CHAPTER 8: EVELYN’S REAL FACE
Adrian stared at his mother.
Evelyn continued removing the artificial skin.
Her jawline changed.
Her nose became narrower.
Within seconds, the woman who had raised him no longer looked like Evelyn Whitmore.
She looked like an older version of Claire.
“Mother?”
Evelyn faced him.
“That is what you were trained to call me.”
Adrian looked as if she had struck him.
“Who are you?”
“Subject H-2.”
Claire Vale stepped closer.
“You were the third baby.”
Evelyn smiled.
“Not exactly.”
August explained Project Janus began with a woman called Helena Zero.
Her DNA had been used to create multiple daughters.
Each was placed in a different life.
One married Richard.
One became Evelyn Whitmore.
Others remained inside the laboratory.
Claire and her sister were the next generation.
“Why?” Claire asked.
August’s eyes brightened.
“To discover whether identity comes from blood, memory, or suffering.”
“You destroyed people’s lives for an experiment.”
“I created lives.”
Richard strained against the ropes.
“You murdered my wife.”
August glanced toward the women behind the glass.
“Your wife is standing there.”
“Which one?”
“That is the question, isn’t it?”
Claire moved toward the glass.
One woman began tapping a pattern.
Three short taps.
Two long.
Three short.
Claire remembered Miriam teaching her the same pattern as a child.
Danger.
The woman pointed toward the floor.
Claire looked down.
A thin red line ran beneath the chamber.
Explosives.
August noticed her gaze.
He smiled.
“Helena always loved contingency plans.”
A gunshot echoed.
Claire Vale fired at the control panel.
The glass wall shattered.
The six Helena copies rushed forward.
Chaos erupted.
Marcus freed Richard.
Adrian grabbed Claire and pulled her behind a steel table.
Evelyn attacked Claire Vale with a hidden blade.
The two women moved with nearly identical precision.
August backed toward a private elevator.
Claire chased him.
“Where is my real mother?”
He looked over his shoulder.
“Inside you.”
The elevator doors began closing.
Claire forced her hand between them.
August caught her wrist.
“You remember the fire because Helena’s memories were placed inside your mind.”
“No.”
“You remember a childhood that belonged to someone else.”
He pushed her backward.
The doors closed.
Claire fell against Adrian.
The chamber shook.
The explosives had activated.
A countdown appeared.
Two minutes.
One of the Helena copies grabbed Claire.
“You must come with me.”
“Who are you?”
“My name is Anna.”
“Are you my mother?”
Anna looked at Claire with tears in her eyes.
“I’m the woman they used to create her.”
The countdown reached ninety seconds.
Anna opened a hidden escape tunnel.
Everyone rushed toward it.
Claire looked back.
Evelyn stood alone beside the shattered glass.
Adrian called to her.
“Come with us!”
Evelyn looked at him.
For one brief moment, she appeared human.
“I did love you.”
Then she locked the chamber door between them.
Adrian pounded against the glass.
“Mother!”
Evelyn turned toward the approaching guards.
May you like
She raised her weapon.
The explosion swallowed the room.
