Chapter 7 - THE PLACE WHERE MONSTERS WERE MADE
The old Vale laboratory had been abandoned for eleven years.
At least, that was what the world believed.
The building stood outside the city, hidden behind miles of empty land and forgotten roads. No signs. No guards. No records.
Just a dead building nobody wanted to remember.
But Lucien knew better.
Places like this never truly died.
They waited.
The black SUV stopped in front of the rusted steel gate.
Lucien stepped out.
The wind hit his face.
He looked at the broken windows of the building.
“This is where you brought me?”
Charles remained inside the vehicle.
For the first time in decades, he looked unsure.
“Yes.”
Lucien turned.
“You built a place like this.”
Charles looked away.
“I built it because I thought the world was changing.”
“No.”
Lucien walked closer.
“You built it because you wanted control.”
Adrian stepped between them.
“Not here.”
Lucien looked at him.
“Why?”
“Because Victor wants you angry.”
A pause.
“He knows anger makes you predictable.”
Lucien smiled coldly.
“He knows me?”
Adrian looked at him.
“He created you.”
Those words hit harder than expected.
Lucien said nothing.
Then the old laboratory doors slowly opened.
No one touched them.
No one stood there.
They simply opened.
Waiting.
Lucien pulled his weapon.
Charles looked at him.
“You shouldn’t go in first.”
Lucien stared.
“Why?”
“Because that place was never designed to keep people out.”
A pause.
“It was designed to keep people inside.”
Lucien walked through the entrance.
The smell hit him immediately.
Dust.
Metal.
Chemicals.
Memories.
The hallway lights flickered one by one.
As if the building knew he had returned.
On the walls were old photographs.
Scientists.
Security teams.
Research rooms.
Then Lucien stopped.
One picture caught his attention.
A young boy.
Standing in a training room.
Covered in bruises.
Charles standing behind him.
Lucien’s face changed.
“That’s me.”
Nobody answered.
Another photo.
Lucien at age eight.
Age twelve.
Age sixteen.
Every year.
Every injury.
Every test.
Every failure.
Recorded.
His hands tightened.
“You watched this happen.”
Charles looked down.
“I was trying to make you strong.”
Lucien turned.
“You were trying to make me useful.”
Before Charles could answer—
A voice came through the speakers.
“Welcome home, Lucien.”
Everyone froze.
Victor.
Lucien looked up.
“Where is my daughter?”
Victor laughed.
“You sound just like him.”
Lucien’s eyes narrowed.
“Like who?”
“Your father.”
A pause.
“The man who created you.”
The lights turned on.
A large glass room appeared at the end of the hallway.
Inside was Ava.
Alive.
Safe.
But sitting beside her was someone Lucien never expected.
A woman.
Older.
Scarred.
Holding Ava’s hand.
Lucien stopped.
Because he knew her.
Everyone did.
Adrian whispered:
“No…”
Charles looked terrified.
The woman looked through the glass.
And smiled.
“Hello, Lucien.”
His heart stopped.
Because the woman standing beside his daughter…
May you like
Was his mother.
A woman he had been told died when he was three.
