CHAPTER 7 – WARD C
CHAPTER 7 – WARD C
Emily stared at the steel door.
The air raid sirens continued to blare.
Behind them, the sound of masked men's footsteps grew closer.
Noah gripped her wrist.
"Let's go!"
"No."
Emily shook her head.
"If we keep running, they'll always find us."
She looked at the door marked WARD C.
"Maybe the answer is in there."
Noah's face turned pale.
"That's what Lucy said too."
Emily turned to him.
"Lucy?"
"The woman who tried to escape with me."
Noah's voice choked.
"She didn't come back."
Emily took a deep breath.
Then she placed her hand on the doorknob.
At that very moment...
A voice boomed from the old loudspeaker on the ceiling.
"Emily Carter."
She froze.
"If you open that door..."
"...you'll remember everything."
Emily looked up.
"Who is it?"
No one answered.
Only the crackling sound of the loudspeaker.
Noah whispered.
"They're playing with you."
Emily wasn't sure.
That voice...
It sounded strangely familiar.
As if she'd heard it somewhere before.
Then she turned the doorknob.
Click.
The door swung open.
A blast of cold air rushed out.
The pungent smell of disinfectant made Emily dizzy.
Red emergency lights flickered, illuminating a long corridor with two rows of glass-walled rooms.
In each room...
There was a hospital bed.
Some were empty.
Some...
Were not empty.
Emily walked to the first glass pane.
A silver-haired woman sat motionless.
She slowly raised her head.
Her eyes widened.
The moment she saw Emily...
She burst into tears.
"No..."
"It can't be..."
Emily frowned.
"Do we know each other?"
The woman trembled as she stood up.
"Don't you remember me anymore?"
Emily was speechless.
"Mother?"
The woman lunged forward, banging her hand against the glass.
"Emily!"
"It's me!"
Emily recoiled.
"No..."
"My mother died ten years ago."
The woman screamed.
"No!"
"They kidnapped me!"
"They kidnapped both of us!"
"They made me believe you were dead!"
Emily clutched her head.
A sharp pain ripped through her brain.
In her mind...
Images flashed in fragments.
A woman's hand grasped hers.
A black car.
An injection.
Someone said:
"She won't remember anything."
Emily collapsed.
Noah pulled her up.
"Don't look!"
"That's what they want!"
May you like
But it was too late.
Memories began to return.
