Chapter 7 - The Fourth FamilyThe explosion threw Daniel across the chamber.
Dust filled the air.
Metal shelves collapsed.
Carter shouted something, but Daniel couldn't hear him.
His mother was on the ground.
Daniel crawled toward her.
“Mom!”
She opened her eyes.
“Daniel…”
“Are you hurt?”
“No.”
She grabbed his shirt.
“You need to listen.”
“Who are they?”
“The four families.”
“I know about them.”
“No.”
She shook her head.
“You don't.”
A second explosion rocked the room.
Daniel pulled her behind a concrete pillar.
“Tell me.”
She looked at him.
“Your father wasn't fighting them.”
Daniel frowned.
“He was working with them.”
“No.”
His mother closed her eyes.
“He created them.”
Daniel stared.
“What?”
“Charles Mercer founded the organization.”
Daniel's world shifted.
“My father?”
“He believed society could be controlled through information.”
“That doesn't make sense.”
“It does when you're rich enough.”
His mother pointed toward the shelves.
“Every secret is worth something.”
Daniel looked at the thousands of files.
“And the ledger?”
“The second ledger contained names.”
“Whose names?”
“People who were supposed to be dead.”
Daniel swallowed.
“Like you.”
She nodded.
“Like Vanessa.”
“She's alive too.”
His mother looked horrified.
“Vanessa?”
“She took Chloe.”
His mother's expression changed.
“She wouldn't.”
“She did.”
“Then you don't understand.”
“What?”
“Vanessa is not your enemy.”
Daniel stared.
“She tried to kill my wife.”
“She was protecting her.”
Daniel shook his head.
“No.”
His mother stepped closer.
“Chloe is carrying the third ledger.”
Daniel froze.
“What?”
“She doesn't know.”
“Where?”
“In her memory.”
Daniel stared at her.
Then everything connected.
The strange messages.
The hospital.
The syringe.
The missing records.
His father's murder.
Chloe's warnings.
His mother's disappearance.
“What did they do to Chloe?”
His mother looked away.
“They implanted something in her.”
Daniel's voice became quiet.
“What?”
“A memory.”
“Whose?”
“Your father's.”
The chamber doors exploded inward.
Armed men stormed inside.
Carter fired.
Ruiz dragged Daniel's mother behind cover.
Daniel returned fire.
One attacker fell.
Another disappeared behind the shelves.
Then the lights went out.
Daniel heard a voice.
“Daniel!”
Chloe.
He spun around.
“Chloe?”
She emerged from the darkness.
Vanessa stood behind her.
Daniel raised his weapon.
Vanessa raised hers.
“Don't.”
Daniel stared at Chloe.
“Are you okay?”
Chloe nodded.
“I'm fine.”
“Where were you?”
“Vanessa saved me.”
Daniel looked at Vanessa.
She lowered her gun.
“Your mother is alive.”
“I know.”
Vanessa looked shocked.
“How?”
“She told me.”
Vanessa looked toward the woman.
For the first time, genuine fear appeared in her eyes.
“You shouldn't have found her.”
Daniel stepped closer.
“Why?”
Vanessa whispered:
“Because now they'll kill all of us.”
The lights returned.
A massive screen activated.
Four portraits appeared.
Charles Mercer.
Vanessa Blackwood.
A man named Richard Vale.
And a woman named Evelyn Holloway.
Then a fifth photograph appeared.
Daniel.
Underneath it:
SUBJECT FOUR.
Daniel looked at his mother.
“What am I?”
She didn't answer.
Vanessa did.
“You're the reason the organization exists.”
Daniel's face hardened.
“What does that mean?”
Vanessa stared directly at him.
“You were never their victim.”
“You were their experiment.”
Chloe stepped toward Daniel.
“Don't listen to her.”
But Daniel wasn't listening.
He was staring at the photograph.
His childhood face.
A number beneath it.
PROJECT MERCER: PHASE IV.
Then another line appeared.
MEMORY RESTORATION: 87%.
Daniel felt something crack inside his mind.
A door.
A room.
A screaming woman.
His father's voice.
A gun.
Blood.
And Daniel—
holding the weapon.
He dropped to his knees.
“No…”
Chloe rushed toward him.
May you like
Daniel looked at her with terror in his eyes.
“I remember.”
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