"Let me out."
The voice echoed through the facility.
Everyone froze.
Kade looked at Kian.
Then at the speakers.
Then back at Kian.
"Tell me that wasn't you."
Kian shook his head.
"I didn't say that."
The voice came again.
"Let me out."
This time, it sounded closer.
Mara pulled Kian toward her.
Kane stepped in front of both of them.
"Stay behind me."
Kade moved beside his brother.
His eyes were fixed on the dark hallway.
"Where is that coming from?"
Adrian raised his weapon.
"I don't know."
Elias did.
At least partly.
His face had gone pale.
"The lower levels."
Kane looked at him.
"You know what's down there."
Elias didn't answer.
"Dad."
Elias finally looked at him.
"Yes."
Kane's voice hardened.
"Then we're going down there."
"No."
Kane blinked.
"No?"
"You don't understand what you're asking."
Kade gave a nervous laugh.
"That's kind of becoming a theme around here."
Another tremor shook the room.
The ceiling cracked.
A piece of concrete fell behind them.
Adrian looked toward the corridor.
"We won't have a choice soon."
Elias looked at Kian.
"Kian stays here."
Kian frowned.
"No."
"Kian—"
"No."
Everyone looked at him.
Kian's voice was quiet.
"I can hear it."
Elias stared at him.
"What can you hear?"
Kian pointed toward the floor.
"Something underneath us."
Kade crouched.
"I don't hear anything."
Kian looked at him.
"You don't have to."
Another knock came.
This time, it wasn't from the speakers.
It came from beneath their feet.
Knock.
The brothers stared at the floor.
Kade slowly stood.
"Okay."
He swallowed.
"That one I heard."
Kane looked at Elias.
"What's under us?"
Elias took a long breath.
"A door."
Adrian's expression changed.
"What door?"
"The one they never managed to open."
Silence.
Kade looked down.
"So we've been running around an underground facility this whole time and there's a secret door underneath the secret facility?"
Adrian gave him a look.
Kade shrugged.
"I'm just saying."
Elias walked toward the center of the chamber.
He knelt and brushed dust away from the floor.
There was a faint circular outline beneath the concrete.
Kane moved closer.
"Why hide it?"
Elias looked at him.
"Because we were afraid of what was on the other side."
Kian stepped forward.
Mara grabbed his wrist.
"Kian."
He turned.
"I have to."
"No."
Kian looked at her.
"I think it wants me."
Mara's grip tightened.
"You're six years old. You don't have to answer every strange thing that calls your name."
Kade looked at her.
"She's right."
Kian looked down.
Then he whispered:
"But what if it's been waiting for us?"
Nobody had an answer.
Elias slowly stood.
"There is something you need to understand."
He looked at all three boys.
"The facility wasn't built around that door."
Kane frowned.
"Then what was it built around?"
Elias looked down.
"That door."
The brothers exchanged glances.
Adrian stepped toward the circular outline.
"Open it."
Elias looked at him.
"You didn't listen."
"I did."
Adrian's voice remained calm.
"And we're running out of options."
Elias looked toward the hallway.
The distant sound of boots echoed through the facility.
The soldiers were coming.
He closed his eyes.
Then he reached into his coat and pulled out a small metallic key.
Kane stared.
"You had a key?"
Elias looked at him.
"I've had it for years."
Kade stared at the key.
"You could've mentioned that."
"I was hoping I'd never need it."
Elias placed the key against the center of the floor.
Nothing happened.
He turned it.
A deep mechanical sound rolled beneath them.
The circular outline lit up.
Then another line appeared.
And another.
The floor began separating into sections.
Mara pulled the boys back.
The concrete slowly descended.
Cold air rose from below.
Not ordinary cold.
It felt ancient.
Kian shivered.
Then he heard something.
A whisper.
Not through the speakers.
Not through the walls.
Inside his head.
Kian.
He closed his eyes.
"Who's there?"
Kane grabbed his shoulder.
"Who are you talking to?"
Kian opened his eyes.
"I don't know."
The floor finished opening.
A staircase descended into darkness.
Elias stared down.
"We never made it past the first level."
Kade looked at him.
"You're telling me there's more?"
Elias nodded.
"There were supposed to be seven."
Adrian frowned.
"Supposed to be?"
Elias looked down the staircase.
"Only six were ever found."
Kane looked at him.
"And the seventh?"
Elias didn't answer.
A light suddenly turned on at the bottom.
Then another.
Then another.
One after another, a path illuminated itself deep underground.
Kian stared.
His eyes briefly flashed black.
He whispered:
"It knows we're here."
Kane stepped beside him.
"What knows?"
Kian looked down the stairs.
"I don't know."
Then the facility speakers crackled.
A different voice came through.
A child's voice.
Small.
Shaking.
Afraid.
"Please."
Everyone froze.
The voice continued.
"Don't leave me here again."
Kian's face changed.
He knew that voice.
He had heard it before.
The fourth.
Kian stepped toward the stairs.
Elias grabbed him.
"No."
Kian looked back.
"She needs help."
Elias's expression tightened.
"You don't know that."
"Yes, I do."
"How?"
Kian stared at him.
"Because she's scared."
Elias released him.
Kian slowly walked down the first step.
Kane followed.
Then Kade.
Mara hesitated.
Adrian stepped beside her.
"We stay together."
They followed.
The deeper they went, the quieter the facility became.
No alarms.
No soldiers.
No machines.
Just footsteps.
At the bottom, they found a long corridor.
Unlike the rest of the facility, this place wasn't damaged.
The walls were clean.
The lights still worked.
And there were no signs of age.
Kade whispered:
"This place looks newer."
Elias nodded.
"It wasn't here when I first came."
Kane stopped.
"Then who built it?"
Elias looked at the end of the corridor.
"I don't know."
Kian suddenly stopped.
Everyone stopped with him.
"What?"
Kian pointed ahead.
There was a door.
Plain.
White.
No handle.
No keypad.
Nothing.
But there were four handprints carved into it.
One red.
One blue.
One green.
One black.
Kane stared at the first.
Kade stared at the second.
Kian stared at the third.
Then all three slowly looked at the fourth.
The black handprint was smaller.
Like the hand of a child.
Kian stepped toward it.
Elias grabbed him.
"Don't."
Kian looked at him.
"Why?"
Elias's voice dropped.
"Because that isn't the fourth child."
Kian froze.
"Then who is it?"
Elias stared at the black handprint.
"I don't know."
The door suddenly opened.
Not outward.
Not inward.
It simply disappeared.
Beyond it was a massive room.
And in the center—
a child was sitting on the floor.
Back turned toward them.
Six years old.
Small.
Barefoot.
Wearing a white hospital shirt.
Kade whispered:
"Is that…"
The child slowly turned around.
Black eyes.
The same black eyes Kian had.
But unlike Kian—
the child smiled.
"Finally."
Elias took a step backward.
"No…"
The child looked directly at him.
"You came back."
Elias's face drained of color.
The child stood.
Then looked at the three brothers.
"You took so long."
Kane stepped forward.
"Who are you?"
The child smiled wider.
"I've had many names."
His eyes moved to Kian.
"But you can call me what they called me."
Kian stared at him.
"What?"
The child pointed at Kian.
"Original."
Kian's breath caught.
Then the child whispered:
"And you're the copy."
The lights went out.
And when they came back—
Kian was gone.