Chapter 11: The Son Who Was Forgotten
I pulled away from Vanessa.
“No.””
My voice was quiet.
But everyone heard it.
“No more.””
I looked at the hidden opening.
“No more hiding.””
The small hand beneath the floor moved slightly.
“Dad…”
My entire body reacted.
Every instinct told me to reach for him.
To pull him out.
To protect him.
That was what fathers did.
They didn’t stand there questioning.
They didn’t hesitate.
They saved their children.
I reached down.
Vanessa grabbed my shoulder.
“Marcus, listen.””
I turned.
“What?””
She was crying.
“If that’s really Noah…”
She looked at the two boys.
“Then they are connected.””
I frowned.
“What does that mean?””
She struggled to speak.
“The process didn’t create one copy.””
The room went cold.
“What?””
“It separated him.””
The boy near the doorway looked away.
The other stared at Vanessa.
“You never told him.””
She shook her head.
“I was afraid.””
I looked at the boys.
“Separated how?””
Vanessa whispered:
“Memories.””
The word echoed.
“What?””
“When they transferred Noah’s memories…”
She looked at the floor.
“They damaged him.””
The boy in the room spoke.
“She split us apart.””
The other boy corrected him.
“She split me apart.””
I stared.
The boy continued.
“I had the memories.””
The other nodded.
“I had the feelings.””
My stomach twisted.
“That’s impossible.””
Vanessa shook her head.
“I know how it sounds.””
“It sounds insane.””
“I know.””
She stepped closer.
“But I watched my son disappear into pieces.””
Nobody spoke.
Lily looked at the boys.
“So neither one is Noah?””
Vanessa looked at her.
“I don’t know.””
That answer broke my heart.
Because she was their mother.
And even she didn’t know.
The boy beneath the floor moved again.
“Dad.””
I looked down.
“Tell me something.””
His voice shook.
“Do you remember the tree?””
I froze.
The tree.
Our backyard tree.
The one we planted when Noah was born.
“You climbed it when you were five.””
A pause.
“You fell and broke your arm.””
My eyes widened.
The boy near the door immediately said:
“You cried more than I did.””
I looked at him.
That was true too.
The boy inside the room smiled.
“You told everyone you weren’t scared.””
I stared at both.
“How do you both know?””
No answer.
Then Lily stepped forward.
“Ask about me.””
Everyone looked at her.
She wiped her tears.
“Ask something about me.””
I knelt beside her.
“Lily…”
“No.””
She looked at the boys.
“If one of them is my brother, they’ll know.””
The room became silent.
I nodded.
“Okay.””
I looked at the boy near the door.
“What did Lily do the first time she met Noah?””
He smiled immediately.
“She stole my toy dinosaur.””
Lily gasped.
“I did not steal it.””
“You hid it under your pillow.””
“I was four!””
The memory was real.
I turned to the other boy.
“What about you?””
His face softened.
“She gave it back the next morning with a note.””
Lily covered her mouth.
The note.
A tiny drawing she had made.
Both boys knew.
Both boys remembered.
Then the voice beneath us whispered:
“Because both of them are me.””
The room went silent.
The hidden opening widened slightly.
A boy’s face appeared in the darkness.
A third face.
Not a shadow.
Not a voice.
A child.
My son.
He looked up at me.
“Dad.””
I couldn’t move.
The two boys behind me stared.
The third Noah whispered:
“They forgot about me.””
Vanessa collapsed.
“No…”
The third Noah looked at her.
“You left me down here.””
Tears filled my eyes.
I looked at Vanessa.
“Is that true?””
She couldn’t answer.
The third Noah looked at me.
“She chose them.””
Vanessa shook her head.
“No.””
He smiled sadly.
“You chose the ones who could live.””
My heart broke.
I reached down.
“Come here.””
The third Noah grabbed my hand.
The moment our fingers touched…
All three boys screamed.
The lights exploded.
And suddenly I was no longer standing in the room.
I was somewhere else.
Inside a memory.
I saw Noah.
The real Noah.
A hospital bed.
A frightened little boy.
Vanessa crying.
And a younger version of me signing papers I never remembered seeing.
Then a voice said:
“Marcus.””
I turned.
A man stood behind me.
A stranger.
Wearing a company badge.
May you like
He smiled.
“You were always part of the experiment.””
