Chapter 9: The Founder
Chapter 9: The Founder
For several seconds, no one moved.
The abandoned operating room glowed beneath harsh fluorescent lights.
Every instrument was perfectly arranged.
Sterile drapes covered the surgical table.
The infant warmer hummed softly.
It looked less like an abandoned room...
And more like one that had been prepared only minutes earlier.
Claire stared at the bassinet.
A small identification card was already clipped to its side.
She forced herself to read it.
BABY CARTER
Expected Delivery:
03:42 A.M.
Claire looked at the wall clock.
3:31.
Someone had predicted the exact time of her daughter's birth.
Detective Mercer slowly entered the room with his weapon raised.
Two officers cleared every corner.
Empty.
No hidden doors.
No one beneath the operating table.
Nothing.
Yet the room was warm.
Fresh coffee still steamed from a paper cup sitting beside the anesthesia machine.
Someone had been there...
Very recently.
Dr. Maya Patel ignored everything except Claire.
Another contraction hit.
Claire cried out despite trying not to.
Maya checked quickly.
"Eight centimeters."
Claire gasped.
"How long?"
"Not long."
"Can we still move?"
Maya hesitated.
"No."
Claire understood.
Lily would be born here.
Whether they wanted it or not.
Officer Alvarez rushed into the room carrying a laptop.
"I decrypted more Aurora files."
Mercer looked up.
"What did you find?"
"It isn't about kidnapping random babies."
He turned the screen toward everyone.
Rows upon rows of family trees filled the display.
DNA markers.
Medical histories.
Inherited disorders.
Mercer frowned.
"They were screening pregnancies."
Alvarez nodded.
"For years."
Claire whispered,
"Why?"
No one answered.
Until Evelyn spoke from the doorway.
"They weren't looking for every child."
Everyone turned.
She leaned against the frame, weak but standing.
"They were looking for specific bloodlines."
Silence filled the room.
Claire stared at Evelyn.
"My bloodline?"
Evelyn nodded.
"Your grandmother."
Claire frowned.
"My grandmother died before I was born."
"So you were told."
Claire's breathing slowed.
"What does that mean?"
Evelyn looked genuinely regretful.
"Claire..."
She swallowed.
"Your grandmother founded Aurora with my mother."
The room froze.
Claire shook her head.
"No."
"They built it together."
"That's impossible."
"They believed they were saving children."
"Saving them from what?"
Evelyn closed her eyes.
"Their own families."
Mercer stepped forward.
"Explain."
"They thought some bloodlines carried extraordinary genetic traits."
"What kind of traits?"
"We never proved any of it."
"Then why continue?"
"Money."
She looked at Mercer.
"Once investors became involved..."
Her voice faded.
"...the children stopped being children."
"They became assets."
Claire felt sick.
"You expect me to believe someone planned all this because of genetics?"
"No."
Evelyn looked directly at Lily's monitor.
"They planned it because your daughter wasn't the first."
Claire's heart skipped.
"What?"
"There was another pregnancy."
Claire frowned.
"I've never been pregnant before."
Evelyn slowly shook her head.
"Not yours."
Silence.
"Ethan's."
Claire blinked.
"Ethan can't be pregnant."
"He had another wife."
The words landed like a hammer.
"They lost a daughter eleven years ago."
Claire's face drained of color.
"He never told me."
"He wasn't allowed to."
Mercer's phone vibrated.
DNA Lab.
He answered immediately.
"We have the emergency results."
"What did you compare?"
"The blood recovered from Operating Room Three."
Mercer's pulse quickened.
"And?"
"It belongs to an infant."
Claire stared.
"What infant?"
The technician continued.
"The sample is approximately twelve years old."
Everyone fell silent.
Mercer frowned.
"That's impossible."
"It gets stranger."
He hesitated.
"The child's DNA matches..."
A pause.
"...Evelyn Brooks."
Mercer slowly lowered the phone.
"Evelyn..."
She looked away.
"You had a child?"
A tear rolled down her cheek.
"A daughter."
"What happened to her?"
"They told me she died."
Claire already knew the answer before Evelyn spoke again.
"They lied."
Another contraction struck.
Dr. Patel looked up sharply.
"Complete dilation."
Claire screamed.
"Lily's coming."
The room exploded into motion.
Mercer holstered his weapon.
Nurses prepared the delivery.
Officer Alvarez shut and locked the operating room doors.
Outside...
Heavy footsteps echoed through the abandoned hallway.
The six men in charcoal suits had found the old surgical wing.
One of them calmly removed a keycard.
The electronic lock flashed red.
Denied.
He tried again.
Denied.
The tallest man simply looked at the steel door.
Then nodded once.
Two others stepped forward carrying a compact hydraulic spreader.
Mercer heard the metallic whine.
"They're breaching."
Inside, Claire pushed.
Dr. Patel encouraged her.
"I can see the head!"
Outside...
Steel groaned.
The reinforced door bent inward.
Mercer aimed his pistol.
"No matter what happens..."
he said quietly to the officers,
"...they do not enter this room."
The hydraulic tool screamed louder.
A hinge snapped.
The first crack appeared in the doorway.
Claire gave one final desperate push.
Then...
Silence.
No cry.
No movement.
Dr. Patel lifted the tiny newborn into the light.
Every face in the room searched hers for an answer.
She stared at the baby for several endless seconds.
Then whispered words that made everyone's blood run cold.
"This..."
She looked at Claire in disbelief.
May you like
"...isn't possible."
End of Chapter 9
