Chapter 10 – Room E-12
Chapter 10 – Room E-12
The message remained on the monitor.
Welcome home, Evelyn.
I've been waiting twenty-two years for you.
No one in the FBI operations room spoke.
Emily stared at the glowing words.
Her pulse thundered in her ears.
"Who wrote that?"
The technician shook his head.
"I don't know."
"The system activated itself."
Agent Michael Harris stepped closer to the keyboard.
"Can you trace the source?"
The technician typed rapidly.
Lines of code streamed across the screen.
After several tense moments, he stopped.
His expression turned pale.
"It isn't coming from the internet."
Harris frowned.
"What do you mean?"
"It's coming from inside the underground network."
The room fell silent.
Someone...
Was physically inside the Carter underground complex.
Harris turned toward Emily.
"No one moves without a tactical team."
Emily nodded.
"I understand."
But deep inside...
She already knew.
Whatever—or whoever—waited beneath the Carter Estate...
Had been waiting specifically for her.
An hour later...
Night had fallen over Chicago.
The Carter Estate stood hidden behind towering oak trees on the outskirts of the city.
Floodlights illuminated the abandoned mansion.
More than sixty FBI agents surrounded the property.
Armored vehicles blocked every road.
A mobile command center had been established outside the main gate.
The place looked more like a military operation than a crime scene.
Emily stepped out of the armored SUV.
The cool evening air carried the scent of rain and old cedar.
She looked at the mansion.
Broken windows.
Weathered stone walls.
Vines crawling across the balconies.
It should have felt unfamiliar.
Instead...
A strange warmth settled over her.
"I've been here before."
Professor Caroline Hughes looked at her.
"You remember it?"
Emily slowly nodded.
"Not with my mind."
"With something deeper."
Agent Harris joined them.
"The entrance to the underground complex is secure."
He unfolded a blueprint recovered earlier.
"The hidden elevator is beneath the west garden."
Emily immediately remembered the map Richard had given her.
The red circle.
The west garden.
Daniel had known exactly where to hide it.
The team crossed the overgrown lawn.
Moonlight filtered through ancient trees.
Finally, they reached a circular stone fountain almost completely hidden by ivy.
One of the agents brushed away decades of dirt.
There it was.
A brass plate.
Engraved with twelve small stars surrounding a phoenix.
In the center...
A tiny keyhole.
Emily slowly removed the brass key from the music box.
"It fits."
Harris looked at her.
"Whenever you're ready."
Emily took a deep breath.
Then inserted the key.
Click.
The ground trembled.
Stone shifted beneath their feet.
The old fountain slowly rotated.
Revealing a steel elevator hidden below.
Everyone stared.
The mechanism still worked after twenty-two years.
The elevator doors opened with a hiss.
Inside...
Everything looked brand new.
Bright white lights.
Polished steel walls.
No dust.
No rust.
No signs of decay.
One FBI technician whispered,
"Someone's been maintaining this place."
Emily stepped inside first.
The elevator recognized her instantly.
A soft female voice echoed from hidden speakers.
Identity confirmed.
Welcome, Evelyn Grace Carter.
Everyone exchanged shocked glances.
No fingerprints.
No retinal scan.
Just her presence.
The doors closed.
The elevator began descending.
Ten seconds.
Twenty.
Thirty.
Far deeper than anyone expected.
Finally...
The doors opened.
A vast underground corridor stretched before them.
The walls were lined with reinforced glass.
Hidden lights illuminated the passage in a soft golden glow.
Everything looked untouched.
As if someone had walked through only hours earlier.
Emily whispered,
"My father built all of this..."
Lawson slowly shook his head.
"No."
"I think he built it for you."
They advanced carefully.
FBI agents checked every doorway.
No movement.
No heat signatures.
No sounds.
The place felt... abandoned.
Yet strangely alive.
At the end of the corridor stood a massive titanium door.
Across its center was engraved:
ROOM E-12
The same label they had seen on the blueprint.
A glowing handprint scanner waited beside the entrance.
One agent stepped forward.
ACCESS DENIED.
Another tried.
ACCESS DENIED.
Harris looked toward Emily.
"I think it wants you."
Emily hesitated.
Then placed her hand against the scanner.
A soft chime echoed.
Green lights illuminated the door.
The computer spoke.
DNA confirmed.
Welcome home, Director Carter.
Every FBI agent froze.
Professor Hughes looked at Emily.
"Director?"
Emily whispered,
"I've never been here."
With a deep mechanical rumble...
The titanium door slowly opened.
The room beyond was breathtaking.
It wasn't a vault.
It was an operations center.
Hundreds of monitors lined curved walls.
Satellite feeds.
Financial markets.
Security cameras.
Global maps.
Advanced computers continued running as though they had never been turned off.
A giant digital clock counted continuously.
22 Years
184 Days
9 Hours
17 Minutes
Emily frowned.
"What is it counting?"
Suddenly...
Every monitor switched on simultaneously.
The room lights dimmed.
One enormous screen descended from the ceiling.
A familiar face appeared.
Daniel Carter.
Not the frightened man from the previous recording.
This video had been made much earlier.
He smiled warmly.
"Hello, Peanut."
Emily felt tears fill her eyes again.
"If this room has opened..."
"...then you survived."
He laughed softly.
"I always believed you would."
Daniel walked toward the camera.
Behind him stood Rebecca.
Emily's mother.
Alive.
Smiling.
She waved.
"Happy birthday, sweetheart."
Emily broke down.
For twenty-two years...
She had never seen her mother's face move.
Never heard her voice.
Rebecca continued gently.
"If you're watching this..."
"...I'm so proud of you."
Daniel wrapped an arm around her shoulders.
"We knew this day might come."
"Which means..."
"...you've become the kind of woman we hoped you'd be."
Emily whispered,
"Mom..."
Rebecca smiled through tears.
"We're sorry we couldn't stay."
Daniel interrupted.
"No."
"We're not saying goodbye."
Emily frowned.
"What?"
Daniel smiled mysteriously.
"If this recording is playing..."
"...then there's still time."
The room became completely silent.
Rebecca nodded.
"Listen carefully."
Daniel leaned toward the camera.
"Your mother and I were never supposed to die."
Every FBI agent looked at one another.
Emily's heart nearly stopped.
Daniel continued.
"The world believes we disappeared twenty-two years ago."
He smiled.
"Let them."
Rebecca finished his sentence.
"Because if you're watching this..."
"...it means we're still alive."
The room erupted in stunned disbelief.
Benjamin Lawson staggered backward.
Professor Hughes covered her mouth.
Even Agent Harris looked shaken.
Emily stood frozen.
Her biological parents...
Were alive?
Then the video suddenly glitched.
The image distorted.
Daniel's smile disappeared.
He looked off-camera, alarmed.
Someone had entered the room.
Rebecca whispered,
"They found us."
Daniel reached toward the camera.
One final sentence echoed through the underground chamber.
Evelyn... don't come looking for us...
The screen went black.
A second later...
A hidden drawer beneath the main console slowly slid open by itself.
Inside lay a satellite phone.
Its screen suddenly lit up.
One incoming message.
No sender.
Only seven words.
May you like
They're alive. But not for long.
End of Chapter 10
