Chapter 5 - THE WOMAN WHO KNEW VICTORFor a moment, nobody moved.
The woman stood in the doorway.
She looked nothing like Elise.
And yet—
there was something in her eyes.
Something unmistakably familiar.
Lila looked at Elise.
Elise had gone completely still.
The woman smiled.
“Mother.”
The word echoed through the room.
Lila looked back at her.
“You’re Elise’s daughter?”
The woman’s eyes shifted toward Lila.
“Yes.”
“Who are you?”
She smiled again.
“That depends on who is asking.”
Elise finally found her voice.
“Marin.”
The woman’s smile disappeared.
“You still remember my name.”
“How could I forget?”
“You forgot everything else.”
Elise took a step forward.
Marin immediately raised the hand wearing Victor's ring.
“Don’t.”
Elise stopped.
Lila noticed the ring.
The black stone.
The crack across the surface.
The same ring she had seen on Victor Hale.
“Where did you get that?”
Marin looked at Lila.
“From a man who owed my mother a debt.”
“Victor?”
Marin smiled.
“You know his name.”
“Where is he?”
“Dead.”
Lila froze.
“What?”
Marin tilted her head.
“Did you think he was still alive?”
“Victor Hale died three years ago.”
“Yes.”
“Then why do you have his ring?”
“Because he gave it to me.”
“When?”
“Before he died.”
Lila felt a chill.
“What did he tell you?”
Marin glanced at Elise.
“He told me my mother would eventually come looking for me.”
Elise whispered:
“I never stopped.”
Marin's expression hardened.
“You never came.”
“I tried.”
“No.”
“I searched for you.”
“You searched for the girl you lost.”
Marin stepped into the room.
“You never searched for me.”
Elise's eyes filled with tears.
“Marin…”
“Don’t say my name like you have the right.”
Lila looked between them.
“What happened?”
Marin laughed softly.
“You really don’t know?”
Lila shook her head.
“No.”
Marin stared at Elise.
“She never told you?”
“No.”
“Of course she didn’t.”
Elise stepped toward her.
“Marin, listen to me.”
“I listened to you for seventeen years.”
Marin's voice suddenly became colder.
“Then I listened to Celeste.”
Lila's heart tightened.
“You knew my mother?”
Marin looked at her.
“Everyone who mattered in this theater knew your mother.”
“But you knew her personally.”
“Yes.”
“How?”
Marin's gaze shifted toward the old cassette recorder.
“She saved my life.”
Elise closed her eyes.
Lila looked at her.
“From what?”
Marin didn't answer immediately.
Instead, she walked to the table and picked up the recorder.
She turned it over.
Then placed it back down.
“Your mother had a habit of recording things.”
“She left messages for me.”
“No.”
Marin looked at Lila.
“She left messages for herself.”
Lila frowned.
“What does that mean?”
“Celeste knew she was going to forget.”
“Forget what?”
“People.”
“Why?”
Marin looked toward the ceiling.
“Because someone was making sure she did.”
Lila felt a strange pressure in her chest.
“What are you talking about?”
Marin walked to the wall.
She ran her fingers over the old bricks.
“Your mother was not simply betrayed.”
“She was manipulated.”
“By Victor?”
“Victor was only one piece.”
“Then who?”
Marin turned.
“The Bellamy family.”
Lila's expression changed.
“Anya's family?”
Marin nodded.
“Your mother discovered what they had done.”
“What had they done?”
Marin looked at Elise.
“Tell her.”
Elise remained silent.
Marin smiled bitterly.
“Still protecting everyone.”
Lila turned to Elise.
“Tell me.”
Elise lowered her head.
“Anya was not the first girl to disappear.”
Lila felt cold.
“How many?”
“We never knew.”
“Never knew?”
“Some girls ran away.”
“Some?”
“Some were sent away.”
“By whom?”
Elise looked at the old photographs.
“The Bellamys controlled the theater.”
“And?”
“They believed certain dancers were special.”
Lila frowned.
“Special how?”
“Talent.”
“That doesn’t explain anything.”
Elise's voice became quieter.
“They believed talent could be inherited.”
Lila stared at her.
“What?”
“They were obsessed with bloodlines.”
Marin laughed without humor.
“They wanted to create the perfect dancer.”
Lila felt disgusted.
“That sounds insane.”
“It was.”
“What did they do?”
Elise looked at Marin.
Marin answered.
“They took children.”
The room fell silent.
Lila stared at her.
“Children?”
“Dancers.”
“From where?”
“Poor families. Orphanages. Dance schools.”
“And then?”
“They trained them.”
“That’s not illegal.”
“Not the training.”
Marin's expression hardened.
“The rest was.”
Lila felt sick.
“What rest?”
Marin looked at Elise.
“Tell her.”
Elise shook her head.
“Marin.”
“Tell her what they did to Anya.”
Elise closed her eyes.
Lila's voice trembled.
“What did they do?”
Marin said:
“They changed her name.”
Lila frowned.
“What?”
“They erased her identity.”
“She was Anya Bellamy.”
“Not according to them.”
Marin's voice became quiet.
“They called her Subject Four.”
Lila stared.
“What does that mean?”
“Anya was one of four girls selected for an experiment.”
Elise looked at her.
“They wanted to see whether a dancer's memory could be transferred.”
Lila felt her stomach turn.
“Transferred?”
“Through movement.”
“That’s impossible.”
“Your mother thought so too.”
Marin walked toward the center of the room.
“Until she saw the girls dance.”
Lila looked at the floor.
The markings.
The second finale.
The hidden movements.
“That's what the choreography was.”
Marin nodded.
“The girls were taught the same sequence.”
“Why?”
“Because the Bellamys believed movement could carry memory.”
Lila stared at her.
“That makes no sense.”
“Maybe not to you.”
Marin stepped closer.
“But your mother discovered something.”
“What?”
“One of the girls remembered things she had never experienced.”
Lila's face went pale.
“Whose memories?”
Marin looked at Elise.
“Anya's.”
Elise whispered:
“She remembered the other girls.”
Lila felt the room become colder.
“What happened to them?”
“No one knows.”
“Then why did Anya remember them?”
“Because the final movement was designed to unlock memory.”
Lila looked at the choreography on the floor.
The second ending.
The movement she had performed.
The movement Celeste had told her never to complete.
“Then why did my mother create it?”
Marin smiled faintly.
“She didn't create it.”
Lila looked at her.
“Who did?”
Marin pointed to the photograph of Anya.
“Anya.”
Lila stared.
“She created the dance?”
“Yes.”
“But the world believed Celeste created it.”
“Celeste took credit.”
Lila's eyes widened.
“No.”
Elise spoke softly.
“She did.”
Lila turned toward her.
“Why?”
“To protect Anya.”
Marin nodded.
“Your mother knew Anya was being watched.”
“So she stole the choreography?”
“She claimed it.”
“Why?”
“Because Anya needed to disappear.”
Lila looked toward the photograph.
Anya Bellamy.
The girl who had supposedly died.
The girl who had created the second finale.
The girl who had somehow remained hidden beneath the theater.
“But if my mother was protecting her, why did the letter say not to trust you?”
Marin's eyes moved toward Elise.
“That is the right question.”
Elise looked at Lila.
“Your mother believed I betrayed her.”
“Did you?”
Elise's silence answered before her words.
“Yes.”
Lila stepped backward.
“Why?”
Elise looked at Marin.
“Because I chose my daughter.”
Marin's expression changed.
“Don't make it sound noble.”
Elise flinched.
Lila looked at Marin.
“What happened?”
Marin's eyes were cold now.
“I was seventeen.”
Elise said nothing.
“I had already been living inside the theater for years.”
Lila stared.
“What?”
“Not literally.”
Marin smiled bitterly.
“But almost.”
She began walking slowly around the room.
“My mother was one of the people running the Bellamy program.”
“Your mother?”
“Anya.”
Lila froze.
“Anya was your grandmother?”
Marin nodded.
“She escaped.”
“And you?”
“I was born after she escaped.”
“Then how did you end up here?”
Marin looked at Elise.
“Because my mother died.”
Elise's face tightened.
“When?”
“Twenty-eight years ago.”
Lila stared.
“That was the night my mother disappeared.”
Marin nodded.
“Exactly.”
Lila's blood ran cold.
“What happened?”
Marin looked at Elise.
“Ask her.”
Lila turned.
“Elise.”
Elise's eyes filled with tears.
“Anya was dying.”
“Why?”
“She had been injured.”
“By whom?”
“I don't know.”
Marin laughed.
“You always say that.”
Elise looked at her.
“I found her in the underground room.”
“The room beneath Studio Seven?”
“Yes.”
“And then?”
“She was bleeding.”
“Where was Marin?”
Elise closed her eyes.
“Outside.”
Marin's expression hardened.
“I was seventeen.”
“You left her.”
“I thought you were going to get help.”
“I did.”
“No.”
“You disappeared.”
“Because someone was following me.”
“You could have come back.”
“I tried!”
Marin's voice broke.
“But by the time I returned, the room was empty.”
Lila looked at Elise.
“What happened to Anya?”
Elise said nothing.
Marin whispered:
“She died.”
Lila's heart sank.
“But Noah said she was alive.”
Marin's face changed.
“Who is Noah?”
Lila looked toward the corridor.
“He said Anya was his mother.”
Marin stared.
“What?”
“He knows the choreography.”
“He is twelve.”
“He said Anya taught him.”
Marin shook her head.
“That’s impossible.”
“Why?”
“Because Anya never had a son.”
Lila's blood turned cold.
“But he said—”
“He is lying.”
The room became silent.
Then a sound came from the corridor.
A soft movement.
Lila turned.
Noah stood at the entrance.
He had been listening.
His face was expressionless.
Marin looked at him.
“You are not Anya's son.”
Noah said nothing.
Marin stepped toward him.
“Who are you?”
Noah slowly raised his eyes.
Then smiled.
The same sad smile Lila had seen before.
“My mother told me you would say that.”
Marin stopped.
Noah reached into his pocket.
He pulled out a small photograph.
Then tossed it onto the table.
Lila picked it up.
The photograph showed Anya.
But she was not alone.
A baby was in her arms.
The photograph was old.
The baby could not have been more than a few months old.
On the back was a date.
SEPTEMBER 18, 2013.
Lila stared at it.
Noah was twelve.
The date made no sense.
Then she noticed something else.
The baby had a small crescent-shaped birthmark beneath his left eye.
Noah had the same mark.
Lila looked at Marin.
“Anya was alive in 2013.”
Marin said nothing.
Lila turned to Elise.
“You said she died twenty-eight years ago.”
Elise's face had gone white.
“I saw her body.”
“No.”
Elise stared at the photograph.
“I saw someone.”
Lila slowly turned toward Noah.
“Who is your mother?”
Noah looked at her.
Then answered:
“Anya.”
Marin stepped closer.
“Where is she now?”
Noah's smile disappeared.
“She is waiting.”
“Where?”
He looked toward the ceiling.
Then pointed at the old wooden floor above them.
“Under the stage.”
Lila felt her heart stop.
The old theater suddenly seemed to breathe around them.
A deep sound came from above.
A single heavy thump.
Then another.
Elise whispered:
“No.”
Lila looked at her.
“What?”
Elise was staring at the ceiling.
“No one is under the stage.”
Another thump.
This time, all three of them heard it.
Noah looked at Lila.
“She's awake.”
Lila stepped toward the ladder.
Marin grabbed her arm.
“Don't.”
Lila looked at her.
“Why?”
Marin's face was filled with fear.
“Because if Anya is alive…”
She looked at Elise.
“…then someone else has been pretending to be dead for twenty-eight years.”
Above them, the stage floor creaked.
Then a woman's voice came through the ceiling.
Soft.
Weak.
But unmistakably alive.
“Lila…”
Lila froze.
The voice whispered again.
“Lila, don't trust the girl with my face.”
Marin slowly turned toward the sound.
Her face went white.
May you like
Because the voice belonged to Anya.
And it was speaking directly to her.
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