Chapter 50 - The Secret My Mother HidNobody spoke.
The ocean waves crashed against the rocks below.
My mother's name remained on the screen.
FILE CREATED: 11 YEARS AGO
AUTHOR: ELIZABETH WHITMORE
I looked at her.
"Mom..."
She looked away.
That was the first time I saw fear in her eyes.
Not fear of Jonathan.
Fear of what I would discover.
"What is it?"
She didn't answer.
"Mom."
She closed her eyes.
"I hoped you would never find it."
Claire opened the file.
A video appeared.
Elizabeth.
Eleven years younger.
The same day she disappeared.
She sat in a dark room.
Holding a newborn baby.
Not me.
Not Rose.
Another baby.
Her voice trembled.
"If you are watching this..."
"Then Jonathan failed."
I froze.
Michael stepped closer.
"What?"
The younger Elizabeth continued.
"Adam and Rose were never the only children."
The world stopped.
No.
Not again.
Another secret.
Another lie.
She looked into the camera.
"I had a third child."
Everyone stared.
Claire whispered:
"A third..."
Elizabeth on the video continued.
"Jonathan didn't know."
"He believed there were only two."
I looked at my mother.
"Why?"
Her eyes filled with tears.
"Because I was trying to save one child from becoming part of the experiment."
The video showed a small baby wrapped in a blanket.
A tiny hand reached toward the camera.
Then...
A name appeared.
SUBJECT THREE: UNKNOWN
My breathing stopped.
Because beneath the name...
Was a photograph.
A grown person.
Someone I knew.
Someone who had been beside me through this entire journey.
Claire stepped backward.
"No..."
Michael stared at the screen.
"Impossible."
I looked at my mother.
"Who is it?"
Elizabeth couldn't answer.
She didn't need to.
The photograph was enough.
The third child...
The child Jonathan never knew existed...
Was not missing.
Was not dead.
Had not been hidden away.
They had been watching us.
Helping us.
Standing beside us.
The entire time.
The screen revealed one final line:
SUBJECT THREE STATUS: ACTIVE
CURRENT LOCATION: WITH THE FAMILY
Slowly...
Everyone turned.
Toward the same person.
The person who had been silent.
The person who knew too much.
The person who had guided us here.
Claire.
Her face lost all color.
And for the first time...
She whispered:
"I'm sorry."
A long silence followed.
Then she looked at me.
With tears in her eyes.
And said:
May you like
"Brother."
End of Chapter 50...
