Chapter 8: The Woman Behind the Glass
For six years, I had imagined a thousand different ways I might see my wife again.
None of them looked like this.
Anna was sitting in a metal chair on a screen in a hidden room beneath a hospital.
Her hair, once thick and dark, had turned streaked with silver.
Her cheeks were hollow.
But her eyes were unmistakable.
My wife was alive.
And behind her stood Detective Mercer’s missing partner.
He looked directly into the camera.
Then he smiled.
Mercer whispered his name.
“Davis.””
The man on the screen tilted his head.
“Hello, Mara.””
She went completely still.
“You're dead.””
Davis laughed.
“Not quite.””
I stepped toward the monitor.
“Anna!””
Her eyes widened.
“Daniel?””
Her voice came through the speakers, distorted by static.
I nearly collapsed.
It was her.
Not a recording.
Not a memory.
Her.
I put my hand against the screen.
“Anna, I'm here.””
She shook her head violently.
“No. You shouldn't be here.””
“I've been looking for you.””
“I know.””
“Lily is with me.””
Anna's face changed.
Hope.
Fear.
Love.
All three appeared at once.
“Lily?””
My daughter stepped beside me.
“Mommy?””
Anna covered her mouth.
For a moment, she couldn't speak.
Then she whispered,
“Oh, sweetheart.””
Lily began to cry.
“Are you coming home?””
Anna closed her eyes.
“I want to.””
“Then come.””
“I can't.””
“Why?””
Anna looked toward the camera.
Then behind her.
Davis was still standing there.
“Because they won't let me.””
I turned toward the door.
“Aaron!””
His voice came through the corridor.
“Now you understand.””
Mercer raised her weapon.
“Release them.””
Davis's voice came from the speaker.
“You still think this is about release?””
Mercer stepped closer to the monitor.
“What do you want?””
“The same thing we wanted six years ago.””
“What?””
“Control.””
Anna suddenly looked straight at me.
“Daniel, listen carefully.””
Davis grabbed her shoulder.
“That's enough.””
Anna ignored him.
“The files are not the program.””
I frowned.
“What?””
“The files are bait.””
Davis pulled her backward.
Anna fought against him.
“The real system is beneath the hospital!””
Davis pressed something.
The screen went black.
I turned toward Emily.
“What does she mean?””
Emily looked sick.
“She means there is another level.””
“How many levels?””
“Three.””
Mercer stared at her.
“You said the facility changed locations.””
“It did.””
“Then why are we still under the hospital?””
“Because this is the original access point.””
A mechanical rumble moved through the walls.
The floor shook.
Lily grabbed my arm.
“Daddy.””
“I've got you.””
Emily walked to the archive wall.
She pressed her palm against a section of concrete.
A panel slid sideways.
Behind it was a narrow elevator.
Mercer stared.
“How did you know that was there?””
Emily looked at her.
“Because I built part of it.””
“You worked for them.””
“Once.””
“And then?””
“They took my brother.””
Elias's face hardened.
“Aaron?””
“No.””
She looked at him.
“You.””
Elias froze.
“What?””
“You were taken because you tried to find me.””
He shook his head.
“I never disappeared.””
“They made you believe that.””
I looked from one to the other.
“What are you saying?””
Emily stepped toward Elias.
“You were drugged the night they took you.””
He stared at her.
“You're wrong.””
“No.””
“You're saying they erased my memory?””
“They tried.””
Elias rubbed his temple.
A flash of recognition crossed his face.
“A white room.””
Emily nodded.
“A chair.””
“Yes.””
“A woman wearing a green coat.””
Emily's eyes filled with tears.
“Our mother.””
Elias staggered backward.
“I remember.””
Mercer stepped toward the elevator.
“We don't have time.””
The doors opened.
Inside was an old metal platform with no buttons.
Only a fingerprint scanner.
Emily placed her hand against it.
Nothing happened.
She tried again.
A red light blinked.
“Access denied.””
Mercer looked at her.
“Why?””
“They changed the system.””
Elias stepped forward.
He placed his hand against the scanner.
Green.
The elevator doors closed.
I stared at him.
“How?””
“I don't know.””
The elevator began to descend.
There was no sound of cables.
No vibration.
Just a smooth, silent drop.
Lily stood beside me.
“Daddy?””
“Yes?””
“Mommy looked scared.””
“I know.””
“Are we going to save her?””
I knelt.
“Yes.””
She nodded.
“Then I'm coming.””
“No.””
“Daddy.””
“You stay here.””
She shook her head.
“I know the doors.””
“What doors?””
“The white ones.””
Emily looked at her.
“You remember them?””
Lily nodded.
“They used to take me there.””
My skin prickled.
“Who?””
Lily looked down.
“Daddy, I think I remember why.””
The elevator stopped.
The doors opened.
A hallway stretched ahead of us.
Everything was white.
The walls.
The floor.
The ceiling.
Even the lights.
It looked exactly like a hospital.
Except there were no windows.
No nurses.
No sounds.
Only rows of white doors.
Lily whispered,
“This is it.””
My heart hammered.
“Have you been here before?””
She nodded.
“Many times.””
I stared at her.
“How?””
“After the accident.””
Emily stepped beside us.
“No.””
Lily turned.
“I remember waking up here.””
Emily's expression crumpled.
“That shouldn't be possible.””
Lily pointed toward the third door.
“That was Mommy's room.””
I ran toward it.
Mercer grabbed my arm.
“Wait.””
“That's my wife.””
“We don't know what's behind it.””
“She's alive.””
“Exactly.””
She opened the door slowly.
Inside was an empty room.
A metal bed.
A camera.
A table.
And a single photograph.
I picked it up.
Anna.
Standing.
Alive.
Holding Lily's hand.
The date was two weeks after the accident.
I nearly dropped it.
“She was here.””
Emily nodded.
“There are more.””
A sound came from the corridor.
A door closing.
Then another.
Then another.
Lights came on one by one farther down the hall.
Someone was walking toward us.
Elias stepped forward.
“Stay behind me.””
A man appeared at the end of the corridor.
Davis.
He was holding a gun.
Behind him stood Aaron.
And between them was Anna.
My wife looked directly at me.
“Daniel.””
I started walking.
Aaron raised his weapon.
“Stop.””
I stopped.
Anna shook her head.
“Don't come closer.””
“I'll get you out.””
“Daniel, you can't.””
“Yes, I can.””
Aaron stepped toward her.
“She means you can't get all of us out.””
I looked at him.
“What does that mean?””
He smiled.
“You still haven't figured out who funded this.””
I glanced at the walls.
“This is your program.””
“No.””
He shook his head.
“It belongs to people far more powerful than me.””
Mercer raised her gun.
“Drop yours.””
Davis laughed.
“You're still giving orders.””
“You're surrounded.””
He looked around the empty hallway.
“By whom?””
Mercer hesitated.
Davis smiled.
“Your partner is upstairs.””
Mercer went pale.
“No.””
“He's not alone.””
A monitor mounted on the wall turned on.
Footage appeared.
The ballroom.
Then the basement.
Then the street outside.
Police vehicles surrounded the hospital.
But every officer had been forced to drop their weapons.
A crowd of armed men stood behind them.
Davis said,
“This building has been sealed for twelve minutes.””
Mercer stared at the screen.
“How many?””
“Enough.””
Aaron turned toward me.
“Now we come to the part that matters.””
“What?””
“Lily.””
My daughter stepped forward before I could stop her.
Aaron looked at her braces.
“The girl was never the patient.””
My heart stopped.
“What?””
“She was the key.””
Emily whispered, “No.””
Aaron continued.
“The neurological pattern was never about her ability to walk.””
He pointed toward Lily.
“It was about her resistance.””
“To what?””
“Memory suppression.””
Lily stared at him.
“You made me forget.””
“Yes.””
“Why?””
“Because you saw something.””
“What?””
Aaron smiled.
“Your mother.””
Anna suddenly fought against Davis.
“Don't listen to him!””
Davis tightened his grip.
Aaron continued.
“On the night of the accident, Lily saw who ordered your mother's removal.””
My heart pounded.
“Who?””
Aaron's eyes moved toward Mercer.
I followed his gaze.
Mercer looked horrified.
“No.””
Aaron smiled.
“The man who signed the order is still alive.””
“Who?””
Aaron pointed.
Not at Mercer.
Not at Davis.
Not at himself.
At me.
My blood turned to ice.
“What?””
Anna screamed.
“Daniel, don't believe him!””
Aaron spoke slowly.
“You signed the original authorization.””
“That was forged.””
“Yes.””
“Then why say it?””
“Because the signature wasn't forged.””
I shook my head.
“No.””
Aaron looked at Lily.
“She was there when you signed it.””
“I never signed anything.””
“You did.””
“When?””
“Before she was born.””
My mind went blank.
Anna started crying.
“Daniel…”
I turned toward her.
“What is he talking about?””
She looked at me with an expression I had never seen before.
Guilt.
Real guilt.
“What did you do?””
“I didn't know.””
Anna whispered,
“You did.””
The corridor went silent.
I stared at my wife.
She pressed her hand against the glass beside her.
“I begged them not to tell you.””
“Tell me what?””
Her lips trembled.
“Daniel…”
A siren began wailing somewhere above us.
Then every door in the corridor opened at once.
Behind each door was a child.
Some were standing.
Some were sitting in wheelchairs.
Some were wearing braces.
And all of them were looking directly at Lily.
Lily took one step backward.
“Daddy…”
I wrapped my arms around her.
Aaron smiled.
“Now you understand why she had to remember.””
Anna screamed,
“Run!””
The children began walking toward us.
May you like
And every single one of them said the same name.
“Daniel.””
