Chapter 6 - Behind the Mirror
Daniel removed the mirror.
Behind it was another maintenance opening.
Larger.
Recently widened.
Someone had been moving between apartments without using the hallway.
That explained the power.
The envelopes.
The sounds.
Possibly my disappearance.
Daniel followed the passage only far enough to see where it led.
Apartment 4B.
Vacant for six months.
Except it wasn’t vacant.
A mattress lay on the floor.
Bottled water.
Canned food.
Photographs covered one wall.
Daniel.
Sarah.
Laura.
Emily.
Leo.
Margaret Mercer.
At the center was an old photograph of Nathan.
Underneath:
HE REMEMBERED FIRST.
Daniel found cassette tapes.
Most were labeled with dates from thirty years earlier.
One had his name.
DANIEL — SESSION 14.
His hands trembled as he found an old portable player.
A child’s voice came through.
His voice.
“Where’s Nathan?”
An adult male answered:
“Nathan went away.”
“I saw him downstairs.”
“No, Daniel.”
“I did.”
“You had a bad dream.”
“I saw Dad.”
Silence.
Then:
“Your father wasn’t there.”
Daniel stopped the tape.
He knew that other voice.
Dr. Alan Cross.
A child psychiatrist his parents took him to after Nathan disappeared.
Daniel had been told Cross treated his trauma.
Apparently, Cross had been doing something else.
Laura found another file.
Subject N.M.
Subject D.M.
Behavioral memory suppression protocol.
Not science fiction.
No erased brains.
Something more ordinary and therefore uglier.
Isolation.
Repetition.
Sedation.
False narratives.
A frightened eight-year-old repeatedly told his memories were dreams until he stopped trusting himself.
Daniel felt sick.
“Why?”
Laura said:
“Nathan discovered something involving your father’s legal clients.”
“What?”
Before she could answer, Emily found a photograph on the floor.
“Officer Daniel?”
He took it.
Two boys stood outside an unfamiliar building.
Daniel and Nathan.
Behind them stood William Mercer.
And Dr. Cross.
But there was another child beside Daniel.
Same height.
Same haircut.
Similar clothes.
The photograph was blurred enough that the boys looked almost identical.
Leo pointed.
“Two Daniels.”
Daniel stared.
He had no memory of the other boy.
On the back:
D.M. / A.C.
Daniel whispered:
“A.C.”
Laura covered her mouth.
“What?”
“My father’s private files used initials for protected minors.”
Daniel looked again.
“Who was A.C.?”
A voice came from behind them.
“I was.”
Daniel spun.
A man stood at the entrance to the hidden passage.
Forties.
Thin.
Tired.
His face looked nothing like Daniel now.
But his eyes did.
The man whispered:
“Hello, Danny.”
Daniel raised his flashlight.
“Who are you?”
May you like
The stranger smiled sadly.
“The boy your family used when they needed you to be somewhere you weren’t.”
