CHAPTER 24 — THE GIRL IN THE WHITE ROOM
The floor collapsed beneath Evelyn.
She woke in darkness with Julian’s arm around her.
Smoke filled the ruined corridor.
“Can you move?” he asked.
“Yes.”
He helped her stand.
For a moment, they were alone.
No Daniel.
No Celeste.
No Nathan.
No Mara.
Julian looked at the blood on her forehead.
“You really don’t remember setting the explosives?”
“No.”
“Do you remember the ballroom?”
“Every second.”
“What did you feel before you hit me?”
Evelyn hesitated.
“A word.”
“What word?”
“Wake.”
Julian closed his eyes.
“My mother used that word when you slept.”
“What?”
“Some nights you would sit up and speak numbers. Beatrice would stand beside the bed and say, ‘Wake.’ Then you followed her.”
Evelyn stared at him.
“You never told me.”
“I thought she was medicating you.”
“You thought that was acceptable?”
“No.”
His honesty made the answer worse.
“I accepted many things because challenging my mother meant losing power.”
“And now?”
“Now I know I never had power.”
They found a service tunnel leading deeper beneath the hospital.
At the end was a white room untouched by the explosion.
A young girl sat inside.
She was perhaps twelve years old, with dark hair and gray eyes.
When she saw Evelyn, she smiled.
“Subject One.”
Evelyn stopped.
“What did you call me?”
The girl stood.
“They said you would come.”
“Who?”
“The Choir.”
Julian stepped in front of Evelyn.
The girl tilted her head.
“You are Subject One’s husband.”
“How do you know that?”
“I know all of you.”
She recited Nathan’s childhood address.
Mara’s first computer password.
Celeste’s medical dosage.
Daniel’s private account number.
Then she looked at Evelyn.
“And I know what happened during your missing year.”
Evelyn knelt.
“What is your name?”
The girl hesitated.
“They call me Wren.”
“Where are the other children?”
“Moved before the explosion.”
“Where?”
Wren pointed toward a door at the back of the white room.
“Through there.”
Evelyn opened it.
The door led to a fully operational subway platform beneath the island.
A train was waiting.
Its windows were dark.
Wren took Evelyn’s hand.
“We have to board before the Choir realizes you survived.”
Julian looked at the empty train.
“Where does it go?”
Wren smiled.
“To the place where Evelyn Vance was born.”
Evelyn frowned.
“I was born in Boston.”
May you like
Wren shook her head.
“No. That’s where your parents purchased you.”
