Chapter 62 Watch me
Flora
When I woke, everything hurt.
My head throbbed like someone had hit me with a hammer. My wrists burned where the zip ties cut into my skin. I tried to move but couldn't.
I blinked slowly, trying to clear my vision. The world came into focus piece by piece.
I was in a warehouse. It was cold and empty. It smelled like rust and old concrete.
I was tied to a chair in the center.
Across from me, also tied to a chair, was Rafael.
His head hung forward, still unconscious. Blood trickled from a cut on his forehead.
"Rafael," I tried to call out, but a croak came out.
I swallowed and tried again. "Rafael. Wake up."
Nothing.
Panic started to claw at my chest.
What if he was dead?
"Rafael!" I screamed.
His head jerked up. His eyes opened, unfocused at first, then sharpening when he saw me.
"Flora," he rasped. "Are you okay?"
"I'm alive," I said. "That's something."
He looked around. I watched the fear and anger flash across his face.
"Where are we?" I asked.
"I don't know," Rafael said. He tested his restraints, pulling hard. The zip ties didn't budge. "Some kind of abandoned warehouse."
"How long were we out?"
"No idea," he said.
Footsteps echoed from somewhere behind me. It was getting closer.
Rafael's eyes locked on whoever was approaching. His jaw clenched.
"Hello, Rafael," a voice said. Dr. Chen's voice.
He walked around to where I could see him. He looked different than he had in court. The polished exterior was gone. His hair was messy. His eyes had a wild gleam to them.
"Dr. Chen," I said, keeping my voice steady even though my heart was racing. "You won't get away with this."
He laughed. "Won't I? I've already gotten away with so much, Flora. What's a little more?"
"The authorities know you escaped," Rafael said. "They're looking for you. They'll find us."
"Will they?" Chen asked. He pulled out his phone and showed us the screen. A news alert. Fugitive Dr. Chen Believed to Have Fled Country. International Manhunt Underway.
"They think I'm in South America by now," Chen said, smiling. "Thanks to some very convincing false trails. No one is looking for me here."
My stomach sank.
"What do you want?" I asked.
"What I've always wanted," Chen said. He walked closer to me, studying my face like I was a specimen under a microscope. "To complete my work. To prove that Project Genesis was humanity's future, not its mistake."
"I'm not a mistake," I said through gritted teeth.
"Of course you're not," Chen said, his voice suddenly gentle. "You're perfect. You're exactly what I designed you to be. The ideal human specimen."
"I'm not a specimen," I spat. "I'm a person."
"You're both," Chen said. He reached out and touched my cheek. I jerked my head away. "And soon, you'll help me create so much more."
Rafael struggled violently against his restraints. "Don't touch her!"
Chen barely glanced at him. "The boyfriend. How does it feel, Rafael, to know you couldn't protect her? Just like you couldn't protect Eva?"
"Shut up," Rafael growled.
"Eva was flawed," Chen continued, still looking at me. "She refused to see the bigger picture. But you, Flora, you're different. You understand what you are."
"I understand that you're a monster," I said.
Chen's smile didn't waver. "Monster. Visionary. It's all about perspective."
He walked over to a table I hadn't noticed before. On it were several syringes, vials of clear liquid, and what looked like medical equipment.
"What is that?" I asked, though I was afraid I already knew.
"Insurance," Chen said, picking up one of the syringes. "You see, Flora, your DNA is unique. Perfectly balanced. I've spent the last three months creating a serum that will allow me to replicate that balance."
"You want to clone me," I breathed.
"Clone is such a crude word," Chen said. "I want to create more subjects with your genetic profile. To prove that I can create enhanced humans at will."
He walked toward me with the syringe.
Rafael was shouting now, fighting so hard against the zip ties that blood started running down his wrists. "No! Don't you dare! I'll kill you! I swear to God, I'll…"
"You'll do nothing," Chen said calmly. "You're tied to a chair, Rafael. You're helpless. Just like you were helpless to save Eva."
He grabbed my arm, pulling it straight despite my struggles.
"Stop!" I screamed. "Please, don't do this!"
"It won't hurt," Chen said. "I promise. Just a small sample. That's all I need."
The needle touched my skin.
And that's when I stopped struggling. I went completely still.
I looked up at Chen and smiled.
"Now, Catherine," I said clearly.
Chen's eyes widened. "What…"
The warehouse lights exploded in a shower of sparks.
Gunfire erupted from somewhere in the darkness above us.
Chen dove for cover, dropping the syringe.
"Flora!" Rafael shouted. "What's happening?"
"We set a trap," I said, my heart racing with adrenaline and relief. "This whole thing was a trap."
Flashlights cut through the darkness.
I heard shouting.
Catherine's voice rang out. "Dr. Chen! Put your hands up! You're surrounded!"
Lights flooded in. I could see figures now. At least a dozen people in tactical gear, fanning out through the warehouse.
Chen was crouched behind a crate, his hands raised. But his face was twisted with rage.
"You," he said, staring at me. "You were awake. The whole time. You knew."
"Not the whole time," I admitted. "But yes. We suspected you might come for me. So we prepared."
Marco emerged from the shadows, cutting through my zip ties with a knife. Then Rafael's.
Rafael immediately pulled me into his arms, holding me so tight I could barely breathe.
"You knew," Rafael said, pulling back to look at me. "You knew this was going to happen and you didn't tell me?"
"I couldn't," I said. "Chen had to believe it was real. If you knew, you might have given it away."
Rafael looked hurt.
Vittorio walked over to where Chen was now being held by two of his men.
"Dr. James Chen," Vittorio said formally. "You're under arrest for kidnapping, attempted murder, and about fifty other charges. Take him away."
As Chen was dragged past us, he looked at me one more time.
"You think you've won," he said. "But you haven't. You're still my creation. You'll always be my creation. You can't escape that."
"Watch me," I said.
They took him away.
The adrenaline started to fade, and I realized my whole body was shaking.
Rafael held me again, and this time I let myself collapse against him.
"It's over," he murmured into my hair. "It's finally over."
"Is it?" I asked, because something in my gut told me it wasn't.
Catherine approached us."There's something you both need to know."
My stomach tightened. "What again?"
"When we searched Chen's hideout, we found files," Catherine said. He wasn't working alone, Flora. Someone else was funding his escape. Someone with access to Project Genesis files."
"Who?" Rafael demanded.
"We don't know yet," Catherine said. "But whoever it is, they're still out there. And they know everything about Flora."
I felt the blood drain from my face.
It wasn't over.