Chapter 49

Chapter 49 (Nell’s POV)

The knocking came again—louder, heavier, like they weren’t just knocking anymore.

They were warning.

Rick gripped my wrist tighter. His voice was low, serious. “We don’t have time, Nell. They’ll break down the door.”

My legs refused to move. “Who is it?”

Rick didn’t answer. Instead, he rushed to a painting on the wall near the grand staircase. With one quick motion, he pulled it aside, revealing a keypad and a fingerprint scanner.

I stared, wide-eyed. “You have secret doors in your house?”

Rick didn’t look at me. He pressed his thumb on the scanner and entered a short code. A faint beep followed, and a section of the wall clicked and slowly opened.

“Come on,” he whispered, pulling me in.

I followed, heart pounding.

The door slid closed behind us, sealing us in darkness.

“Stay close,” Rick said.

He flicked on a small flashlight. The narrow passage stretched ahead, cool and damp. I kept close behind him as we moved quickly, our footsteps quiet on the stone floor.

“How do you even have this?” I whispered.

Rick’s voice was low. “My father had enemies. Old money, secret exits—he was paranoid. Lucky for us.”

We walked in silence for a minute. Every few steps, I glanced behind us, half-expecting the wall to explode or Reed’s men to come crawling out of the shadows.

“Where does this lead?” I asked, my voice shaking.

“To a side building. Garage.”

My breath came faster. I wasn’t ready. I wasn’t even sure what I believed anymore. But I kept moving.

A sudden clang behind us made us freeze.

I turned sharply. Nothing.

Rick put a hand on my shoulder. “Go.”

We rushed forward faster, turning once, then again, until we reached the end. Rick opened a heavy metal door, and light from outside hit my face.

The garage was quiet, dark except for the security lights. He led me straight to a black SUV parked in the far corner. Without a word, he opened the passenger door for me, then jumped into the driver’s seat.

As soon as the doors were closed, he pressed a button. The garage door opened slowly—and that’s when we heard it.

Engines. Fast ones.

“Hold on,” Rick muttered.

He slammed on the gas.

The SUV burst out of the garage and onto the narrow path behind the property. I twisted in my seat just in time to see three black vehicles speeding toward the house from the main gate.

“They’re here,” I whispered.

Rick’s jaw clenched. “Too late for polite goodbyes.”

He veered hard onto a side road, one I hadn’t noticed before. It was rough and unpaved, cutting through trees behind the estate.

I gripped the seat tightly. “Where are we going?”

“Somewhere they won’t find us,” he said. “For now.”

The car bounced violently as we flew over uneven ground. Rick drove fast but focused. His knuckles were white on the wheel.

“You said Dr. Cross is working with them,” I said. “So why was she calling you?”

He glanced at me. “Because she’s not working with them anymore.”

I frowned. “Then why is she coming here? Why would she warn you?”

Rick sighed. “Because she wasn’t always like them, Nell. She didn’t agree with what they did to you. Or to Alex.”

My chest tightened. “You said she tried to stop it?”

Rick nodded. “Years ago. After the second phase. She warned them the human brain couldn’t take it. That love, memory, and pain weren’t meant to be erased.”

“And they ignored her?”

He looked at the road again. “Reed overruled her. Said they’d already come too far. That what you and Alex had... was a successful connection.”

A chill ran down my spine. “What do you mean?”

Rick didn’t answer right away.

The SUV turned sharply onto a real road—paved, wider, quiet. We picked up speed.

“What connection?” I pressed.

He hesitated. “She told me something once. Something not in the files.”

I looked at him. “What?”

Rick’s grip on the wheel tightened. “Alex wasn’t just another subject. He was part of the original design.”

I blinked. “What?”

“He might have been the prototype, Nell. The first memory imprint ever done successfully.”

My breath caught. “You mean... he wasn’t just tested on. He was the test.”

Rick nodded grimly. “Phase One. Back when the project was still under military radar. That’s why his brain’s resisting the memory wipe now. His system wasn’t made like yours. His was built for this.”

“But mine wasn’t?” I asked quietly.

Rick glanced at me. “You were never supposed to remember anything, Nell. You were supposed to be part of the test group. Dream therapy. Artificial bonding. But you kept seeing him. That shouldn’t have happened.”

I leaned back in my seat, stunned.

None of this made sense. Yet somehow, it did.

All the flashes. The dreams. The way I’d clung to Alex’s memory without understanding why.

It wasn’t just emotion.

It was programming.

“I don’t know if I can believe any of this,” I said softly.

“You don’t have to believe me,” Rick replied. “Believe your memories.”

Silence settled in the car for a while. The sky outside was fading into deep blue. Trees blurred past us on either side. I didn’t know where we were going. I just knew I was too deep in to turn back.

I glanced at Rick. “Why are you still helping me?”

He didn’t answer for a long time.

Then finally, “Because someone has to.”

His voice was low. Honest.

Before I could ask anything else, his eyes narrowed at the rearview mirror.

“What?” I asked quickly.

He didn’t answer.

I twisted around—and my blood ran cold.

Two black cars had appeared behind us. Fast. Closing in.

“Rick—”

“I see them.”

He pressed the accelerator harder. The SUV surged forward.

The black cars followed.

“We need to lose them,” I said, panic creeping in.

“I’m trying.”

We sped around a curve, tires screeching. One of the black cars pulled closer—too close. I gripped the seat, my heart hammering.

Rick yanked the wheel and swerved off the road, crashing through a low fence and speeding onto an open field.

“What are you doing?!”

“Shortcut.”

The SUV bounced violently as we flew over grass and dirt. Behind us, the black cars tried to follow, but one of them got caught on the edge of the broken fence.

Rick didn’t slow down. He hit the gas harder.

We shot through a narrow opening between trees and onto another road.

The second black car was still behind us—but farther now.

Rick finally slowed slightly, turning onto an old gravel path that led into what looked like a forested neighborhood.

“Did we lose them?” I asked breathlessly.

“For now,” he said.

My chest rose and fell rapidly. My hands were still shaking.

Rick turned off the main lights and let the SUV crawl down the path, surrounded by trees. Everything outside looked empty. Quiet.

He exhaled slowly. “We can’t keep running like this.”

I nodded silently.

He glanced at me, eyes serious. “There’s only one person who can keep you hidden now.”

I stared at him.

His expression darkened.

“And you won’t like him.”