Chapter 8 - RICHARD'S DAUGHTERKayla woke with her wrists chained above her head.
Richard hung beside her.
Julian opposite.
Leo farther down the wall.
Milo and Cyrus were gone.
So were the children.
Kayla pulled against the restraints.
“Maisie!”
Richard opened his eyes.
“Kayla.”
“Where are they?”
“I don't know.”
Voss entered.
His white coat was gone.
He wore a tailored dark suit.
A silver crown pin rested on his lapel.
“Good morning.”
Kayla lunged against the chains.
“Where are they?”
“Safe.”
“I'll kill you.”
“Eventually, perhaps.”
He pulled a chair in front of them.
“The archive is secure.”
Richard stared.
“You can't use it.”
“I don't need to.”
“You don't have the encryption sequence.”
Voss smiled.
“We have your daughter.”
Kayla stopped.
Richard's face went still.
Voss enjoyed it.
“She inherited your memory.”
Kayla whispered:
“You know where she is?”
“I've always known.”
“Bring her.”
Voss stood.
“Certainly.”
The door opened.
A young girl entered.
Ten years old.
Dark hair.
Gray-green eyes.
A small scar beside her chin.
Kayla forgot the chains.
Forgot the room.
Forgot how to breathe.
The girl stared at Richard first.
Then Kayla.
Voss rested a hand on her shoulder.
“This is Evelyn.”
Richard made a broken sound.
Kayla whispered:
“Evie.”
The name had been chosen before the explosion.
Only she and Richard knew it.
The girl's eyes widened.
“How do you know that name?”
Kayla's heart shattered.
“Because I gave it to you.”
Evelyn looked at Voss.
He smiled.
“They're lying.”
Richard stepped forward as far as the chains allowed.
“Your left foot turns inward when you're tired.”
Evelyn froze.
“You used to kick during ultrasounds.”
Voss's smile disappeared.
Richard continued.
“You hated music with drums.”
Kayla began crying.
“And you always calmed down when I ate peaches.”
Evelyn stared at them.
“I hate peaches.”
Kayla laughed through tears.
“So did I after nine months.”
Voss grabbed Evelyn's arm.
“Enough.”
She pulled away.
“Who are they?”
“Enemies.”
“Who are they?”
Voss slapped her.
Kayla went silent.
Dangerously silent.
Richard saw it.
Julian saw it.
Even Voss saw it.
Kayla's hands became still.
“Touch her again.”
Voss turned.
“What?”
“Touch my daughter again.”
Her voice had no emotion.
“And I will remove every person you've ever loved from this earth.”
Voss smiled.
“You're chained to a wall.”
“For now.”
Behind him, Evelyn stared at Kayla.
Not frightened anymore.
Curious.
Voss dragged her out.
The door closed.
Richard exhaled shakily.
“She’s alive.”
Kayla turned on him.
“You knew.”
“I suspected.”
“You knew enough to search.”
“Yes.”
“You should've told me.”
“The Crown monitored you.”
“So you decided for me.”
“I decided to keep you alive.”
“For ten years?”
Richard's voice broke.
“I was captured for six of them.”
Kayla stopped.
He showed her scars.
Burn marks around his wrists.
A missing fingernail.
A surgical line along his ribs.
“I escaped four years ago.”
“And didn't come home.”
“I found evidence Evelyn was alive. Voss threatened to kill her if I contacted you.”
Kayla closed her eyes.
Grief had made everyone around her stupid.
Protective.
Secretive.
Cowardly.
Julian said quietly:
“We fix this after we survive.”
Kayla looked at him.
“You're still explaining my father.”
“If we survive.”
“We will.”
A scraping sound came from the wall.
Leo looked down.
A ventilation grate moved.
Maisie's voice whispered:
“Kayla?”
Every adult stared.
The grate popped free.
Maisie crawled out.
Danny appeared behind her.
Tyler next.
Nina.
Milo.
Cyrus.
Kayla almost laughed.
“How?”
Tyler grinned weakly.
“Mom says I'm a disappointment.”
Nina pushed him.
“Focus.”
Maisie held up keys.
“I took them from a guard.”
Leo smiled.
“Kid, I owe you a car.”
“She’s ten,” Danny whispered.
“For later.”
They unlocked the restraints.
Kayla hugged Maisie.
Then Milo.
Cyrus immediately found Evelyn's scent on the floor.
Maisie touched his collar.
“He knows her.”
Richard nodded.
“Cyrus belonged to Evelyn.”
Everybody stared.
Voss had given the dog to Evelyn years ago.
The animal became her only friend.
When Richard infiltrated the facility twelve days earlier, Cyrus helped him escape.
Richard hid the archive key beneath his collar and sent him away.
Voss recaptured Richard but lost Cyrus.
That was why the dog had been shattered.
He wasn't violent.
He had been trying to get back to the girl.
Maisie whispered:
“Then we take him to her.”
They moved through the lower corridors.
Tyler stopped at an intersection.
“Wait.”
“What?”
“My parents.”
Kayla looked at him.
“You want them?”
“No.”
Tyler swallowed.
“I want to know why.”
Nina touched his shoulder.
“You don't.”
“I do.”
They found Ron and Mrs. Dixon in the control room.
Not prisoners.
Preparing to flee.
Mrs. Dixon saw her children.
“Nina?”
Nina raised a gun.
Her mother's face changed.
“Oh, sweetheart.”
“Don't.”
“We can explain.”
“You sold me.”
“We gave you purpose.”
“You locked me underground.”
Ron looked at Tyler.
“Son.”
Tyler shook his head.
“You put a gun to my head.”
“It wasn't loaded.”
Kayla noticed the lie.
Tyler did too.
Ron continued:
“It was theater.”
“For her?”
Tyler pointed at Kayla.
“You would've killed me for her?”
Ron said nothing.
Tyler stepped backward.
His face hardened.
“No wonder she saved me and you didn't.”
Mrs. Dixon lunged for the emergency alarm.
Nina fired.
The bullet struck the panel beside her hand.
“Sit down.”
For once, Mrs. Dixon obeyed her daughter.
Leo restrained both parents.
Julian looked at Kayla.
“Evelyn.”
They moved upstairs.
Cyrus suddenly broke into a run.
Maisie followed his leash.
They reached a locked classroom.
Richard shot the lock.
Evelyn stood inside.
Cyrus rushed to her.
The girl fell to her knees.
“CYRUS!”
The dog collapsed into her arms.
For the first time, the supposedly monstrous animal made a soft crying sound.
Maisie smiled.
Evelyn looked up.
“Who are you?”
“Maisie.”
“You brought him back?”
“Yes.”
Evelyn touched her hand.
“Thank you.”
Kayla stood in the doorway.
Her daughter looked at her.
Ten stolen years existed between them.
Kayla didn't move closer.
She wouldn't force it.
Evelyn finally asked:
“Are you really my mother?”
Kayla nodded.
“Yes.”
“Why didn't you find me?”
Kayla's voice broke.
“I thought you were dead.”
Evelyn stared.
Then she asked the question Kayla feared most.
“Would you have come if you knew?”
Kayla took one step forward.
“I would've burned the whole world down.”
Evelyn considered that.
Then she walked into Kayla's arms.
Voss's voice came over the speaker.
“How touching.”
The exits slammed shut.
May you like
Red lights flashed.
This time, the explosives were real.
