Chapter 32 Kiss in the Dark

Chapter 32 Kiss in the Dark
The emergency lights in the compound made everything look scary and red. It was like being in a tomb, not a place. Iris stood with her back against the cold wall holding her children close. Elias had Lila and Noah with him. Hope, Aurora and Dawn were like a circle around the little ones. They could hear every sound that the adults could not. Theo was. Holding onto Luciens leg. The three babies were sleeping,. Not very well, in a special bassinet that Captain Reyes had brought into the room.

Lucien stood by the door gun in hand like a wall between his family and whatever was coming. He was. His face was pale.. He was ready to protect them. He kept looking at Iris and the children making sure they were okay.

Aurora whispered, "They are in the air vents. I can hear them. They are like us."

Dawn said, "One of them smells like me. It's another copy."

Iris felt sick. She had ten children to protect.. Now the bad people were making more copies, faster and meaner. She kissed Lilas head. Tried not to show how scared she was. "We will be okay. Your dad and I will keep you safe."

Then the compound shook again. The lights went on and off. Captain Reyess voice came over the speakers sounding tired. "We lost some men. They are using gas. I have to move."

Lucien said, "Reyes come to the room now."

There was no answer.

Then the power went out completely. It was dark and scary. The only sounds were the children breathing and footsteps away. Iris felt little hands holding her shirt. Theo started crying. "I don't want the bad men to take me again."

Lucien moved fast holding the little ones close. Aurora and Dawn stood by the door ready to defend. In the dark Iris found Luciens hand. They held hands with blood and sweat. For a moment it was them scared for their children.

Then the emergency lights came on.

The real nightmare started.

The strong door opened by itself. A man stood in the doorway looking like Lucien.. His smile was wrong too cold. "Hello, son " he said in Luciens voice. "Mom says hi."

It was chaos. The fake Lucien attacked. The real Lucien fought back. It was like watching Lucien fight himself. Iris held the children close shielding them. Aurora and Dawn joined the fight.

There were gunshots. Captain Reyes came in holding Dr. Amara. "They are making copies faster than we thought. There are fake Luciens upstairs. They want to confuse us."

One of the baby alarms started blaring. Violet was crying. Iriss heart broke. She was a mom of ten now. All of them were in danger.

The fake Lucien grabbed the Lucien by the throat. "You are the model. I am the one. Give me your wife. I'll spare the children."

Lucien headbutted him breaking his nose. "She's not yours to take."

The fake Lucien smiled. "Neither is she yours anymore."

The lights went on and again. When they came back a woman stood in the doorway. She looked like Iris but with silver hair and colder eyes. Another copy.

"Hello, daughter " the fake Iris said. "I'm here to take you home."

The children screamed. Elias tried to run to the Iris thinking it was his mom. Lucien had to hold him back. Iris felt like her world was falling apart. How do you fight someone who looks like you?

Dr. Amara ran to a panel on the wall. "There's a way to stop the copies.. It will hurt the real children for a little while."

Lucien looked at Iris, blood on his face. "We can't—"

"We have to " Iris said, crying. "For all of them. The real ones."

Dr. Amara pressed the panel.

It was like a nightmare. All the copies screamed once. The fake Lucien and fake Iris convulsed, their brains burning. The real children cried out in pain holding their heads. The babies wailed.

For a time the family suffered together.

Then it was over.

The copies were dead. The childrens pain went away.. They were all traumatized.

Lucien held Iris close both of them crying. They were determined to end this for all.

The bad people were not finished.

A message played over the speakers. Councilor Blackwoods voice was calm. "You stopped the threat.. We have more copies. One of them is inside your compound now. Look closer at the people you trust."

Everyone froze.

Captain Reyes smiled, a smile. "Hello again."

She pointed her gun at the babies.

Lucien tackled her. The gunshot went wide. In the struggle Reyes laughed with Councilor Blackwoods voice. "We've been here the time. Watching. Waiting. Learning how you love them so we can hurt you better."

Reyess body shook as the remote control fought for control. In her moment the real Captain Reyes looked at Lucien with tears in her eyes. "Kill me. Please. Before I hurt them."

Lucien hesitated.

Reyess finger tightened on the trigger again this time aimed at Lila.

Aurora moved fast taking the gun away and holding Reyes down. The captain sobbed, fighting the control in her mind. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."

Dr. Amara gave her a medicine. The room was silent broken.

Iris held all ten children close singing a lullaby with a cracking voice. Lucien joined her his bloody hands gentle, on the childrens heads. They had survived another night.

As the sun rose outside a new message appeared on every screen. It showed a feed from an unknown place. Victor Lang stood beside a row of ten adult copies, replicas of Lucien and Iris at different ages.

"Tick tock " Victor said cheerfully. "Midnight tonight we start the transfers. Unless you bring all ten children to the coordinates I'm sending. Choose which parents die first. The real ones.... The copies we've already made."

The screen split. On one side the copies opened their eyes. On the other a new feed showed Thomas Vale, Iriss dad strapped to a table.

"I love you Iris " he whispered. "Tell the children their grandfather tried."