CHAPTER 5 — THE WOMAN ON THE VIDEO
"No..."
Richard's voice echoed through the underground laboratory.
Every eye turned toward Sarah.
The security guards instinctively raised their rifles.
On every monitor, the footage replayed in perfect clarity.
Sarah Bennett entered Emily's hospital room.
She checked the hallway.
Closed the door.
Walked to Emily's bedside.
Then calmly injected something into the IV line.
The timestamp froze.
11:42 P.M.
The exact time Emily's condition had suddenly deteriorated.
Richard slowly looked at Sarah.
His face had become unreadable.
"Tell me..."
His voice was cold.
"...that isn't you."
Sarah stared at the screen, unable to breathe.
"It..."
"It can't be."
"You were there!" one guard shouted.
"That's your uniform!"
"Your face!"
"I know!"
Sarah cried.
"But I never did this!"
Richard stepped closer.
"You expect me to believe someone made a fake video in less than forty-eight hours?"
Sarah shook her head desperately.
"I don't know how..."
"I've never even seen this footage."
Victoria suddenly spoke.
"Pause the video."
Everyone looked at her.
One guard hesitated before pressing a key.
The image froze.
Victoria walked closer to the screen.
"Zoom in."
The technician enlarged the image.
Victoria pointed toward Sarah's name badge.
"Look carefully."
Richard frowned.
"What am I looking at?"
"The badge."
Sarah looked closer.
Her breathing stopped.
"My badge..."
The lettering was wrong.
Her real badge read:
Sarah Bennett – ICU
The badge in the video read:
Sara Bennett – ICU
One letter missing.
Richard narrowed his eyes.
"That could be a mistake."
Sarah shook her head immediately.
"No."
"Our hospital uses laser engraving."
"The names are copied directly from employee records."
"A typo is impossible."
Victoria nodded.
"Someone copied her identity."
The room fell silent.
Richard looked back at Sarah.
"Then who is she?"
No one answered.
...
A loud crash echoed upstairs.
Boom!
Everyone froze.
Another explosion.
Then automatic gunfire.
One of the guards shouted into his radio.
"Sir!"
"More hostiles inside the mansion!"
"They're attacking from the east wing!"
Richard cursed.
"They're trying to trap us underground."
Before anyone could move—
The heavy steel door at the top of the staircase slammed shut.
CLANG!
Metal locks clicked into place.
Sarah ran up the stairs.
"It's locked!"
She pulled with all her strength.
Nothing.
Someone had sealed them inside.
The emergency lights flickered.
Then...
The laboratory speakers suddenly came alive.
A man's calm voice echoed through the room.
"Good evening... Richard."
Every person froze.
Richard's face turned pale.
"I know that voice..."
The man chuckled softly.
"You buried your daughter today."
"What a disappointing performance."
Richard shouted toward the ceiling.
"Who are you?"
"You've been asking the wrong question."
The voice laughed again.
"The correct question is..."
"...who am I pretending to be?"
Every monitor switched images.
Old family photographs filled the screens.
Richard...
Emily...
His late wife...
Birthday parties...
Christmas mornings...
Family vacations.
Someone had been watching them for years.
Then another image appeared.
Emily at age seven.
Standing beside...
Another little girl.
She had the same blonde hair.
The same smile.
The same eyes.
Identical.
Richard stared in disbelief.
His knees nearly gave out.
"No..."
"That's impossible..."
Sarah looked at the photograph.
"Who is she?"
Richard whispered only one word.
"Olivia..."
Victoria turned sharply.
"You know her?"
Richard's hands trembled.
"I..."
"I thought she died."
The room fell silent.
Richard closed his eyes.
"Emily had a twin sister."
Nobody spoke.
"I never told anyone."
Sarah couldn't believe what she was hearing.
"What happened?"
Richard's voice cracked.
"When they were six months old..."
"Our family yacht caught fire."
"My wife escaped with Emily."
"The second baby..."
His eyes filled with tears.
"...was never found."
"The police assumed she drowned."
Victoria stared at him.
"You never searched again?"
"I searched for years."
"They found nothing."
The mysterious voice returned.
"No..."
"I found her."
Every screen changed again.
A live security camera appeared.
A young blonde woman stood somewhere inside the mansion.
She looked almost identical to Emily.
Except her eyes...
Were empty.
Cold.
Expressionless.
She smiled directly into the camera.
Then spoke.
"Hello..."
"Dad."
Richard stopped breathing.
"No..."
"It can't be..."
The young woman slowly raised a pistol.
On the floor in front of her...
Three Carter Mansion employees knelt with their hands tied behind their backs.
One of them was Richard's longtime butler.
The woman smiled.
"I've waited twenty-seven years to meet my family."
She pressed the gun against the butler's head.
Richard screamed.
"Don't!"
She tilted her head innocently.
"You chose Emily."
"You buried me."
Bang.
The screen went black.
The gunshot echoed through the laboratory speakers.
Richard collapsed to his knees.
"No..."
The mysterious man spoke one final sentence before the transmission ended.
"Welcome to Phase Two."
Then every light in the laboratory went out.
Complete darkness.
For three endless seconds...
No one moved.
Then a terrified guard whispered—
"Sir..."
"There are footsteps."
Sarah listened carefully.
They weren't upstairs.
They weren't outside.
They were inside the laboratory.
Slow.
Deliberate.
Getting closer.
May you like
And they weren't alone.
END OF CHAPTER 5
