Chapter 18 - Subject One
Claire went white.
That scared me more than the note.
"Who was Subject One?"
She did not answer.
"Claire."
Lily sat between us watching our faces.
Claire knelt in front of her.
"Sweetheart, can you go find Aunt Emily downstairs?"
Lily frowned.
"Is she really my aunt?"
"Yes."
"Is she weird?"
"Very."
Lily nodded as if that made sense and left.
The moment the door closed, I asked again.
"Who was Subject One?"
Claire sat on the edge of the sofa.
"Your mother."
I stopped breathing.
My mother, Helen Hayes, had died when I was twelve.
Cancer.
At home.
I remembered hospice nurses and the smell of lavender lotion.
"No."
"Daniel-"
"No. My mother had leukemia."
"She did."
"Then what are you saying?"
"The first room wasn't designed for financial control. It was designed for her."
My father had built the original containment room after my mother developed severe steroid psychosis during treatment.
She became paranoid.
She ran from the house twice.
Once, she tried to walk into traffic because she believed someone was following her.
My father panicked.
Doctors advised hospitalization.
He refused because he thought publicity would damage the company and terrify us children.
So he built a private medical room at home.
For three weeks, my mother was kept there under nursing supervision.
She later improved and returned upstairs.
"That was the beginning," Claire said.
I sat down.
The first room had not been built to steal money.
It had been built by a frightened husband trying to keep his sick wife safe without exposing her illness.
Then it became a solution.
Then a protocol.
Then a business.
Then a weapon.
That truth was more disturbing than learning my father had always been evil.
Because he hadn't.
He had become dangerous one justified decision at a time.
Claire touched my hand.
"Daniel, this is why the story matters. If we tell people Richard was a monster from the beginning, everyone else gets to believe they could never become him."
I looked at her.
"And if we tell the whole truth, my mother's worst moments become public."
"Not if we do it right."
"Who decides what right is?"
Neither of us answered.
Downstairs, sirens flashed through the windows as more investigators arrived.
My phone rang.
Aaron.
"Daniel, Richard escaped transport."
I stood.
"What?"
"The police convoy was hit near the interstate. One officer injured. Richard is gone."
Claire closed her eyes.
I asked the only question that mattered.
"Where would he go?"
Aaron hesitated.
"He left a message in the transport van."
"What message?"
"He wrote one address."
Blackthorn House.
Then Aaron added, "And underneath it, he wrote Lily's name."
---
The next chapters are on the left side of your screen.
If you enjoyed the story, bookmark my site: https://vibe.treeiq.biz
May you like
New stories are posted daily, so check back for updates.
