Chapter 6: The Truth About Lily
I couldn't look away from the tablet.
The newborn in the photograph had Claire's nose, my dark hair, and a tiny crescent-shaped mark near her neck.
The same mark I had.
The same mark Emma had.
But the little girl upstairs, the child I'd tucked into bed every night for four years, had no such mark.
I looked at Claire.
"Tell me he's lying.""
She didn't answer.
"Claire!""
She covered her mouth.
My father stepped closer.
"Your wife made a choice, Ryan. She chose which child would grow up in your house.""
"Shut up.""
He smiled.
"She wanted a healthy daughter. The doctors told her the first baby had a serious condition. She was frightened. She signed the paperwork.""
Claire shook her head violently.
"That's not what happened!""
"Then explain it.""
My wife turned toward me.
"I was alone in the hospital. You had gone home because Lily—because the baby—needed clothes. Your father came in with a doctor. They told me one of the babies had a condition that would require lifelong care.""
I stared at her.
"One of the babies?""
She nodded.
"They said there had been a mistake. That two girls had been delivered under the same medical file.""
My father laughed.
"Convenient, isn't it?""
Claire ignored him.
"They showed me pictures. They said the baby with the birthmark had a rare blood disorder. They said she might never walk or speak normally. I was terrified.""
"And what did you do?""
She began sobbing.
"I signed a temporary guardianship form.""
My mother suddenly spoke.
"It wasn't temporary.""
Claire turned toward her.
"You told me it was!""
"I told you what your father wanted you to believe.""
My father lifted the tablet.
"Enough.""
He tapped the screen again.
The image changed.
Lily was no longer sitting in her bedroom.
She was standing in the hallway, looking directly at the camera.
Behind her, a shadow moved.
I lunged toward my father.
"Where is my daughter?""
He raised the tablet out of reach.
"Safe. For now.""
I grabbed his collar.
"If you touch her—"
He pressed a button.
A loud alarm sounded somewhere above us.
The lights began flashing red.
My father pushed me away.
"You should be careful, Ryan. This house has more doors than you know.""
He disappeared into a side corridor.
I started after him, but my mother blocked my path.
"Let him go!""
"He's taking Lily!""
"Ryan, he wants you to follow him!""
I turned toward Claire.
"Stay here.""
She grabbed my wrist.
"No. I'm coming with you.""
I hesitated.
Then I looked at her.
"Why should I trust you?""
Her eyes filled with tears.
"Because whatever I did, I have never stopped loving our daughter.""
For a moment, neither of us moved.
Then she whispered something that changed everything.
"Ryan, Lily knows.""
I frowned.
"Knows what?""
"She knows she isn't biologically ours.""
I stared at her.
"She's four years old.""
"She heard your father talking to me. She asked why Emma had my eyes and why she didn't.""
My chest tightened.
"What did you tell her?""
"That families aren't made by blood.""
I closed my eyes.
That was exactly what I'd told Lily when she asked why some children had different parents.
But I had never imagined those words were hiding something so terrible.
A crash echoed from upstairs.
Then Lily screamed.
"DADDY!""
I ran.
Claire followed.
We climbed the staircase and emerged into the bedroom.
The closet panel was still open.
Emma was gone.
Lily's bedroom door swung back and forth.
I rushed into the hallway.
"Lily!""
A small figure emerged from behind the staircase.
She was clutching her stuffed rabbit.
"Daddy!""
I dropped to my knees and pulled her into my arms.
"Are you okay?""
She nodded against my chest.
Then she looked over my shoulder.
"Where's my sister?""
I froze.
"Which sister, sweetheart?""
Lily pointed toward the bedroom closet.
"The other one.""
I followed her gaze.
The opening behind the wooden panel was empty.
Then I heard a faint voice.
"Ryan?""
It came from inside the wall.
I approached carefully.
"Emma?""
A small hand appeared through the darkness.
I reached for it.
But before I could pull the child out, someone grabbed my wrist from behind.
It was my mother.
"Don't," she whispered.
I turned angrily.
"Get away from me!""
She looked terrified.
"That's not Emma.""
The hand disappeared.
A second later, a man's voice came from inside the wall.
"Good evening, Ryan.""
My father.
I spun around.
But he was nowhere in the hallway.
Then a small television mounted above the dresser switched on.
A video began playing.
It showed my father sitting in a hospital room twenty years earlier.
He looked younger, healthier.
Beside him was a teenage boy lying in a hospital bed.
I recognized the boy immediately.
It was me.
The video showed my father leaning toward the camera.
"Subject Ryan Bennett, age sixteen. Initial memory suppression successful.""
My entire body went cold.
The recording continued.
"Patient has no recollection of the first two children. Family members instructed to maintain the accident narrative.""
Then another voice spoke from behind the camera.
My mother's voice.
"What happens if he remembers?""
My father's recorded response was chilling.
"Then we begin again.""
The screen went black.
I turned toward my mother.
She was crying.
"Ryan, you need to understand. You weren't the first child he experimented on.""
I stared at her.
"Who was?""
She reached into her pocket and pulled out a photograph.
It showed two teenage boys standing beside my father.
One was me.
The other looked exactly like me.
Except his eyes were blue.
My mother whispered:
"Your identical twin brother.""
I shook my head.
"I don't have a twin.""
She placed the photograph in my hand.
On the back was a name.
*RYAN BENNETT — SUBJECT A.*
And underneath it:
*RYAN BENNETT — SUBJECT B. STILL ALIVE.*
Then Lily tugged my sleeve.
"Daddy?""
I looked down.
She was pointing toward the bedroom mirror.
There was someone standing behind our reflections.
A man with my face.
He slowly raised his hand and pressed it against the glass.
May you like
Then he mouthed four words.
I've been waiting, brother.
