Chapter 6 - My Mother Was Still Alive
My mother had supposedly died when I was thirteen.
Complications from surgery.
That was what the paperwork said.
I had believed it for most of my life.
Now I held a photograph of her standing outside a clinic in Canada.
Alive.
Smiling.
With a man beside her.
Giovanni.
My entire body went cold.
Raphael took the photograph.
He stared.
“Giovanni knew her.”
“Yes.”
“Then your mother may have been involved with Helix.”
I didn't want to hear it.
“She wasn't evil.”
“I didn't say she was.”
But the evidence was real.
We found old records.
My mother had been moved after her supposed death.
Her identity had been changed.
She had spent years hidden under another name.
We found her living in a quiet town outside Toronto.
Raphael and I flew there.
She opened the door.
I knew immediately.
Same eyes.
Same smile.
Same scar above her eyebrow.
“Mara.”
I couldn't breathe.
“You're alive.”
She cried.
“So are you.”
I hugged her.
Years of grief collapsed in seconds.
But there was anger too.
“Why?”
“I was protecting you.”
“From what?”
“From Giovanni.”
She explained everything.
She had volunteered for my father's research.
She had discovered what Helix had become.
When she tried to expose Giovanni, he threatened Mara.
He threatened Micah.
She disappeared to protect us.
Then why had she allowed us to believe she was dead?
“Because I thought it was the only way.”
I looked at her.
“You let me mourn you for fifteen years.”
“I know.”
“I needed you.”
“I know.”
She cried.
“I made a terrible choice.”
I forgave her eventually.
Not immediately.
But eventually.
She came back to Chicago.
Micah struggled to accept her.
Then one afternoon, he called her Mom.
She broke down.
So did I.
But Giovanni's name appeared again.
Because my mother knew where the original Helix archive was.
She had hidden it.
And someone was searching for it.
We found signs in the apartment.
Drawers opened.
A window forced.
A missing notebook.
The person had been close.
Too close.
Raphael strengthened security.
I hated it.
He hated needing it.
Then I realized something.
The danger wasn't about the past.
It was about who wanted the archive now.
A new organization.
One that had been waiting for Giovanni's fall.
They wanted Helix technology.
They wanted Micah.
And they wanted my mother.
Their leader was a man named Samuel Voss.
A former federal investigator who had worked with Giovanni before becoming independent.
He believed memories could be used to predict human behavior.
He wanted to finish the experiment.
Micah was his ideal subject.
We moved my mother and Micah to a secure house.
But Samuel found us.
He kidnapped my mother first.
Then Micah.
The same night.
Raphael was furious.
But he didn't become the man he used to be.
He called the authorities.
He called every ally.
He used legitimate channels.
And he asked Julian for help.
Julian knew how Samuel recruited people.
Matteo knew the old tunnels.
My mother had memorized the location of the archive.
We had one chance.
The archive was beneath the original Orsini hospital.
We entered at midnight.
Inside, we found Samuel.
He had Micah.
My mother was tied to a chair.
Raphael stepped forward.
“Let them go.”
Samuel smiled.
“You still think you can command me.”
“No.”
Raphael looked at me.
“I know I can't.”
Samuel laughed.
Then my mother spoke.
“You never understood the research.”
Samuel turned.
“It doesn't matter.”
“It does.”
She smiled.
“The memories aren't transferable.”
Samuel froze.
“What?”
She continued.
“They aren't a secret weapon.”
“Then what are they?”
“Trauma.”
Silence.
My mother explained that Helix had misinterpreted the neurological response.
People under extreme stress developed unusual memory retention.
It wasn't a superpower.
It wasn't a weapon.
It was the result of survival.
Samuel's entire research project was built on a misunderstanding.
Micah wasn't special because he could control memories.
He was special because his brain responded differently to stress.
Samuel had destroyed lives chasing a fantasy.
He raised his gun.
Then Micah spoke.
“You're wrong.”
Everyone turned.
Micah looked directly at him.
“You think memories make people weak.”
Samuel stared.
“They don't.”
Micah's voice was steady.
“They help us remember who hurt us.”
Raphael stepped closer.
“And who saved us.”
Samuel hesitated.
Police stormed the room.
He was arrested.
My mother was rescued.
Micah was safe.
And the Helix archive was destroyed.
No more experiments.
No more secrets.
No more children used as evidence.
The nightmare was finally ending.
Our wedding was scheduled for the next month.
May you like
This time, there would be no interruption.
Or so we hoped.
