Chapter 8 - The Mansion Where Everything Started Was Where We Would Finally End ItBlackwood was the old Moretti estate.
My mother recognized it.
"That's where they took the children."
I stared.
"The mansion?"
"Underground."
Dante didn't hesitate.
"We go tonight."
The estate was abandoned.
But the basement wasn't.
We found rooms.
Medical beds.
Old equipment.
Files.
Photographs.
Names.
I saw mine.
SUBJECT 17-B.
Dante looked at me.
I felt sick.
"What does that mean?"
My mother stepped forward.
"You were never supposed to know."
I turned.
"Tell me."
She cried.
"When you were six, your father brought you here."
"Why?"
"They needed a sample."
"What sample?"
"Blood."
"For the project."
I couldn't breathe.
"Was I used?"
"No."
She shook her head.
"I stopped them."
"Then why is my name here?"
"Because they planned to."
Dante moved closer.
"Why did they need her?"
My mother looked at him.
"Because she carries a rare genetic marker."
"What kind?"
"One that could make the treatment work."
Dante stared at me.
"The cure."
"Yes."
The research had been worth billions.
Vale wanted the data.
My family had tried to protect it.
And I had unknowingly been part of the experiment.
But there was more.
My mother opened a hidden drawer.
Inside was a recording.
My father's voice.
"If you're listening, then the project has been discovered."
"I failed."
"I let power corrupt everything."
"But I saved my daughter."
"She must never know."
The recording ended.
I cried.
Not because he had failed.
Because he had tried.
Dante took my hand.
"You don't have to forgive him."
"I don't know if I can."
"That's okay."
"What if he was a monster?"
"Then you don't have to become one."
I looked at him.
He was right.
The past wasn't mine to repeat.
Then we found Vale.
He stood at the far end of the laboratory.
Daniel was beside him.
My heart stopped.
"Let him go."
Vale smiled.
"Not yet."
Dante raised his weapon.
"Where are the others?"
"The children?"
"Yes."
Vale looked around.
"Dead."
I felt sick.
"Why?"
"They were failures."
I stepped forward.
"You killed them."
"They were experiments."
"No."
My voice became stronger.
"They were children."
Vale laughed.
"You're sentimental."
"No."
I looked at him.
"I'm human."
Dante moved.
Vale fired.
The shot struck Dante.
He fell.
I screamed.
"Dante!"
He looked at me.
"I'm okay."
He wasn't.
Blood spread across his shirt.
Vale reached for Daniel.
I moved.
I grabbed a metal tray.
Threw it.
It hit Vale's gun.
Daniel ran.
I caught him.
We escaped.
Dante followed despite his injury.
We reached the upper floor.
Police surrounded the estate.
Vale disappeared again.
But the laboratory was secured.
The truth was finally out.
Project Orchid was exposed.
The victims were identified.
The families received justice.
And the Moretti empire was collapsing.
Dante had one final decision to make.
Whether to keep it.
Or destroy it.
He looked at me.
"What would you do?"
I answered:
"Burn it."
May you like
He smiled.
"That's what I was hoping you'd say."
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