PART 8 — The Choice That Could Destroy My Family
The lights went out.
For a second, there was nothing.
No light.
No movement.
Only breathing.
Then I heard Ethan scream.
“Dad!”
I reached forward blindly.
“I’m here!”
My fingers found his arm.
I pulled him toward me.
“Noah!”
“I’m here!”
His voice was shaking.
I grabbed both boys and pushed them behind me.
“Stay close. Nobody moves.”
A gunshot exploded through the tunnel.
The sound was deafening.
Someone screamed.
Then another shot.
Thomas shouted,
“DOWN!”
We dropped to the floor.
Bullets struck the metal wall above us.
Sparks flew through the darkness.
I covered Ethan and Noah with my body.
“Dad, I’m scared.”
“So am I.”
I held him tighter.
“But I'm not letting them take you.”
Suddenly, emergency lights flickered on.
Red.
Then I saw her.
Eleanor stood at the other end of the tunnel.
But something was wrong.
She wasn't holding the gun.
One of her guards was lying on the ground.
The other was unconscious.
And behind Eleanor stood a woman I had never seen before.
She was wearing a white medical coat.
Her hair was silver.
Her face was pale.
And she was pointing a gun directly at Eleanor.
My father stared at her.
“No…”
The woman looked at him.
“Hello, Richard.”
My father stepped backward.
“Clara?”
I looked at him.
“You know her?”
He didn't answer.
The woman lowered the gun slightly.
“I thought you would never recognize me.”
Eleanor turned around.
“You should have stayed dead.”
Clara smiled.
“So should you.”
My mind was spinning.
“How many people are involved in this?”
My father finally spoke.
“Clara was one of the original scientists.”
Evelyn stared at her.
“My mother knew you.”
Clara looked at Evelyn.
“Your mother knew everyone.”
Eleanor's expression hardened.
“You don't belong here.”
Clara laughed.
“Neither do you.”
Then she lifted the gun again.
“Give me the vial.”
Eleanor held up the metal case.
“No.”
Clara's face changed.
“You don't understand what you're carrying.”
“I understand perfectly.”
“No.”
Clara stepped forward.
“That vial isn't a cure.”
My heart stopped.
I looked at Eleanor.
“What is it?”
Eleanor didn't answer.
My father whispered,
“It's a catalyst.”
“For what?”
“For cellular activation.”
I didn't understand.
Clara explained.
“It can force the mutation inside Marcus's body to become active.”
I stared at her.
“And what happens then?”
She looked at me.
“You could heal.”
I waited.
“But?”
“You could also die within minutes.”
Ethan started crying.
“No!”
I turned toward him.
“It's okay.”
But Clara wasn't finished.
“There is another problem.”
“What?”
She looked at the twins.
“The boys' DNA can stabilize the reaction.”
My stomach dropped.
Eleanor smiled.
“Now you understand.”
I stepped toward her.
“You planned this.”
“Yes.”
“You knew I was sick.”
“Yes.”
“You knew the boys could save me.”
“Yes.”
My hands curled into fists.
“And you created all of this because you wanted a treatment.”
Eleanor looked at me calmly.
“Not just for you.”
“For millions.”
I shook my head.
“You keep saying that.”
“Because it's true.”
“No.”
My voice became louder.
“You kidnapped my children. You destroyed my family. You made my father disappear. You manipulated Evelyn.”
I pointed at her.
“And you call that saving humanity?”
Eleanor's face remained emotionless.
“History doesn't remember the sacrifices.”
“It remembers the results.”
My father suddenly stepped between us.
“Enough.”
Eleanor looked at him.
“You had fifteen years to stop me.”
“And I spent fifteen years trying.”
“You failed.”
“I protected Marcus.”
“You hid him.”
“I saved him from you.”
Eleanor smiled.
“You couldn't save him forever.”
I looked at my father.
“What happened fifteen years ago?”
He hesitated.
I grabbed his arm.
“Tell me everything.”
He looked at me.
“I discovered what Northbridge intended to do.”
“With me?”
“With you and the children you would eventually have.”
I frowned.
“But I didn't have children then.”
“They knew you would.”
“How?”
My father looked at Evelyn.
“Because Northbridge had already selected her.”
Evelyn covered her mouth.
“I didn't know.”
“I know.”
My father continued.
“They predicted your relationship years before it happened.”
I felt cold.
“They planned my entire life?”
“Not every detail.”
He paused.
“But enough of it.”
Evelyn began crying.
“My mother knew?”
“Yes.”
“And your mother?”
“Yes.”
I looked at Eleanor.
She didn't deny it.
“You arranged for Evelyn to meet me.”
“Yes.”
My heart shattered.
“What about our relationship?”
Eleanor answered without emotion.
“That part was real.”
I looked at Evelyn.
She nodded through her tears.
“It was real, Marcus.”
I wanted to believe her.
But then I remembered the fertility treatment.
The genetic samples.
The twins.
Everything suddenly felt like a carefully designed experiment.
“Did you ever love me?”
Evelyn stepped toward me.
“More than anything.”
“Then why didn't you tell me?”
“Because I was afraid.”
“Of what?”
“That if I told you the truth, you'd leave.”
I looked away.
For a moment, nobody spoke.
Then Noah whispered,
“Dad?”
I turned.
He was staring at the metal case in Eleanor's hand.
“There’s something inside that.”
I frowned.
“What?”
“I can hear it.”
Everyone looked at him.
Eleanor's expression changed.
“What did you say?”
Noah pointed toward the case.
“There's a heartbeat.”
Silence.
Clara's face went pale.
“That’s impossible.”
Noah stepped closer.
“It sounds like mine.”
My father suddenly grabbed him.
“Don't touch it!”
Too late.
The metal case began vibrating.
A tiny light appeared on the vial.
Then another.
Eleanor stared at it in horror.
“No…”
I looked at her.
“What is happening?”
She whispered,
“The boys activated it.”
Clara raised her gun.
“Everyone back away!”
The vial cracked.
A drop of dark liquid fell onto the floor.
The metal beneath it began to smoke.
Thomas pulled Evelyn and the boys backward.
“What the hell is that?”
My father looked at me.
“It recognizes their DNA.”
I stared at Ethan and Noah.
“Why?”
My father didn't answer.
Then the laboratory speakers suddenly came alive.
A man's voice echoed through the tunnel.
“Experiment Seven has reached activation stage.”
My blood froze.
I knew that voice.
It belonged to the doctor who had signed my medical records sixteen years ago.
But he was supposed to be dead.
The voice continued.
“Marcus Vance is not the patient.”
Everyone went silent.
“The patient is the entire family.”
The speakers clicked off.
Then every door in the tunnel slammed shut.
Eleanor looked terrified for the first time.
She whispered one sentence:
“Northbridge has started the final experiment.”
And somewhere beneath our feet…
something enormous began to wake up.
TO BE CONTINUED…
