Chapter 10: The Memory That Wasn't Mine
Darkness.
That was all I knew.
No pain.
No fear.
No voices.
Just silence.
Then came the sound of rain.
Soft.
Steady.
Falling somewhere far away.
I opened my eyes.
But I wasn’t in my bedroom.
I was standing in a street I had never seen before.
A younger version of myself stood under a streetlight.
He looked exactly like me.
But I knew instantly.
That was the original Ryan.
Not the man who stood beside me.
Not the man I had become.
The man I had been.
He was holding a baby.
Ava.
My breath caught.
The baby was crying.
Original Ryan looked terrified.
Not of the child.
Of what was coming.
“I’m sorry,” he whispered.
The scene shifted.
A hospital hallway.
Dr. Carter was younger.
Elias stood beside him.
They were arguing.
“You promised me control,” Elias said.
Dr. Carter shook his head.
“I promised to save his life.””
“You don’t understand what you created.””
Then I saw myself.
Lying in a hospital bed.
Machines keeping me alive.
The original Ryan sat beside me.
No.
Not beside me.
Beside my body.
A strange feeling moved through me.
Like remembering a dream someone else had.
Then he spoke.
“If I survive, they’ll use me.””
Dr. Carter looked confused.
“What are you saying?””
Original Ryan looked at the unconscious version of himself.
Then at the baby monitor showing Ava.
“I need a backup plan.””
My heart raced.
A backup plan.
The memory changed.
A hidden room.
The same room behind my bedroom wall.
Original Ryan stood there with Emma.
But Emma looked younger.
Broken.
“Are you sure?”” she asked.
He nodded.
“If something happens, you take care of Ava.””
Emma cried.
“What about you?””
He looked at her.
“If they erase me…”
He placed his hand against the wall.
“Then I need someone to remember.””
The vision shattered.
I gasped awake.
I was lying on the floor.
My entire body felt heavy.
The room was different.
Everyone was there.
Emma.
Lily.
Ava.
Daniel.
And the other Ryan.
He was holding the shutdown device.
The device was broken.
I looked at him.
“You stopped it.””
He nodded.
“I remembered how.””
I slowly sat up.
“What happened?””
Daniel helped me.
“Elias activated it.””
I looked around.
“Where is he?””
Nobody answered.
That was when I noticed.
Dr. Carter was gone.
I stood.
“He took him.””
Emma looked down.
“Ryan…”
I looked at her.
“What?””
She hesitated.
“There’s something else.””
I was tired of those words.
But I knew she was right.
“What now?””
She walked toward me.
“I lied about one thing.””
I closed my eyes.
“Of course.””
A tear rolled down her face.
“When you had the accident…”
She looked at the original Ryan.
“He wasn’t the only one who survived.””
My eyes narrowed.
“What does that mean?””
Emma looked at me.
“It means there were three.””
The room went silent.
Daniel’s expression changed.
“No.””
Emma nodded.
“Yes.””
I felt cold.
“Three what?””
She looked at both of us.
“Three versions.””
The original Ryan stepped forward.
“What are you talking about?””
Emma’s hands trembled.
“The procedure wasn’t just about saving one person.””
She looked terrified.
“It was about creating options.””
Ava moved closer to me.
I held her hand.
“Where is the third?””
Nobody answered.
Then Lily pointed toward the hallway.
“Daddy?””
I looked at her.
She was staring at the old family photographs hanging on the wall.
“There’s another one.””
My heart stopped.
“What?””
She walked toward the pictures.
She pointed.
“There.””
I followed her finger.
A family photo.
Emma.
Me.
Lily.
Ava.
But in the reflection of the window behind us…
there was another person.
Standing outside.
Watching.
I rushed to the window.
Nothing.
Only rain.
Then my phone buzzed.
Unknown number.
One message.
A picture.
A man standing in the rain.
May you like
And beneath it:
*“You found two of them. Now find the one who was born to replace you.””*
