CHAPTER 6: THE THIRD SIGNATURE

The lights went out.

Elena did not scream.

She stood perfectly still in the darkness, listening.

One second.

Two.

Three.

Then the emergency lights flickered on.

Adrian was no longer standing beside the window.

Elena's eyes immediately moved toward the door.

Empty.

Her fingers tightened around the edge of the desk.

"Adrian?"

No answer.

She looked at the screen.

The broken-circle symbol was still there.

Except now, it was moving.

Three thin lines rotated slowly around one another, forming a pattern that made Elena's stomach tighten.

She hadn't touched the system.

Neither had Adrian.

So why was it active?

A soft sound came from behind her.

Click.

Elena turned.

The hidden bookshelf had opened again.

But Adrian wasn't standing there.

A man stepped out of the passage.

He was tall, dressed completely in black, with dark hair and a calm expression that gave away nothing.

Elena immediately reached for the letter opener on the desk.

The man noticed.

He smiled faintly.

"Still suspicious."

Elena raised the letter opener.

"Who are you?"

The man didn't answer.

Instead, he looked at the screen.

Then at Elena.

Something changed in his expression.

Recognition.

Not a surprise.

Recognition.

Elena noticed.

"You know me."

"I know what you were."

Her grip tightened.

"What was I?"

The man stepped into the light.

"My name is Marcus Hale."

Elena studied him carefully.

"And what exactly are you doing in my house?"

Marcus glanced toward the empty doorway.

"Your house?"

His expression hardened.

"You still think Blackridge Manor belongs to you?"

Elena said nothing.

Marcus continued.

"It never did."

Before Elena could respond, footsteps echoed from the corridor.

Adrian appeared.

His face changed the moment he saw Marcus.

"You shouldn't be here."

Marcus gave him a cold look.

"Neither should she."

Adrian stepped between them.

"Leave."

Marcus laughed quietly.

"You still think you can give orders?"

"Marcus."

There was something in Adrian's voice that made Elena look at him.

Fear.

Not obvious fear.

But enough.

For the first time, Elena realized that Adrian wasn't simply afraid of the unknown observer.

He was afraid of Marcus.

She lowered the letter opener slightly.

"How do you know about Blackridge?"

Marcus looked directly at her.

"Because I helped build the first version."

Silence.

Elena's eyes narrowed.

"You were one of the researchers?"

"No."

"Then what?"

Marcus hesitated.

"Security."

Elena studied him.

That explained his posture.

The way he watched doors.

The way his eyes constantly moved around the room.

He wasn't looking at her like a scientist.

He was assessing threats.

"Security for a medical experiment?" she asked.

"Security for something that was never supposed to exist."

Elena's expression hardened.

"That isn't an answer."

"It is the only answer you're ready to hear."

She stepped closer.

"You don't get to decide what I'm ready for."

Marcus looked at her for several seconds.

Then he smiled.

"That's exactly what subject six said."

Elena froze.

"What did you say?"

Marcus's smile disappeared.

"I said nothing."

"You mentioned six."

Adrian stepped forward.

"Marcus."

But Elena ignored him.

"You knew Virelli-6."

Marcus looked at her.

"Yes."

"What happened to her?"

His jaw tightened.

"She escaped."

"Adrian said she was removed from the system."

"Adrian wasn't there."

The words hung in the air.

Elena slowly turned toward Adrian.

He didn't deny it.

That was enough.

"You lied to me."

Adrian's expression remained controlled.

"I told you what I knew."

"No."

Elena shook her head.

"You told me what you wanted me to believe."

Marcus looked between them.

"This is exactly why she shouldn't be here."

Elena turned sharply.

"Shouldn't be here?"

Marcus didn't respond.

"You're all speaking as if I'm a problem that needs to be contained."

Her voice grew colder.

"I'm standing right here."

Marcus looked at her.

"That's what makes you dangerous."

Elena smiled without humor.

"Good."

She dropped the letter opener onto the desk.

"Then you should be afraid."

For the first time, Marcus looked almost impressed.

Adrian wasn't.

He moved toward the computer and shut down the display.

"That's enough."

Elena turned toward him.

"No."

She walked around the desk.

"You brought me here because you wanted me to understand what happened."

"I wanted to protect you."

"From what?"

Adrian said nothing.

Elena stepped closer.

"From the people who killed me?"

Still nothing.

"From the experiment?"

Silence.

"Or from the person watching us?"

Adrian's eyes hardened.

"All three."

Elena stopped.

"Then tell me everything."

Marcus looked at Adrian.

Adrian looked back at him.

Something passed between them.

A silent conversation Elena couldn't understand.

Then Marcus pulled a small device from inside his jacket.

He placed it on the desk.

A blue light appeared.

"There's something you need to see."

The device projected a video onto the wall.

The footage was old.

Grainy.

Black and white.

A laboratory appeared on the screen.

Elena's breathing slowed.

She recognized the room.

Blackridge.

But it looked different.

Newer.

Cleaner.

And much more crowded.

Several researchers stood around a glass chamber.

Inside was a woman.

Elena stepped closer.

The woman was lying motionless.

Long dark hair.

Pale skin.

A familiar face.

Elena stopped breathing.

It was her.

Not her as she was now.

Her as she had been before her death.

Her eyes widened.

"No."

Marcus watched her carefully.

The footage continued.

A researcher approached the chamber.

"Subject Virelli-6 has entered the terminal phase."

Elena stared at the screen.

Her fingers began to tremble.

A second voice spoke.

"Heart rate?"

"Forty-two."

"Neural activity?"

"Still active."

The researcher frowned.

"She's dying."

Another voice answered.

"She's not dying."

The room became silent.

The researcher looked toward the chamber.

"Then what is happening?"

A monitor began to beep.

The woman's heart stopped.

Elena's chest tightened.

She watched herself die.

Again.

But then something impossible happened.

The monitor flatlined.

The researchers stepped back.

Then the woman's eyes opened.

Elena covered her mouth.

The woman inside the chamber sat upright.

Her eyes were completely black.

One of the researchers screamed.

The footage suddenly distorted.

The screen went dark.

Elena stood frozen.

Nobody spoke.

Finally, she whispered:

"That wasn't me."

Marcus looked at her.

"No."

Elena turned toward him.

"Then who was it?"

Marcus didn't answer.

Instead, he replayed the final three seconds.

The footage slowed.

The woman's face became clearer.

Elena stared.

Something was different.

The woman looked like her.

But not completely.

Her features were almost identical.

Almost.

Then Elena noticed the eyes.

One was dark.

The other was silver.

Her own eyes were both brown.

Elena stepped backward.

"What is that?"

Marcus's voice was quiet.

"The reason Blackridge continued."

Adrian closed his eyes briefly.

Elena looked at him.

"You knew."

"I suspected."

"That's not good enough."

She pointed at the screen.

"Who is she?"

Marcus answered.

"We don't know."

Elena's heartbeat accelerated.

"Then why does she look like me?"

Marcus stared at her.

"Because she came before you."

Elena felt the room tilt.

"Before me?"

"Virelli-6 wasn't the sixth attempt at recreating you."

He paused.

"She was the sixth attempt at finding you."

Elena couldn't speak.

The words settled into her mind one by one.

Finding you.

Not recreating her.

Finding her.

But why?

She turned toward the computer.

The broken-circle symbol appeared again.

This time, beneath it was a line of text.

ACCESS GRANTED.

Elena frowned.

"I didn't authorize that."

Marcus immediately moved toward the screen.

"Neither did I."

Adrian stepped closer.

"Shut it down."

Marcus typed rapidly.

The system ignored him.

Another line appeared.

THIRD SIGNATURE IDENTIFIED.

Elena stared at the screen.

"What does that mean?"

Marcus's face had gone pale.

He looked at Elena.

"It means the observer has finally revealed itself."

A sound came from the speakers.

Static.

Then a woman's voice.

Soft.

Calm.

Almost familiar.

"Hello, Elena."

Elena froze.

The voice continued.

"You've been looking for me."

Her heart pounded.

"Who are you?"

A pause.

Then the woman laughed softly.

"You really don't remember?"

Elena's blood ran cold.

The screen went black.

One final message appeared.

VIRELLI-7, YOUR MEMORY WAS NEVER YOURS.

Then the entire system shut down.

Elena stared at the words.

Her mind refused to accept them.

Behind her, Adrian whispered something she almost didn't hear.

"She's awake."

Elena slowly turned.

"Who?"

Adrian looked toward the dark screen.

His face was pale.

"Virelli-6."

And somewhere beneath Blackridge Manor, something began to knock from inside the walls.