Chapter 6: What I Did
Victor didn't look like the monster I remembered.
That was what frightened me most.
He looked tired.
Older.
Almost human.
His face had a long scar running from his left eyebrow to his jaw.
His hair had turned almost completely gray.
But his eyes were the same.
I remembered those eyes.
I remembered staring into them while begging him not to take Lily.
“You're alive,” I said.
Victor nodded.
“Barely.””
“You let me believe you were dead.””
“You needed to believe it.””
“Why?””
“Because if you knew I was alive, you'd come looking.””
“I came looking anyway.””
His expression softened.
“I know.””
Adrian stepped forward.
“Let Lily go.””
Victor glanced at him.
“You're Adrian Bell.””
Adrian stiffened.
“How do you know my name?””
“I know everyone who works for Bellamy House.””
Margaret stepped between us.
“Victor, enough.””
He laughed.
“Enough?””
His eyes hardened.
“You want to talk about enough?””
He pointed at Margaret.
“She sold us.””
Margaret flinched.
“You don't know what happened.””
“I know exactly what happened.””
Victor pressed a hand against the glass.
“Evelyn wasn't supposed to remember.””
I looked at him.
“Remember what?””
He stared at me.
“You.””
I frowned.
“What does that mean?””
Victor looked toward Lily.
“Your daughter isn't the experiment.””
Lily lowered her head.
“You are.””
The corridor seemed to disappear.
I looked at Margaret.
She couldn't meet my eyes.
Adrian whispered, “What did they do to you?””
Victor answered.
“They discovered Evelyn had an unusual ability.””
I shook my head.
“What ability?””
“Pattern retention.””
“That doesn't mean anything.””
“It means she could remember things she wasn't supposed to remember.””
Helena's voice came over the speaker.
“Victor, don't.””
He ignored her.
“She could memorize entire conversations after hearing them once. Faces. Numbers.
Documents. Security codes.””
I remembered flashes.
Rows of numbers.
A keypad.
Helena's office.
A file cabinet.
My own hands writing page after page.
Victor continued.
“Meridian wasn't interested in making her forget.””
I looked at him.
“They wanted to use her memory.””
“For what?””
“To create something transferable.””
My eyes moved to Lily.
“No.””
Victor nodded.
“Yes.””
Lily looked up.
“She inherited it.””
I stared at her.
“Your memories?””
She shook her head.
“Not exactly.””
“What, then?””
Victor looked at Helena's camera.
“Ask her.””
The speaker crackled.
Helena finally spoke.
“You always were impatient, Victor.””
A door at the end of the corridor opened.
A woman stepped through.
Navy dress.
Dark red lipstick.
Silver pendant.
Helena Voss.
She looked exactly as I remembered.
Not older.
Not even slightly.
My stomach turned.
“That's impossible.””
She smiled.
“Hello, Evelyn.””
Lily moved away from her.
Helena stopped.
“Don't be afraid.””
Lily's voice trembled.
“You promised my mother.””
“I promised her I wouldn't hurt you.””
“You lied.””
Helena smiled.
“Technically, I never hurt you.””
Victor laughed bitterly.
“You stole ten years from her.””
Helena looked at him.
“You stole her mother.””
I stepped forward.
“What happened to my memory?””
Helena looked at me.
“You asked us to remove it.””
“Why?””
“Because you knew what Lily could do.””
“I don't understand.””
Helena walked closer.
“Lily doesn't merely remember what she sees.””
She pointed toward me.
“She can access what you remember.””
I stared at my daughter.
Lily's eyes filled with tears.
“I don't want to.””
Helena's expression softened.
“But you can.””
“No.””
“You've already done it.””
Lily shook her head violently.
“No.””
Helena looked at me.
“Your daughter spent ten years carrying fragments of your memories.””
I remembered the video.
My younger self screaming.
If I forget, remind me.
I suddenly understood.
I hadn't asked Meridian to erase me because I was weak.
I'd asked them because I was terrified Lily would inherit everything I'd discovered.
“What did I discover?”” I asked.
Helena didn't answer.
“Tell me.””
She smiled.
“You discovered who financed Meridian.””
Victor looked away.
Margaret began crying.
Adrian whispered, “Who?””
Helena's smile disappeared.
“The same person who paid for Evelyn's disappearance.””
My stomach tightened.
“Who?””
Helena looked directly at Margaret.
“Your benefactor.””
I turned toward Margaret.
She was shaking.
“Evelyn…”
“You said you paid for everything.””
“I did.””
“Where did the money come from?””
She couldn't answer.
“Where did the ninety thousand come from?””
Margaret finally whispered:
“An anonymous trust.””
Victor laughed.
“You still don't know.””
I stared at him.
“Know what?””
He stepped closer.
“The trust isn't anonymous.””
Helena nodded.
“It belongs to someone you've known your entire life.””
My heart pounded.
“No.””
“Yes.””
Margaret whispered a name.
My father's name.
The father I had buried twelve years ago.
The father whose funeral I had attended.
The father I remembered dying of a heart attack.
I stared at her.
“My father is dead.””
Margaret's eyes filled with tears.
“He was.””
Victor looked at me.
“Then explain why his signature appears on every document authorizing your disappearance.””
I couldn't speak.
Margaret reached into her coat and pulled out a folder.
She opened it.
The first page contained a signature.
*Thomas Hart.*
My father's signature.
My handwriting trembled as I touched the paper.
Below his signature was a sentence that made my blood run cold:
*SUBJECT E.H.-07 WILL REMAIN IN ISOLATION UNTIL HER DAUGHTER'S FIFTEENTH BIRTHDAY.*
I looked at Lily.
She was fourteen.
Then another page slid from the folder.
A recent payment authorization.
Dated three months ago.
Signed by the same hand.
The amount was *$90,000*.
I stared at the date.
Three months ago, my father had been dead for twelve years.
Then my phone vibrated.
An incoming text appeared from an unknown number.
*STOP LOOKING FOR THE MASTER MIND.*
A second message arrived.
*YOU'VE ALREADY FOUND HIM.*
Then a photograph appeared.
It showed my father's grave.
And standing beside it was a man wearing my father's old black coat.
The man slowly turned toward the camera.
It was my father.
May you like
And beneath the photograph were five words:
*HE'S COMING FOR LILY TONIGHT.*
