Chapter 34 The Hidden File
The safe house was a place. It was like a bomb waiting to go off. The morning light came through the windows. Made everything look dirty and old. There were blankets and medical supplies over the floor. The kids were all huddled together. Iris was sitting in the middle of them with her back against the wall. Lila was hiding in her side. Noah was holding onto her shirt. Theo was sleeping in her lap. He was tired from crying. The three babies. Rose, Lily and Violet. Were sleeping in a pod nearby. They were the peaceful thing in the room.
Lucien was walking around near the door. He had a gun. It was not in his hand. His face was thin. His skin was pale. He had a cut on his side. It was still bleeding. He had not slept. None of them had. He was very tired. He was still ready to fight.
"We can not stay here longer " he said quietly. He did not want to wake up the kids. "The bad people are coming back. They know where we are. Adams team is still twenty minutes away with the key."
Iris looked up at him. Her eyes were tired and sad. "We have ten kids, Lucien. Ten.. They are all in danger. I keep thinking what if we lose one of them? I do not know how I would survive that."
He walked over to her. Got down on his knees. He held her face in his hands. He wiped away her tears. "We will not lose any of them " he said. "I promise. Not after everything we have been through."
Aurora and Dawn were standing guard near the door. They were very alert. Hope was sitting between them. She had her eyes closed. She was talking to the voices in her head. "They are closer " she said. "The other kids. Some of them are scared too."
This gave them a bit of hope.. It also made them more scared. These were not bad people. They were kids who had been hurt and used as weapons.
Captain Reyes came into the room. She was limping. Her face was serious. "We have people outside " she said. "They are coming for us.. We just got a message from Adam. He says the special key is not good. Someone changed it before he could get to us."
Sophia stepped forward. Her face was pale. "That is not the part " she said. "I looked at the file Adam sent us. There is another kid."
The room was very quiet.
"Another kid?" Luciens voice was low and angry.
Sophia nodded. "A girl. She is four years old. Her name is Grace. She was made from your DNA, Lucien. She is in danger. If we do not get to her in six hours she will be gone forever."
Iris felt like the world was spinning. Eleven kids. It was too much.
Then the alarms went off again. This time it was not a drill.
"They are inside the fence!" Reyes shouted. "We have to get out of here!"
There was gunfire outside. The kids woke up crying. Iris and Lucien got them. Got ready to fight. Aurora, Dawn and Hope got into position. Sophia and Serena got their guns ready.
The fight was very loud and scary. Lucien was fighting like a person. Iris was carrying Noah and Theo. She was shooting a gun with one hand. It felt wrong to be a mom and to be fighting at the time.
They went back to the room.. There were more bad people coming. Victors voice was on the speakers. "You can not run forever " he said. "Give us the kids. We will let the others live."
In the middle of all the noise Adams voice came on the radio. He was. Breathing hard. "I am there " he said. ". You have to know something. The special key is not a key. It is a tool to move peoples minds into the kids bodies. The bad people want to live and have an army of kids to do what they want."
This was a bad thing to hear.
Lucien put a bullet in his gun. "We have to destroy the key " he said.
Adam said no. "You can not " he said. "The key is connected to Hopes DNA. If anyone else uses it it will kill all the kids."
Hope looked up at her mom and dad. She was brave. "I can do it " she said. "For my brothers and sisters."
Iris was very sad. She hugged Hope. "We will find another way " she said. "You do not have to do this."
Time was running out. The bad people were getting closer. In the middle of all the noise Claire screamed. One of the babies. Lily. Had stopped breathing.. Amara helped her and she started breathing again.
Then they saw something bad on the screen. It was Captain Reyes. The one. She was tied up. Hurt.. There was a clone of Iris. She was. Looked like she did not care.
"Hello family " the clone said. "I have been here the time. I have been watching you. Learning how to be you. I have been talking to the kids in their dreams. At midnight they will all go to the people willingly."
Iris felt like she was going to fall down. The clone was pretending to be her. The kids looked at her like they did not know if she was their mom.
Lucien was very angry. He shot the screen.
It was too late. The kids were scared. Did not know what to do. Lila asked, "Are you really my mommy?"
Iris was crying. She got down on her knees. "Yes baby " she said. "I am your mommy. I would die for you."
Lucien hugged them all. They were a family. They had ten kids. They were all, in danger.. There was a clone who was pretending to be Iris.
Then Adams team arrived. Adam was a man. He looked like Lucien when he was younger. He had the key.
Then he said something that made everything worse. "There is another kid " he said. "A girl. She is the original.. She is already gone. She is the one controlling the clone."