CHAPTER 29: THE HOUSE BY THE SEA

The Marlow mansion stood above a violent gray ocean.

No one had lived there since Elena disappeared.

Adrian, Daniel, Eli, Grace, Emma, Victoria, Mason and Alistair entered through the rusted gates before dawn.

Nathan’s timer showed six hours remaining.

Inside, dust covered every room.

Elena’s childhood piano remained beside the window.

Daniel touched one of the keys.

A hidden door opened behind the bookshelf.

The staircase beneath it led to a circular chamber.

At the center stood a machine shaped like a metal chair surrounded by glass coils.

Daniel stared at it.

“I remember this place.”

“What happened here?” Eli asked.

“They erased my memory of Adrian.”

Alistair connected the silver interface to the machine.

Lights flickered on.

A recording of Elena appeared.

“If Nathan has activated the second network, then Sebastian has failed to control him.”

Adrian stepped closer.

“Elena, where are you?”

The recording continued without answering.

“The machine cannot erase Nathan from a distance. Someone connected to his network must sit in the chair and open a path into his mind.”

Grace looked at the machine.

“I can do it.”

Daniel grabbed her arm.

“No.”

“You’re too weak.”

“And you’re still a child.”

“I’m older than you.”

Her body had remained young, but she had been born before Daniel.

Eli walked toward the chair.

“Nathan asked for me.”

Emma blocked him.

“No.”

The mansion lights went out.

Nathan’s voice came from the darkness.

“You brought everyone exactly where I needed them.”

The glass wall overlooking the ocean shattered inward.

Armed figures entered the room.

They were not soldiers.

They were ordinary people controlled through implants.

Doctors.

Police officers.

Parents.

Even children.

No one could fight them without hurting innocent people.

Nathan descended the staircase.

He looked at Victoria.

“My little sister.”

She raised a gun with shaking hands.

Nathan touched his own temple.

Victoria’s arm turned against her.

The gun pointed toward Adrian.

Eli stepped between them.

“Stop controlling her.”

Nathan studied the boy.

“Make me.”

Eli reached for Nathan’s hand.

Daniel shouted, “No!”

But their fingers had already touched.

May you like

MY SISTER THREW A HOT SKILLET AT MY 4-YEAR-OLD—THEN MY MOTHER’S TEXT EXP...

The next part began before I had time to understand the last one.Hospital social worker Denise reads Helen's message and immediate...

MY MOTHER THREW MY SIX-WEEK-OLD BABY TOWARD THE FIRE—THEN MY QUIET FATHE...

At my backyard baby shower, my mother lifted my six-week-old daughter and said, "You gave birth before your sister... you betrayed...

I FOUND MY EX SLEEPING AT THE AIRPORT WITH TWINS WHO HAD MY EYES—THEN A...

I Found My Ex, Who Vanished 6 Years Ago, Sleeping at JFK With 2 Kids Who Had My Eyes. Then I Heard My Mother Say, “Their Mother Sh...

Both of them froze.

Then Eli whispered, “You’re not Nathan.”