I read the words again.
Daniel Mercer — Subject #7.
Lily took the photograph from my hand.
“Mom, who’s the woman?”
“I don’t know.”
Michael stepped closer.
The moment he saw the picture, his expression changed.
“Where did you get this?”
“A courier delivered it.”
He stared at the woman.
“I know her.”
“Who is she?”
Michael swallowed.
“Dr. Evelyn Shaw.”
Claire went pale.
“She’s dead.”
Michael shook his head.
“That’s what they wanted us to believe.”
I looked at the photograph.
“Why is she standing beside Daniel?”
“Because she created the treatment.”
Silence.
“The treatment that kept him alive?”
Michael nodded.
“But Daniel wasn’t the creator.”
He turned the photograph over.
“Subject Number Seven means there were six before him.”
Lily frowned.
“Who were they?”
Michael looked at Margaret.
She answered quietly:
“People from our family.”
I felt a chill.
“My family?”
“Yes.”
Margaret opened an old folder.
Inside were six photographs.
Six people.
All from different decades.
All carrying the same distinctive silver pendant.
And all had the same expression.
They looked almost exactly the same age.
Michael pointed to the final photograph.
“Subject Seven.”
Daniel.
“Then who was Subject One?”
Margaret hesitated.
She pointed to the oldest photograph.
A young woman stood beside Dr. Shaw.
I stared at her.
It was my mother.
I dropped the photograph.
“No.”
Margaret nodded.
“Your mother was Subject One.”
My heart stopped.
“She was the first?”
“Yes.”
“Then why did she die?”
Margaret’s eyes filled with tears.
“Because she stopped taking the treatment.”
I couldn’t speak.
“She wanted to age normally.”
Michael continued.
“She realized what Dr. Shaw was doing.”
“What?”
“Shaw wasn’t trying to cure aging.”
He looked at Lily.
“She was trying to create people who could survive indefinitely.”
“And the Guardians?”
“They were funding her.”
I looked at the photograph again.
“So Daniel wasn’t the mastermind.”
“No.”
Michael shook his head.
“He was one of her experiments.”
Lily asked:
“Then why did he become so cruel?”
Michael’s answer was quiet.
“Because the treatment damaged his brain.”
Everything suddenly made sense.
Daniel wasn’t innocent.
But he hadn’t started this.
Someone had made him.
And that someone was still alive.
That night, we moved to a secure location.
Nobody slept.
At 3:14 a.m., the lights went out.
Michael reached for his weapon.
“Stay together.”
A door opened.
A woman walked into the room.
Older.
Elegant.
Calm.
She smiled.
“Hello, Margaret.”
Margaret stood.
“Evelyn.”
Dr. Shaw looked at Lily.
“So you’re the final one.”
Lily stepped forward.
“What do you want?”
“Nothing from you.”
She smiled.
“I want what your grandmother has.”
Margaret’s face hardened.
“The original research.”
“Exactly.”
“You’ll never get it.”
Dr. Shaw laughed softly.
“I already have it.”
She pulled a small drive from her pocket.
“The files from the laboratory were only copies.”
Michael raised his weapon.
“Drop it.”
Shaw ignored him.
“The original data has been with me for eighty years.”
I stared at her.
“Eighty?”
She smiled.
“You’re finally beginning to understand.”
She looked at Lily.
“Your family wasn’t selected randomly.”
“Why us?”
“Because your blood is compatible with the treatment.”
Lily shook her head.
“You want to experiment on me.”
“No.”
Shaw smiled.
“I want to finish what your mother started.”
My blood ran cold.
“My mother?”
“She discovered how to make the treatment safe.”
“Then why didn’t she?”
“Because she destroyed her own research.”
Shaw’s expression became cold.
“Your mother believed people shouldn’t live forever.”
I stared at her.
“And you disagree.”
“Completely.”
She looked at Lily.
“Imagine what you could accomplish with three hundred years.”
Lily answered:
“I’d rather have one honest life.”
For the first time, Shaw looked angry.
She raised her hand.
Armed men appeared behind her.
Michael stepped in front of us.
But Shaw didn’t order them to shoot.
Instead, she smiled.
“That’s what your mother said too.”
She turned toward the door.
“That’s why I killed her.”
I froze.
“You killed my mother.”
Shaw looked back.
“Yes.”
Then she disappeared into the darkness.
I stood there, shaking.
Margaret took my hand.
“Emily…”
I looked at her.
“No more secrets.”
She nodded.
“No more.”
I picked up the photograph.
My mother’s face stared back at me.
And I finally understood what the last battle would be about.
Not money.
Not the trust.
Not Daniel.
My mother’s unfinished work.
And Dr. Evelyn Shaw intended to finish it…
using Lily.
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