed on the ballroom doors.
“Your father.””
Evelyn shook her head.
“No.””
Naomi frowned.
Evelyn's voice trembled.
“That's not him.””
Darius looked down at the phone.
A new message appeared.
*LOOK BEHIND THE PORTRAIT.*
He turned toward the portrait of his mother.
Evelyn immediately said, “Don't.””
Darius pulled it from the wall.
A hidden compartment opened behind it.
Inside was a small video camera.
Still recording.
Darius picked it up.
The screen showed the ballroom from above.
Every person was visible.
Every movement.
Every reaction.
The timestamp read:
*LIVE — 11:53 PM*
Darius looked upward.
There was no camera.
Then the screen changed.
A video began playing.
A burning house appeared.
No flashback from Darius's memory.
A recording.
The camera showed a younger Darius running through smoke.
He was carrying Zoe.
Behind him, another man carried a baby.
Amara.
Darius stared.
The second man turned toward the camera.
His face was unmistakable.
Darius.
Not older.
Not younger.
His exact face.
His exact body.
His exact voice.
The ballroom erupted in whispers.
“That can't be him.””
“Two of them?””
Darius couldn't look away.
The recording continued.
The second Darius placed Amara into a waiting vehicle.
A woman opened the door.
Darius recognized her.
Camille.
Young Camille.
She took the baby.
Then the recording cut.
Darius turned toward Camille.
“You took her.””
Camille was sobbing.
“I was told she would be safe.””
“You handed my daughter to someone.””
“I didn't know what they were going to do.””
“You knew enough.””
Camille shook her head.
“I was seventeen.””
Darius stepped closer.
“Where is Amara?””
“I don't know.””
“Where is she?””
“I swear I don't know.””
Naomi grabbed Camille by the shoulders.
“Who had the baby?””
Camille stared at her.
“I don't know his name.””
“What did he look like?””
Camille's eyes moved toward Darius.
“Like him.””
Darius backed away.
Evelyn whispered, “The duplicate.””
Darius looked at her.
“What duplicate?””
“My husband called him an echo.””
Naomi stared.
“You never told me that.””
“I was afraid.””
Darius's voice sharpened.
“Afraid of what?””
“That your father had succeeded.””
The lights flickered.
The phone rang again.
Darius answered.
“You want me to know the truth?””
The man's voice returned.
“No.””
Darius froze.
“I want you to know what you did.””
Darius's face tightened.
“What I did?””
“You asked for your memories to be removed.””
Naomi whispered, “That's a lie.””
The voice laughed.
“Ask her.””
Darius looked at Naomi.
“Did I?””
Naomi's eyes filled with tears.
“Yes.””
Darius stared.
“Why?””
“Because you were dying.””
“What?””
“You had been exposed to the chemicals from the laboratory.””
Darius's breathing became uneven.
“You said I was injured in the fire.””
“You were.””
“Then why erase my memories?””
“Because every time you remembered the children, they came for you.””
Darius shook his head.
“So I chose to forget?””
Naomi nodded.
“You chose to forget me.””
He flinched.
“And Amara.””
“Yes.””
“And Zoe?””
Naomi looked toward the little girl.
“You never forgot her.””
Darius stared at Zoe.
“Why?””
“Because she was the only memory they couldn't remove.””
Zoe stepped closer.
“I remember you.””
Darius crouched.
“How?””
“You told me something.””
“What?””
Zoe smiled through tears.
“You said, ‘If they make me forget, find me.’”
Darius's face crumpled.
He remembered.
Not everything.
Just one moment.
His arms around a little girl.
Smoke filling the hallway.
A woman's voice screaming his name.
And his own voice whispering:
Find me.
Darius stood.
The phone buzzed again.
One final message appeared.
*AMARA IS ALIVE.*
Darius stared at the screen.
Then another message appeared.
*SHE'S IN THE MANSION.*
Everyone looked around.
Naomi whispered, “That's impossible.””
The voice came through the ballroom speakers again.
“You've been searching behind the wrong door.””
Darius looked toward the mansion entrance.
Then toward the staircase.
Then the locked room.
A soft child's laugh echoed through the ballroom.
Zoe grabbed his hand.
“Dad?””
Darius looked down.
“Yeah?””
She pointed toward the ceiling.
“There's someone upstairs.””
Every guest turned.
At the top of the staircase stood a little Black girl in a white dress.
Long curly hair.
Bare feet.
Watching them.
Darius stopped breathing.
Naomi whispered one name.
“Amara.””
The girl smiled.
Then she raised one hand.
Behind her appeared a man with Darius's face.
May you like
And he whispered:
“Now you remember me.””
