Mara's mind couldn't hold the shape of what she was seeing.
Her mother.
Alive.
Standing only a few feet away, her silhouette carved in the flickering light like a figure stepped out of a nightmare.
"You—"
Mara's voice broke.
"You're dead. I watched them bury you."
The woman smiled, slow and warm, and completely wrong.
"Oh, sweetheart… they buried what they needed to bury."
She tilted her head.
"Not me."
Evelyn flinched as the woman approached, as if the air grew colder around her.
Even Daniel lowered his gaze in a way Mara had never seen—like a soldier standing before a general.
Her mother crouched, brushing wet strands of hair off Mara's face.
"You look so much like him," she whispered. "Too much."
Mara jerked back from her touch.
"Like who?"
A shadow crossed her mother's eyes.
"The one who made you."
Mara felt herself go numb.
"Dad—"
"No," her mother cut her off gently. "Not him. He raised you. He tried to protect you, in his own misguided way."
Mara blinked hard, the world tilting again.
"Then who—"
Daniel stepped in with a sharp, disapproving tone.
"Mother. Stop. She's not ready."
"She is," her mother said without looking at him. "She survived the water, she survived the lake, and she survived you."
Her gaze softened.
"She is ready because she must be."
Evelyn whispered, shaking uncontrollably, "Mara… we need to go. We need to get out of here—"
Daniel's eyes snapped to her.
"Quiet."
Evelyn froze.
Mara pushed herself upright, ignoring the pain splitting through her ribs.
"What do you want from me?" Mara snarled. "Just tell me."
Her mother stood slowly, expression serene.
"What we've always wanted," she said.
"Your memory. Your obedience. And your return."
Daniel added softly, "You belong with us, Mara."
"I don't belong to anyone," Mara spat.
Her mother's smile thinned.
"We'll fix your memory. And then you'll understand."
She turned to one of the masked men.
"Bring her."
The man stepped forward—
—and Evelyn moved.
Fast.
She rammed her shoulder into him, knocking him off-balance. The knife on his belt flashed—Evelyn grabbed it and slashed upward in one desperate movement.
The man screamed, clutching his arm.
"EVE—RUN!" Mara shouted.
The basement exploded into chaos.
Evelyn cut Mara's wrist ties with shaking hands.
"Go—go NOW—!"
Mara surged to her feet—
—but Daniel lunged, slamming her against the wall.
"We're not done," he snarled.
Mara grabbed his wounded shoulder and twisted.
Daniel screamed, dropping to one knee.
Evelyn grabbed Mara's hand, dragging her toward the stairwell.
"Up the stairs!" Evelyn gasped. "Move!"
Mara's legs felt like fire as she ran, her lungs still shattered from the water, her head pounding—but adrenaline shoved everything into motion.
Her mother's voice echoed behind them:
"Bring them back alive!"
Gunfire cracked.
Concrete chipped beside Mara's shoulder as she and Evelyn hurled themselves up the stairs.
Another shot.
Mara ducked.
Evelyn screamed—but kept running.
They reached a metal door.
Locked.
"No—no no no—" Evelyn cried, yanking the handle.
Mara stepped back and kicked the door once—twice—
The metal groaned.
Behind them, boots thundered up the stairwell.
Mara kicked again—
The lock snapped.
They burst into a narrow hallway lit by red emergency lights.
A siren wailed somewhere deep in the building.
"This way!" Mara gasped, sprinting down the corridor.
They ran past industrial pipes, rusted crates, and old electrical panels.
Evelyn stumbled but caught herself.
Behind them, Daniel's voice rose—furious, raw:
"MARA! Come back!"
They didn't slow.
They turned a corner—
—and froze.
Two masked figures blocked the corridor ahead.
"Back!" Mara yelled, pulling Evelyn behind her.
The figures charged.
Mara grabbed a broken pipe from the floor and swung hard.
The metal cracked across a mask with a sickening crunch.
The second attacker grabbed her from behind—
Mara slammed her heel into his knee.
He dropped to the ground.
Evelyn stabbed wildly at his shoulder, giving Mara enough time to breathe again.
"Don't stop," Mara rasped. "Keep moving."
They reached another door—heavy, rusted, barely hanging on its hinges.
Mara shoved it open—
And cold night air hit her like a shock.
They were outside.
A forest stretched beyond a chain-link fence.
Dark.
Dense.
Hope.
Evelyn sobbed with relief.
"Mara—oh God—"
But Mara wasn't looking at the forest.
She was looking at Daniel, limping out of the building behind them, blood pouring from his shoulder, eyes wild with something between love and fury.
"Mara!" he shouted. "If you go now—you don't come back!"
She didn't hesitate.
"Good," she said.
She grabbed Evelyn's hand and ran straight toward the fence.
Daniel screamed—
"STOP HER!"
—and gunfire ripped through the night.
A bullet tore into the dirt beside her foot.
Another whizzed past her ear.
Mara reached the fence, climbed, hauled Evelyn up behind her—
Shots hammered the metal—
They crashed over the top and dropped into the underbrush on the other side.
Pain shot up Mara's ankle.
But she kept going.
Branches whipped their faces.
Roots snagged their feet.
The night swallowed them whole.
They didn't stop running until the gunfire faded into the trees behind them.
Finally—finally—they collapsed behind a fallen log, chests heaving, hearts pounding.
Evelyn grabbed Mara's face with trembling hands.
"We—we're alive," she whispered.
"We made it."
Mara stared into the darkness of the forest, shaking uncontrollably.
"No," she whispered.
"We didn't escape."
Evelyn blinked, confused. "Mara… what do you mean?"
Mara closed her eyes, breath shaking.
"Because they're not chasing us anymore," she said.
Evelyn stiffened.
"…Why not?"
Mara looked back toward the direction of the facility.
Her voice was hollow.
"Because they don't have to chase what they already own."
Evelyn's eyes widened.
"Mara—what did they do to you?"
Mara's pulse pounded in her ears.
"They didn't want to kill me."
She swallowed hard.
"They wanted to wake me up."
And somewhere in the forest behind them—
a woman's voice drifted through the night, soft and chilling:
"Come home, my girl…"