Chapter 13: The Empty Grave
Elias disappeared behind the medical building.
Maya tried to reach him, but Helix contractors surrounded the van.
Rafe drove through a maintenance barrier and entered the forest beyond Blackridge.
Bullets shattered the rear windows.
The scarred Lucas returned fire until they reached the highway.
For the first time in three years, Maya’s brother—or someone carrying his memories—was outside the prison.
Yet Maya felt no freedom.
She had left Elias behind.
Anna was taken to an abandoned clinic operated by one of Mercer’s former officers. The bullet had missed her heart, but she needed surgery.
Mercer refused to leave her side.
Rafe hid the van inside a warehouse.
Maya connected the Lazarus memory card to an offline computer.
Most of the data was encrypted.
One file opened automatically.
It contained a cemetery map.
A marker highlighted the graves of Adrian Cross and Maya’s mother, Rebecca.
At dawn, Maya, Rafe, and the scarred Lucas went to the cemetery.
Adrian’s grave had not been disturbed in years.
Maya used a shovel from the groundskeeper’s shed.
Rafe helped her dig.
The coffin was buried exactly where the records claimed.
They forced it open.
It was empty.
Inside lay only an old cassette tape and a child’s silver bracelet engraved with Maya’s name.
Maya picked up the tape.
A date was written on the label.
It had been recorded four years after Adrian’s supposed death.
They returned to the warehouse and found an old cassette player.
Adrian’s voice emerged through static.
“Maya, if you are hearing this, then I failed to stop Rebecca.”
Maya closed her eyes.
“The woman you know as your mother is not Rebecca Cross. Your biological mother believed human identity could survive death. I helped her begin the research because Lucas was dying.”
Maya looked at Lucas.
He stared back in confusion.
The tape continued.
“Lucas was born with a neurological condition. Rebecca created the first transfer to save him. But the procedure changed her. She began seeing people as containers rather than human beings.”
Rafe leaned closer to the player.
“When I tried to expose her, she staged my death and erased Maya’s memory of Redwater.”
Adrian’s voice weakened.
“Maya saw what Rebecca did to the other children. She was the only one who escaped.”
A loud sound interrupted the recording.
Then a woman spoke in the background.
“Adrian, she’s awake.”
The voice belonged to Dr. Price.
Maya froze.
Adrian continued quickly.
“If Elias finds you, do not assume he is me. We copied my memories into three volunteers. One remained loyal. One went insane.”
“And the third?” Maya whispered.
The tape clicked.
A distorted voice answered from the cassette.
“The third became Warden Daniel Mercer.”
Everyone turned toward the warehouse entrance.
Mercer stood there holding a gun.
Blood stained his shirt, although his earlier wound had been bandaged.
“Step away from the computer,” he said.
Maya stared at him.
“Are you my father?”
Mercer’s hand trembled.
“I don’t know anymore.”
Behind him, Anna appeared.
She pressed a pistol against Mercer’s back.
“Neither do I,” she said.
Then every light inside the warehouse went out.
When emergency power returned, Mercer and Anna were gone.
On the computer screen, the patient list had been replaced by a live video.
Elias was strapped to a surgical table.
The woman resembling Maya’s mother stood beside him.
May you like
She looked into the camera.
“Come home, sweetheart.”
