Chapter 14: The Last Door
The Whitmore mansion looked exactly like my nightmares.
Broken windows.
Blackened walls.
Overgrown gardens.
Ten years had passed, but the place still felt alive.
Waiting.
I stood outside the gates.
My body remembered before my mind did.
My hands trembled.
Adrian noticed.
“We don’t have to do this.””
I looked at him.
“Yes.””
A pause.
“I do.””
We entered together.
Every step felt like walking through a memory.
The hallway.
The staircase.
The room where the fire started.
Then suddenly—
I stopped.
A voice.
A child’s voice.
Mine.
“This way.””
Adrian turned.
“What?””
I touched the wall.
“I know where to go.””
The strange part was I didn’t know how.
My body moved before my thoughts did.
Behind an old painting was a hidden door.
Adrian stared.
“How did you know?””
I swallowed.
“I don’t know.””
The door opened.
Inside was a small room untouched by time.
Photographs.
Documents.
A wooden box.
And a message written on the wall.
*For Charlotte.*
My knees almost gave out.
Adrian opened the box.
Inside were three things.
A letter.
A hard drive.
And a family photograph.
But the photograph had something strange.
Someone had been cut out.
My mother.
My father.
Me.
And another person.
A young Adrian.
I stared.
“You were there.””
Adrian looked shocked.
“What?””
“You were here.””
He took the photograph.
“I don’t remember.””
The letter was from my father.
Adrian read it aloud.
“Charlotte, if you found this, then Richard failed to erase everything.””
He continued.
“Your memories contain the evidence needed to destroy Project Phoenix.””
I looked at the hard drive.
“But why put it inside me?””
Adrian read the next line.
“Because technology can be stolen. People can be forced. But love cannot be copied.””
My eyes filled.
My father trusted me.
Even as a child.
The room suddenly went dark.
Adrian immediately moved in front of me.
Someone had cut the power.
A voice came from the doorway.
“I was hoping you’d find it.””
We turned.
Marco stood there.
But something was wrong.
Adrian stared.
“Marco?””
Marco lowered his weapon.
“I’m sorry, boss.””
My stomach dropped.
The trusted person.
Thomas’s warning.
Someone you trust.
Adrian looked hurt.
Not angry.
“Why?””
Marco’s face tightened.
“Because you don’t understand what’s coming.””
“You worked for me.””
“Yes.””
“For years.””
“Yes.””
“Then why?””
Marco looked at me.
“Because she should never have survived.””
The words echoed.
The same words from the fire.
My body froze.
Adrian stepped forward.
“Marco.””
But Marco raised his weapon.
“Richard Kane was right.””
Adrian’s face changed.
“No.””
“Yes.””
Marco looked at the hard drive.
“That contains information that can destroy everything.””
“Good.””
“No.””
Marco shook his head.
“You don’t understand.””
He looked at me.
“She’s not just a witness.””
A pause.
“She’s the key.””
I backed away.
“What does that mean?””
Marco didn’t answer.
Instead, he looked at Adrian.
“You were never supposed to protect her.””
The room went silent.
“You were supposed to bring her back.””
Adrian looked confused.
“Bring her back where?””
Marco smiled sadly.
“To Project Phoenix.””
Then he pressed a button.
The floor beneath us opened.
A hidden elevator appeared.
And below it was a massive underground facility.
Still running.
After ten years.
Adrian stared into the darkness.
“No.””
Marco stepped aside.
“The project never ended.””
I looked down.
And saw hundreds of screens.
May you like
Each one showing the same image.
Me.
