PART 8 — THE SECOND GIRL
The voice came again.
“Daddy…”
Elias didn’t move.
He couldn’t.
Because Lily was standing directly in front of him.
Her small hand was still gripping his.
Her face was pale.
Her eyes were wide with confusion.
And yet—
the voice coming through the speakers sounded exactly like hers.
“Daddy…”
Elias slowly looked at the ceiling.
“Who is that?”
No answer.
He looked at Adrian.
The old man’s expression had changed completely.
There was no arrogance now.
No smile.
No confidence.
Only fear.
Elias noticed it.
“You know that voice.”
Adrian said nothing.
“You know who that is.”
Still nothing.
Elias stepped forward.
“Who is she?”
Adrian’s lips parted.
But before he could answer, Sarah screamed.
“DON’T LISTEN TO HER!”
Everyone turned.
Sarah was staring at the speaker.
“That’s not Lily.”
Elias looked at her.
“I know.”
Sarah shook her head.
“No, Elias.”
Her voice trembled.
“You don’t understand.”
“What don’t I understand?”
Sarah pointed toward the speaker.
“That voice…”
She swallowed.
“…belongs to someone who died twenty-three years ago.”
Silence.
Elias stared at her.
“Who?”
Sarah whispered one name.
“Lena.”
Elias frowned.
“Who is Lena?”
Sarah looked at Lily.
Then at Elias.
“She was the first.”
The speakers crackled.
A child’s voice laughed.
Not a normal child’s laugh.
It was soft.
Almost playful.
But there was something wrong with it.
Something ancient.
Something that made the hair rise on Elias’s arms.
“Daddy…”
Elias whispered:
“Lena.”
The voice answered immediately.
“Yes.”
Elias felt his heart pound.
“Are you alive?”
A pause.
Then:
“No.”
Sarah closed her eyes.
Elias stared at the speaker.
“Then how are you talking to me?”
The answer came slowly.
“Because I never left.”
The floor beneath them suddenly vibrated.
A hidden mechanism activated.
A section of the wall opened.
Behind it was a narrow corridor.
Red lights illuminated the passage.
At the end was another steel door.
Above it were three words:
MEMORY ARCHIVE SEVEN
Elias stared.
Victor—
or rather Michael—
was still lying wounded on the floor.
He grabbed Elias’s sleeve.
“Don’t go in there.”
Elias looked down.
“Why?”
“Because that’s where they kept them.”
“Who?”
Michael’s eyes filled with regret.
“The children.”
Elias froze.
“How many?”
Michael looked away.
“Seven.”
Elias glanced at Lily.
“Seven subjects.”
Michael nodded.
“Seven children.”
“What happened to them?”
Michael swallowed.
“Six were lost.”
“Lost?”
“They died.”
Elias’s expression hardened.
“And the seventh?”
Michael looked at Lily.
“She survived.”
Elias stared.
“You’re saying Lily is Subject Seven?”
“Yes.”
“But the screen called me Subject Zero.”
Michael nodded.
“You were never one of the seven.”
“Then why am I Subject Zero?”
Michael looked toward Adrian.
“Because you were the experiment that came before them.”
Elias’s stomach tightened.
“What experiment?”
Michael closed his eyes.
“Memory transfer.”
The words hung in the air.
Elias stared at him.
“Explain.”
“Your mother discovered that traumatic memories could be deliberately suppressed.”
Elias remembered his childhood.
The missing years.
The blank spaces.
The dreams.
Michael continued.
“She also discovered something else.”
“What?”
“Memories could be transferred.”
Elias’s eyes narrowed.
“You’re saying they put someone else’s memories into me?”
Michael nodded.
“Not someone else’s.”
He looked at Lily.
“Many people’s.”
Elias felt cold.
“Why?”
“Because your father needed someone who could carry the organization’s entire history without knowing it.”
Elias stared at his own hands.
“All those years…”
“Yes.”
“The nightmares?”
“Memories.”
“The voices?”
“Memories.”
“The faces I dreamed about?”
“Memories.”
“The wars?”
Michael hesitated.
“Some of them weren’t yours.”
Elias looked toward Adrian.
“You did this to me.”
Adrian didn’t deny it.
“I saved you.”
Elias laughed bitterly.
“You call that saving?”
“You survived.”
“I lived my entire life believing I was broken!”
Adrian’s voice became sharp.
“You were never broken.”
He stepped closer.
“You were carrying everyone who came before you.”
Elias stared at him.
“Why?”
Adrian’s eyes hardened.
“Because someone had to remember.”
Suddenly—
the speaker came alive again.
“Elias…”
The voice was quieter.
“Come downstairs.”
Elias looked toward the corridor.
Michael grabbed him again.
“No.”
Elias pulled his arm away.
“My daughter is involved.”
“That’s exactly why you can’t go.”
Elias looked at him.
“You’re asking me to leave her here?”
“No.”
Michael struggled to breathe.
“I’m asking you to understand what you’re walking into.”
Elias looked at Lily.
She was staring at the corridor.
Then she whispered:
“I know the way.”
Elias crouched.
“How?”
She pointed.
“I’ve been there.”
Sarah’s face turned white.
“Lily…”
Lily looked at her.
“Who are you?”
Sarah froze.
Lily continued:
“You were there too.”
Elias turned toward Sarah.
“What does she mean?”
Sarah backed away.
“I don’t know.”
Lily frowned.
“You were crying.”
Sarah began shaking.
“You remember me?”
Lily nodded.
“You were holding my hand.”
Sarah covered her mouth.
“I was trying to save you.”
“From who?”
Sarah didn’t answer.
Lily looked toward Adrian.
“From him.”
Adrian’s face hardened.
“Enough.”
For the first time, his voice was angry.
Lily stepped behind Elias.
Elias raised his weapon.
“You don’t speak to her like that.”
Adrian stared at him.
“You still don’t understand what she is.”
Elias’s voice became cold.
“She is my daughter.”
Adrian smiled.
“That answer will get her killed.”
Elias moved toward him.
“And yours will get you killed.”
Michael suddenly shouted:
“STOP!”
Everyone turned.
Michael pointed toward the corridor.
“The archive is opening.”
A deep mechanical sound echoed underground.
CLUNK.
Then another.
CLUNK.
Then another.
Seven locks were disengaging.
Elias looked at the door.
“Why is it opening?”
Michael whispered:
“Because Lily activated it.”
Elias looked down.
Lily was staring at the silver bracelet in his hand.
“I didn’t.”
Michael shook his head.
“You didn’t need to.”
The seventh lock opened.
The door slowly moved inward.
Cold air rushed from the chamber.
Elias stepped forward.
“Stay behind me.”
Lily nodded.
Sarah followed.
Michael tried to stand.
Elias stopped him.
“You stay here.”
Michael shook his head.
“No.”
“You’ve been shot.”
“I know what’s inside.”
“So do I.”
“No.”
Michael looked at him.
“You don’t.”
Elias entered the corridor.
Sarah followed.
Lily followed Elias.
Behind them, Michael forced himself to stand.
They reached the archive.
Elias pushed open the door.
Inside were seven glass chambers.
Six were empty.
The seventh was occupied.
A small bed.
A monitor.
A child’s drawing.
And on the wall—
hundreds of photographs.
Elias approached the glass.
The photograph nearest him showed a little girl.
Dark hair.
Bright eyes.
Maybe six years old.
Underneath:
SUBJECT ONE — LENA
The next photograph:
SUBJECT TWO — MAYA
The next:
SUBJECT THREE — ROSE
The next:
SUBJECT FOUR — ANNA
The next:
SUBJECT FIVE — GRACE
The next:
SUBJECT SIX — EMMA
Then—
SUBJECT SEVEN — LILY
Elias stared.
Every child looked different.
But there was something identical about them.
The same small silver bracelet.
The same mark on their wrists.
And the same symbol beneath their names.
A circle.
With a number inside.
Elias stepped closer to Lily’s photograph.
The date beneath it was wrong.
BIRTH: 2012
Elias froze.
“That’s impossible.”
Lily was eight.
But the date said something else.
Elias counted.
His face went pale.
Lily should have been fourteen.
He turned toward Sarah.
“What is this?”
Sarah shook her head.
“I don’t know.”
“She’s eight.”
“I know.”
“The date says fourteen.”
“I know!”
“Then why?”
Sarah began crying.
“Because Lily isn’t eight.”
Elias stared.
“What?”
Sarah whispered:
“She was born fourteen years ago.”
Elias felt the room disappear.
“No.”
“She was kept in a suspended state.”
Elias stared at Lily.
“That’s impossible.”
Sarah pointed at the machines.
“Look.”
Elias saw them.
Old medical equipment.
Cryogenic storage.
Artificial circulation systems.
His mind raced.
“She was frozen?”
“Not exactly.”
Sarah’s voice trembled.
“Her body was slowed.”
Elias looked at Lily.
The little girl stared back.
“Why?”
Sarah said:
“Because they needed her to remain eight.”
“Why eight?”
Sarah didn’t answer.
Elias grabbed her arm.
“WHY?”
Sarah whispered:
“Because that’s when the memories were implanted.”
Elias released her.
The room spun.
Lily looked frightened.
“Daddy?”
Elias immediately knelt.
“I’m here.”
“Am I really eight?”
Elias looked into her eyes.
“Yes.”
“But Sarah said—”
“Sarah doesn’t know everything.”
Lily nodded.
Then she looked toward the empty chambers.
“Where are the other girls?”
Elias swallowed.
“They’re gone.”
Lily shook her head.
“No.”
“What?”
“They’re not gone.”
Elias stared.
Lily walked toward the wall.
She touched Lena’s photograph.
“She talks to me.”
Elias froze.
“Who?”
“Lena.”
The speaker crackled.
The girl’s voice returned.
“Hello, Lily.”
Lily smiled.
“Hello.”
Elias stared in horror.
“Lily, step away from the wall.”
She didn’t.
“Why?”
“Because I said so.”
Lily turned.
“But she’s my sister.”
Elias’s heart stopped.
“Your what?”
Lily looked confused.
“My sister.”
Sarah whispered:
“That’s impossible.”
Lily pointed at Lena’s photograph.
“She told me.”
The speaker crackled.
Lena’s voice said:
“She knows.”
Elias stepped backward.
“Knows what?”
Silence.
Then:
“That she was never the seventh.”
Elias’s blood ran cold.
“Then what is she?”
The lights flickered.
The photographs on the wall began changing.
Lena disappeared.
Maya disappeared.
Rose disappeared.
Anna disappeared.
Grace disappeared.
Emma disappeared.
Only Lily remained.
Then her photograph changed.
A new designation appeared beneath it.
SUBJECT ZERO
Elias stared.
Michael whispered from the doorway:
“No…”
Adrian appeared behind him.
His face was pale.
Elias turned.
“You knew.”
Adrian said nothing.
“You knew she wasn’t Subject Seven.”
Adrian looked at Lily.
“She was never part of the experiment.”
“Then what is she?”
Adrian whispered:
“The original.”
Elias’s eyes widened.
“The original what?”
Adrian looked at him.
“The first human memory carrier.”
Elias stared.
“That was me.”
Adrian shook his head.
“No.”
“You called me Subject Zero.”
“You were the first successful carrier.”
Elias looked at Lily.
Adrian continued.
“She was the first successful source.”
Elias couldn’t breathe.
“What does that mean?”
“It means every memory inside you…”
Adrian pointed at Lily.
“…came from her.”
Elias stared.
The nightmares.
The faces.
The voices.
The battlefield memories.
The impossible childhood images.
All of them.
Lily.
His daughter.
The little girl he had spent years protecting.
She was the source of his memories.
Elias whispered:
“How?”
Adrian’s voice became quiet.
“Because Lily was alive before you were born.”
Silence.
Lily looked at Elias.
“Daddy…”
Elias couldn’t answer.
She walked toward him.
“I remember you.”
“You couldn’t.”
“I do.”
“How?”
Lily smiled sadly.
“Because you used to hold me.”
Elias’s eyes filled with tears.
“Where?”
“In the room where they made you forget me.”
Elias staggered backward.
A memory suddenly flashed through his mind.
A white room.
A younger version of himself.
A baby crying.
A woman screaming.
His father standing behind glass.
And a little girl.
Lily.
But she wasn’t eight.
She was a baby.
Elias saw himself holding her.
Then—
a needle.
A bright light.
A voice saying:
ERASE THE CHILD.
Elias screamed.
He fell to his knees.
Sarah rushed toward him.
“Elias!”
He pushed her away.
“I remember.”
Everyone froze.
“What do you remember?” Sarah asked.
Elias looked at Lily.
“I remember her.”
He began crying.
“I remember holding her.”
Lily ran into his arms.
Elias hugged her tightly.
“I remember.”
She whispered:
“I told you.”
Then the speakers came alive.
Lena spoke.
“Elias.”
He looked up.
“What?”
“You remembered the wrong night.”
Elias froze.
“What?”
“You weren’t the one they erased.”
A pause.
“They erased Lily.”
Elias stared.
Lena continued.
“They didn’t erase her memories.”
“They erased everyone’s memory of her.”
Elias looked at Adrian.
The old man slowly stepped backward.
Elias stood.
“You made the world forget my daughter.”
Adrian’s face was expressionless.
“We had to.”
“Why?”
“Because if anyone remembered she existed…”
He looked toward the ceiling.
“…they would come for her.”
Elias stepped closer.
“Who?”
Adrian whispered:
“The people who built the first vault.”
Elias’s expression hardened.
“Who are they?”
Adrian didn’t answer.
Then the entire facility shook.
A warning siren erupted.
INTRUSION DETECTED.
Michael looked at the monitor.
His face changed.
“They found us.”
Elias turned.
“Who?”
Michael stared at the security feed.
“There are hundreds.”
Sarah looked at the screen.
Men in black tactical gear were moving through the underground tunnels.
Michael whispered:
“They’re not coming for the vault.”
Elias looked at Lily.
“What are they coming for?”
Michael answered:
“They’re coming for her.”
Gunfire erupted in the distance.
The soldiers were getting closer.
Elias picked up his weapon.
Sarah grabbed another weapon from a fallen guard.
Michael tried to stand.
Elias looked at him.
“Can you fight?”
Michael smiled weakly.
“Can you?”
Elias nodded.
“Then let’s finish this.”
Adrian suddenly laughed.
Elias turned.
“What?”
Adrian looked at Lily.
“You still don’t understand.”
“What?”
“They don’t want to kill her.”
“Then what?”
“They want to wake her.”
Elias froze.
“Wake her?”
Adrian pointed toward the seventh chamber.
“That isn’t an archive.”
Elias looked.
The glass chamber began filling with blue light.
Lily’s bracelet started glowing.
Adrian whispered:
“It’s a cradle.”
Elias stared.
“What happens when it opens?”
Adrian smiled.
“The girl you know…”
He looked at Lily.
“…won’t be the girl who comes out.”
Lily suddenly screamed.
Her eyes rolled upward.
The lights exploded.
Every monitor displayed the same message:
MEMORY SEQUENCE INITIATED.
Then another:
SUBJECT ZERO AWAKENING.
Elias grabbed Lily.
“Lily!”
She looked at him.
But her eyes were no longer frightened.
They were completely calm.
She spoke in a voice that wasn’t hers.
“Daddy…”
Elias froze.
“I remember everything.”
Behind her, the chamber opened.
And from the darkness inside—
six small hands pressed against the glass.
Elias stared.
Six children.
Six faces.
All looking directly at him.
Then Lena’s voice whispered:
“Elias…”
“You finally came back for us.”
TO BE CONTINUED IN PART 9…
Click Here to continuous Read Full Ending Story👉PART(9): – I never told my sister that I owned half of the land in this city. When I returned from the army, my daughter was forced to sleep in a pig pen, humiliated, and told, “You are a useless burden.”
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