CHAPTER 9 — Welcome to Eden
Following dozens of forgotten land records, Ethan discovered a secluded luxury retirement community hidden deep in the mountains.
Its official name was...
Eden Hills Senior Living Center.
Beautiful gardens.
Smiling nurses.
Friendly residents.
Everything looked perfect.
Too perfect.
Ethan entered disguised as a volunteer.
Within minutes he noticed something impossible.
Every hallway matched the blueprints of Blackwood Mansion.
The same architecture.
The same hidden passages.
Even the same grandfather clocks.
Each frozen at 11:46.
One elderly woman grabbed Ethan's wrist as he walked past.
Without looking at him, she whispered,
"They're not patients."
"They're witnesses."
Before Ethan could ask another question...
Two nurses gently wheeled her away.
She never looked back.
Late that night Ethan slipped into the basement.
Instead of medical supplies...
He found thousands of archived identity files.
Every survivor from Blackwood.
Every rescued child.
Every protected witness.
Most had officially been declared dead.
They had been hidden here for decades under new identities.
Not imprisoned.
Protected.
Someone had secretly built Eden to keep the survivors alive after the network collapsed.
Then Ethan heard applause behind him.
Slow.
Calm.
Deliberate.
He turned around.
Standing in the shadows was a woman dressed entirely in black.
She removed her hood.
Ethan recognized her instantly.
Lily Harper.
Alive.
She smiled faintly.
"You finally found the last house."
Ethan exhaled in relief.
"It's over... isn't it?"
Lily's smile slowly disappeared.
"No."
She looked toward a thick steel door at the end of the corridor.
"They're waiting for you."
Ethan frowned.
"Who?"
Lily answered with five words that made his heart stop.
"The people who started everything."
The steel door slowly unlocked from the inside.
A warm light spilled into the hallway.
May you like
Someone whispered...
"Welcome home, Ethan."
