Chapter 62: The Third Subject
Raven's POV
I waited a few seconds, expecting Dael to walk into the room, but he didn't. He just stood in the hallway.
“Dael,” I called, moving closer to him, but he didn't answer or move.
Before I could get close to the door, a barrier blocked my way, making me frown.
“Dael, what's going on?” I groaned.
“You really don't remember me, do you?” Dael muttered, his voice holding so much pain.
“I... don't understand. What do you mean?” I asked.
This was the first time I had met Dael, so how did he expect me to recognize him?
When he didn't answer, I tried to move past the barrier and see his face. From the first day I met Dael, I knew his voice sounded familiar, so maybe I did know him.
Just as I jumped past the barrier, the light flickered violently, drawing my attention to it.
By the time I looked back at the doorway, he was gone.
“What the...?”
Just as I turned to go back into the room, my eye caught a small card placed on the entrance table.
I picked it up, looking it over.
It was an access card, and written on it were the words:
Aster Project
Subject R-01/R-02
Authorized Personnel: D. & R. Monroe
“R. Monroe?”
Those were my mother's initials... but there was something else about them.
Someone else had those same initials.
But who?
And why was my mother involved in Aster to begin with?
What did she do to me?
Questions rushed through my mind.
I immediately rushed to the files scattered around the table. So far, they had been able to give me some answers, so hopefully, I could find the answer to this too.
I picked up a file and flipped through it. There was a printed document about Drew.
His name and face were the same, but that wasn't the problem.
It was what was written beside his name that made my breath hitch.
It read:
Drew—Security/Extraction Division.
What were they extracting?
I had no idea why this made me fearful, but it did.
I read further down the file.
Drew—Extraction Division, solely responsible for the extraction of R-01 and R-02 following the failed separation.
Bingo!
I always knew Drew knew more than he was letting on.
So, he was the one who removed Adrian and me from the facility?
But what could have happened to warrant an extraction?
\---
Adrian's POV
The silhouetted man was gone, leaving me alone with both files on the table.
I couldn't shake his words.
What did he mean by Raven's mother wasn't the only one protecting me?
I mean, I understood the whole memory-wiping thing, but what, or rather, who was she protecting me from?
Nothing seemed to make sense anymore.
Of all the things that bothered me right now, something in particular seemed to stick in my mind.
It was the thought of the young boy from the video earlier.
Why did it feel like I was missing something about him?
I closed my eyes, willing myself to remember as I began searching through my thoughts.
Suddenly, a memory flashed.
I sat beside a boy who looked exactly like me, except he was deathly pale and looked extremely weak, like someone who was moments away from death.
We were both little, around eight or nine years old.
He slowly turned to me.
His eyes were dim, and his breathing was labored. He slowly placed his hand on my shoulder before whispering,
“Adrian, no matter what they say or do, you are my brother. Always remember me.”
I opened my eyes abruptly, my hands trembling. My clothes were completely soaked with sweat.
“B-Brother?” I whispered into the darkness.
It was impossible.
I was an only child... right?
I quickly reached for the R-02 file, moving to the second page.
Again, there were two pictures of me.
This time, it stated:
“Subject R-02 displays identical neurological responses to Subject R-01.”
Then:
“Primary pair separation has resulted in unstable memory development.”
I stared blankly at the words, reading them over and over again.
So, was this still about only Raven and me?
And if the separation had caused my memory loss, then what did Raven's mother inject into my body, and what did it do to me?
There were pictures scattered inside the file.
Pictures of Raven and me playing in gardens, eating ice cream, and laughing together.
Then it dawned on me.
They hadn't picked us for their experiment because they needed two random kids.
We had been watched the whole time.
They had already planned to take us, and since we were children, they obviously needed consent. Which meant they must have consulted with our... parents.
The file dropped from my hand as everything began to click.
This was carefully planned.
They had wanted to do this all along.
I picked up my phone and dialed the unknown number.
Someone answered the phone.
“I know you have questions, but slow down,” the man said.
“Who is the boy?” I growled angrily.
The man chuckled.
“You seem like a smart man, Adrian. Figure it out.”
“Don't fucking patronize me!” I shouted. “Answer the question.”
“I don't answer questions you already know the answer to. Maybe you should find out why you two were separated.”
I scoffed.
“They separated Raven and me because they didn't want us getting closer to each other.”
The man sighed.
“Come on, Adrian. We both know I'm not talking about Raven.”
Then he ended the call.
\---
Dael's POV
I walked into the small room that had been reserved for me.
Slowly, I removed the mask from my face as I turned to face my reflection.
The more I looked in the mirror, the more those blue eyes stared back at me.
I averted my eyes from the mirror in anger as memories flooded my mind.
I slowly picked up a photo of Adrian and me, looking at the face that betrayed me.
“You finally remember,” I whispered.
My phone rang, and I picked it up.
“Hello?”
“Is he starting to remember?” the person asked.
I stayed silent for a while before replying,
“They both are.”
“Good,” the voice said. “Then it's time.”
I immediately clenched my jaw, but my face remained expressionless, and my voice remained passive.
“No, it's not time,” I growled.
“Not until they both remember who they really are.”
I stared at the photograph in my hand.
And to myself, I whispered,
“And who I am.”