Episode 26: The Child in the Dark

The laughter came again.

Soft.

Childlike.

Wrong.

Elena's entire body went rigid.

Adrian immediately raised his weapon.

“Stay behind me.”

Elena barely heard him.

The laughter wasn't coming from the corridor.

It was coming from inside the walls.

Matthew stared into the darkness.

“No…”

Claire grabbed his arm.

“What is it?”

Matthew didn't answer.

His face had lost all color.

Then the emergency lights returned.

A single red bulb flickered above them.

The projector was still running.

But the image had changed.

There was no longer a photograph.

There was a video.

A little girl sat alone in a white room.

She couldn't have been more than six years old.

Elena stared.

The girl looked familiar.

Too familiar.

Mara stepped closer.

“That's me.”

Elena looked at her.

Mara shook her head.

“No. I remember that room.”

On the screen, the little girl slowly turned toward the camera.

Her lips moved.

The recording played her voice.

“Where is my sister?”

Elena's breath caught.

Mara stared at the screen.

“I didn't know I had a sister.”

Matthew whispered:

“You didn't.”

Elena turned.

“What?”

Matthew looked devastated.

“Not yet.”

The Experiment Before the Experiment

The video continued.

A younger Matthew entered the room.

He looked terrified.

The little Mara ran toward him.

“Daddy.”

Matthew knelt.

“I know.”

“Where is she?”

He glanced toward the observation glass.

“There is no one here.”

Mara shook her head.

“She is here.”

Matthew froze.

The little girl pointed toward the camera.

“She can hear me.”

Elena's skin prickled.

Matthew in the present stared at the screen.

“I remember this.”

Adrian looked at him.

“You said your memories were erased.”

“They were.”

“Then how—?”

“I don't know.”

The video continued.

A voice came through the laboratory speaker.

“Begin synchronization.”

Mara screamed.

Matthew stood.

“No!”

He slammed his hand against the glass.

“She's a child!”

Another voice answered.

“She is the interface.”

Matthew's younger self looked toward the observation room.

Claire was standing there.

Beside her was Evelyn.

And behind them—

a man whose face had been deliberately obscured.

Matthew whispered:

“He was there.”

Elena stepped closer.

“Who?”

“I don't know.”

“You know him.”

Matthew shook his head.

“No.”

The image suddenly distorted.

The child's voice came through again.

“Daddy, she's awake.”

The screen went black.

Then a new line appeared.

SUBJECT ZERO: SUCCESSFUL

SECONDARY SUBJECT: ELENA CROSS

PRIMARY CONNECTION: MATTHEW CROSS

Elena stared.

Her voice barely worked.

“Subject Zero.”

Mara nodded slowly.

“Me.”

The Memory That Wasn't Hers

Mara suddenly staggered.

Elena caught her.

“Mara?”

Her sister pressed both hands against her head.

“I can see it.”

“See what?”

“The room.”

She closed her eyes.

“Not the one in the video.”

Her breathing quickened.

“A different room.”

Elena held her shoulders.

“Tell me.”

“There was a man.”

“Who?”

“I don't know.”

“What did he look like?”

“I couldn't see his face.”

Mara opened her eyes.

“But I knew him.”

Adrian glanced at Matthew.

“Your father?”

“No.”

Mara shook her head.

“He wasn't human.”

Silence.

Victor's expression changed.

“What did you say?”

Mara looked at him.

“He spoke without moving his mouth.”

Victor stepped closer.

“What did he say?”

Mara swallowed.

“He said…”

She hesitated.

“He said the Covenant was only the beginning.”

Matthew closed his eyes.

“Nightfall.”

Mara shook her head.

“No.”

She looked at him.

“Something older.”

The Man Behind Nightfall

A metallic door opened somewhere behind them.

Everyone turned.

Adrian moved Elena behind him.

Victor raised his weapon.

“Who's there?”

No answer.

Then footsteps.

One.

Two.

Three.

A man entered the chamber.

He wore a dark suit.

No weapon.

No visible insignia.

He looked completely ordinary.

That made him more frightening.

Matthew stared at him.

“No.”

The man smiled.

“Hello, Matthew.”

Elena looked at her father.

“You know him.”

Matthew couldn't speak.

The stranger looked at Elena.

“And you must be the daughter.”

Adrian stepped between them.

“Don't come any closer.”

The man stopped.

“Adrian Vale.”

Adrian's expression hardened.

“How do you know my name?”

“We know everyone worth knowing.”

Victor lowered his weapon slightly.

“You're Nightfall.”

The man smiled.

“Nightfall is merely the name you gave us.”

Elena's pulse quickened.

“Who are you?”

The man looked directly at her.

“My name is Gabriel Cross.”

Matthew's face collapsed.

“No.”

Elena stared.

“Cross?”

Gabriel smiled.

“Your uncle.”

The Brother Nobody Mentioned

Elena looked at Matthew.

“You have a brother?”

Matthew shook his head.

“I had a brother.”

Gabriel laughed.

“You still do.”

Matthew stepped forward.

“You died.”

“That's what I wanted you to believe.”

Claire raised her weapon.

Gabriel didn't even glance at her.

“You haven't changed.”

Claire's eyes narrowed.

“You were supposed to be dead.”

“So were you.”

He looked at Elena.

“But here we are.”

Elena couldn't stop staring.

“You're my uncle.”

“Yes.”

“Why have you been hunting me?”

Gabriel's smile disappeared.

“I haven't.”

He pointed toward the screen.

“They have.”

Elena frowned.

“Who?”

Gabriel looked at Matthew.

“Your father never told you what he discovered.”

Matthew said nothing.

Gabriel continued.

“Nightfall isn't an organization.”

Victor's expression tightened.

“Then what is it?”

Gabriel answered:

“A succession.”

The Bloodline

He walked toward the projector.

“Every generation produces one person capable of interfacing with the network.”

He pointed toward Mara.

“She was the first.”

Then Elena.

“She was the second.”

Finally, he looked at Matthew.

“And he was the original.”

Elena frowned.

“My father?”

Gabriel nodded.

“Before Mara.”

“Before me.”

“Yes.”

“Then why doesn't he remember?”

“Because the system removed his memories after he attempted to destroy it.”

Matthew whispered:

“Who?”

Gabriel looked at him.

“You.”

Matthew froze.

“I never…”

“You created the first interface.”

Gabriel pointed at the projector.

“You connected yourself to the network voluntarily.”

Matthew's expression became confused.

“Why?”

“To stop it.”

Gabriel smiled sadly.

“And failed.”

The Real Purpose

Elena stepped forward.

“Then why am I involved?”

Gabriel's expression became serious.

“Because your birth changed the equation.”

“How?”

“You inherited something from your father.”

“My compatibility?”

“No.”

Gabriel looked at Mara.

“Your ability to resist.”

Mara frowned.

Gabriel continued.

“Mara could communicate with the system.”

“You could rewrite it.”

He looked at Matthew.

“Your father could destroy it.”

Elena's heart raced.

“Then why didn't he?”

“Because destroying it would have killed everyone connected to it.”

Mara's eyes widened.

“So that's why Dad disappeared.”

Gabriel nodded.

“He became the lock.”

Elena stared.

“The lock?”

Gabriel looked at her.

“And you…”

He smiled.

“…are the key.”

The Betrayal

Adrian stepped forward.

“Why tell us this?”

Gabriel looked at him.

“Because the choice is no longer ours.”

The facility shook violently.

Dust fell from the ceiling.

Gabriel looked upward.

“They've arrived.”

Victor frowned.

“Who?”

Gabriel's expression darkened.

“The people who created Nightfall.”

Elena felt cold.

“You said Nightfall wasn't an organization.”

“It isn't.”

“Then who is coming?”

Gabriel looked directly at her.

“The original founders.”

Matthew suddenly grabbed Elena.

“We have to leave.”

“Dad—”

“Now.”

The chamber doors began closing.

Adrian pulled Elena toward the exit.

Mara followed.

Victor remained behind.

Elena looked back.

“Victor!”

He didn't move.

“Go,” he said.

“Why?”

He looked toward Gabriel.

“Because I finally understand what he was afraid of.”

Gabriel's face remained expressionless.

Victor whispered:

“Nightfall wasn't hunting Elena.”

He looked at Matthew.

“They were protecting her.”

Everyone froze.

Elena turned.

“What?”

Victor's voice was barely audible.

“From us.”

The Final Revelation

The doors slammed shut.

Elena, Adrian, Mara, Claire and Matthew were trapped on one side.

Victor and Gabriel were on the other.

Elena pounded against the door.

“Open it!”

Gabriel didn't move.

Matthew stared through the glass.

“Gabriel!”

His brother smiled.

“You wanted the truth.”

He looked at Elena.

“Now you have it.”

A screen activated behind him.

A single file opened.

PROJECT NIGHTFALL — ORIGINAL DIRECTIVE

Elena read the first sentence.

Then stopped breathing.

THE CROSS BLOODLINE MUST NEVER BE ALLOWED TO AWAKEN THE ARCHITECT.

She looked at Matthew.

“Architect?”

He looked terrified.

Gabriel's voice came through the speaker.

“You thought the Covenant had an Architect.”

The lights went out.

His final words echoed through the chamber.

“You were wrong.”

A pause.

“The Architect is Elena.”

The screen went black.

And somewhere deep beneath the facility, something ancient began to wake.