Chapter 8: The Child Who Was Raised as Me
Sarah's words landed harder than the gunshot that followed.
“That's why I was the one who raised you.””
Voss fired.
Caleb appeared from nowhere and slammed into his arm.
The bullet struck the ceiling.
Concrete exploded above us.
“Run!”” Caleb shouted.
Megan dragged Emma behind the bed.
Michael grabbed my shirt.
Sarah lunged at the gun.
Voss shoved Caleb against the wall.
“Sarah!””
She froze.
Voss pointed the weapon at her.
“You've disappointed me.””
Sarah's face changed.
Not fear.
Recognition.
She had heard those words before.
Too many times.
“You promised me,” she whispered.
“I promised you nothing.””
“You said Ryan would be safe.””
Voss's eyes flicked toward me.
“He isn't Ryan.””
Sarah shook her head.
“He is to me.””
Voss smiled.
“That is exactly what we taught you to believe.””
My blood ran cold.
I looked at Sarah.
“What is he talking about?””
She couldn't answer.
Michael stepped toward her.
“You raised him?””
Sarah nodded.
“Before I knew who he was.””
“How?””
She looked at me.
“When Dad disappeared, Voss told me the baby had died.””
My voice cracked.
“I was a baby.””
“Yes.””
“And you were?””
“Four.””
I stared at her.
“You were four years old.””
She nodded.
“You don't remember.””
“No.””
“I do.””
Voss laughed quietly.
“You remember what we gave you.””
Sarah looked at him.
“Enough.””
He lifted the gun.
“Do you remember the first night?””
Sarah's jaw tightened.
“I remember.””
“What did I tell you?””
She didn't answer.
Voss spoke slowly.
“That the baby in your arms was your brother.””
Sarah looked at me.
“I believed him.””
Michael whispered, “But he wasn't.””
“No.””
Sarah's eyes filled with tears.
“He was the replacement.””
My mother covered her face.
I turned to her.
“Replacement for who?””
She looked at me.
“For Ryan.””
The name sounded foreign now.
“Where was the real Ryan?””
My mother's lips trembled.
“Dead.””
Michael stepped forward.
“Then who am I?””
Voss answered.
“The surviving twin.””
Michael shook his head.
“No.””
“You were Michael at birth.””
“I know.””
“Then the transfer took place.””
Michael stared at him.
“What transfer?””
Voss smiled.
“Your memories were copied into the child beside you.””
I felt dizzy.
“That wasn't me.””
Voss looked directly at me.
“It was.””
“No.””
“You were the third infant.””
The words made the entire room silent.
I shook my head.
“There were three.””
“Yes.””
“You said one died.””
“Yes.””
“Then what am I?””
Voss's eyes hardened.
“The child without a name.””
Sarah whispered, “The child they found in the laboratory.””
My mother stood.
“No.””
I turned toward her.
“Mom?””
She looked at Sarah.
“You weren't supposed to tell him.””
Sarah's voice broke.
“He deserved to know.””
“He deserved to live.””
“You call this living?””
My mother said nothing.
I stepped toward Sarah.
“You raised me.””
She nodded.
“But you weren't my sister?””
“I was.””
“How?””
She swallowed.
“Because they made me believe I was your mother.””
The sentence made Megan gasp.
I couldn't speak.
Sarah continued.
“I was four. They put you in my arms and told me you were my baby.””
I stared at her.
“You were a child.””
“Yes.””
“They made you raise me?””
“Yes.””
“Why?””
“Because you stopped crying when I held you.””
Her voice cracked.
“They noticed.””
Michael whispered, “What did they notice?””
Sarah looked at him.
“That he responded to me.””
“To you?””
“He only slept when I sang.””
My chest tightened.
The lullaby.
There was a tune my mother used to hum when I couldn't sleep.
A strange four-note melody I'd never heard anywhere else.
Sarah started humming it.
My entire body froze.
I knew the melody.
Not because my mother taught it to me.
Because it lived somewhere beneath language.
I whispered, “That's the song.””
Sarah stopped.
“You remember.””
Tears filled my eyes.
“You sang that.””
She nodded.
“When you were a baby.””
I stepped closer.
“You remember me.””
“I remember everything.””
“What happened?””
“They took you away.””
“When?””
“After the fire.””
I looked toward my mother.
“Who brought me home?””
She whispered one name.
“Thomas.””
My father.
“But he didn't know which child he had.””
“No.””
“So who did?””
My mother looked at Sarah.
“She did.””
Sarah lowered her head.
“I was the only one who knew.””
Voss laughed.
“You were four.””
Sarah looked up.
“And you were afraid a child would tell the truth.””
His smile faded.
“I was afraid of what the child remembered.””
I stared at him.
“What did I remember?””
Voss didn't answer.
Michael did.
“You remembered the room.””
“What room?””
“The room where Ryan died.””
I shook my head.
“No.””
Michael stepped closer.
“You were there.””
“I was a baby.””
“You remembered anyway.””
“How?””
Michael pointed to the birthmark.
“The marker.””
Voss nodded.
“Exactly.””
He looked at me with something close to admiration.
“You were the first successful subject.””
I felt sick.
“Successful at what?””
“Remembering another person's life.””
My mother whispered, “Elias, stop.””
He continued.
“You didn't inherit Michael's memories.””
He looked at Sarah.
“He taught them to you.””
I stared at Michael.
Michael's eyes were wet.
“What do you mean?””
“I don't remember choosing.””
Michael whispered.
“They connected us.””
A memory flashed.
White light.
A metal table.
A child's hand gripping mine.
A woman's voice saying, Don't let go.
I stumbled backward.
Megan caught me.
“Ryan?””
I looked at the floor.
“I remember.””
Everyone froze.
“What?”” Megan asked.
“The room.””
I pressed my palms against my temples.
“I remember Michael.””
Michael stared at me.
“What do you remember?””
“You were crying.””
He nodded.
“There was a woman.””
“My mother?””
“No.””
Sarah whispered, “Helena.””
Voss went still.
I looked at him.
“Your wife.””
His face changed.
“She told me to close my eyes.””
Sarah's voice trembled.
“That's impossible.””
“I saw her.””
“You were one month old.””
“I saw her.””
The memory sharpened.
A woman in a white coat.
A gold wedding ring.
A scar beneath her chin.
She leaned over me.
And beside her was a second crib.
Someone was inside it.
A little girl.
Not Sarah.
Another child.
The third baby.
I gasped.
“Emma.””
Emma looked at me.
I turned toward Voss.
“That's why you wanted her.””
He didn't answer.
“You thought she was the missing child.””
Voss's expression changed.
“She is.””
Emma started shaking.
“No.””
My mother walked toward her.
“Emma…”
The lights suddenly flickered.
Then every camera in the room turned toward Emma.
One by one.
Click.
Click.
Click.
Voss lowered his gun.
“Come here.””
Emma stepped backward.
“No.””
“You don't understand what you are.””
“I know enough.””
“You are the final subject.””
Michael moved in front of her.
“She isn't going anywhere.””
Voss raised the gun.
Sarah stepped between them.
“She stays.””
“Sarah.””
“You already took everything.””
He stared at her.
“You think you can stop me?””
“No.””
She looked at me.
“I think he can.””
I didn't understand.
Sarah reached into her pocket.
She pulled out an old cassette tape.
“Dad left this for you.””
My heart stopped.
“My father?””
“Yes.””
“When?””
“Before he disappeared.””
She handed it to me.
“Listen.””
I looked at the old recorder on the desk.
My mother whispered, “Don't.””
I pressed play.
Static.
Then my father's voice.
Older.
Tired.
“Ryan, if you're hearing this, then I failed.””
My throat tightened.
“I need you to understand one thing. The child you call yourself was never the child I carried out of that laboratory.””
I looked at my mother.
Her eyes closed.
My father's recording continued.
“I carried a child who had no name.””
Voss stepped backward.
“No.””
Thomas's voice continued.
“He was the third infant.””
My heart hammered.
“I called him Ryan because I needed him to have a name.””
Sarah began crying.
My father continued.
“Michael was alive. Sarah was alive. But the doctors believed the third child was too dangerous to keep.””
Voss shouted, “Turn it off!””
I didn't.
My father's voice became quieter.
“So I took him.””
The recording crackled.
“I erased what records I could.””
Voss moved toward me.
Caleb grabbed him.
The recorder continued.
“But there was one thing I couldn't erase.””
A pause.
“The child remembered.””
Voss froze.
My father's final words echoed through the yellow room.
“He remembered the future.””
The tape ended.
Nobody spoke.
Then Emma whispered:
“That's why they were afraid of you.””
I looked at her.
She was staring at me strangely.
“Why?””
“Because you told me what would happen.””
My stomach tightened.
“When?””
“When I was little.””
“What did I tell you?””
Emma's eyes filled with tears.
“You said we'd all be here tonight.””
The room went silent.
Voss stared at me.
For the first time, he looked genuinely frightened.
He whispered:
“No.””
I took a step toward him.
“What?””
He backed away.
“You remembered.””
I felt a pressure building behind my eyes.
A memory that wasn't mine.
A voice that wasn't mine.
A vision.
This room.
This night.
Voss raising the gun.
Sarah screaming.
Michael falling.
Emma running.
And me standing in the center of it all.
But the vision didn't end there.
I saw a door behind the yellow room.
A door I'd never noticed.
Behind it was a stairway.
At the bottom was a hospital corridor.
And at the end of the corridor stood a little boy.
He was holding a photograph.
He looked exactly like me.
He smiled.
Then he said:
“Ryan, you need to wake me up.””
I opened my eyes.
I was back in the yellow room.
Voss was staring at me.
My mother was crying.
Michael was whispering my name.
And Sarah had her hand over her mouth.
“What did you see?”” she asked.
I looked at the wall behind Voss.
There was a seam there.
A hidden door.
I had never seen it before.
But somehow, I knew exactly where the handle was.
I walked toward it.
Voss shouted, “Don't open that door!””
I stopped.
“Why?””
His face had gone white.
“Because that's where we buried the real Ryan.””
I reached for the handle.
And from the other side came three slow knocks.
May you like
Then a child's voice whispered:
“Finally.””
