Chapter 27 - The Book of Families
Samuel led the investigators deeper into the underground archive.
Behind a rusted bookshelf lay another hidden chamber.
Unlike the dusty rooms they had already explored, this one was immaculate.
Fresh electric lights.
Working ventilation.
New computers beside century-old journals.
At the center rested an enormous leather-bound book.
Its cover bore the raven-and-compass symbol burned into the leather.
Samuel gently placed his hand upon it.
"This is the original register."
Michael frowned.
"A register of what?"
"Families."
Samuel opened the heavy book.
Every page contained names.
Birth dates.
Marriages.
Children.
Deaths.
Some entries stretched back more than one hundred years.
Michael watched Samuel turn several pages.
Turner.
Bennett.
Reed.
Cross.
Hale.
Then hundreds of unfamiliar names.
Detective Bennett whispered,
"This isn't genealogy."
"No."
Samuel nodded.
"It's recruitment."
Officer Ramirez looked confused.
"Recruitment for what?"
Samuel didn't answer immediately.
Instead he pointed toward several names highlighted in red ink.
"These people refused."
Another section was marked in blue.
"They accepted."
Michael noticed something unsettling.
Every generation contained only one highlighted child.
"Why only one?"
Samuel sighed.
"Because they never needed entire families."
"They only needed successors."
Laura pointed toward another symbol.
"What does black ink mean?"
Samuel became silent.
Finally he answered.
"It means the child disappeared before a decision was made."
The room fell quiet.
Michael slowly turned another page.
Near the bottom he found Ethan's name.
His son's birth date had already been entered.
Beside it...
The space reserved for his future remained blank.
Michael slammed the book shut.
"No."
Samuel looked at him with genuine sadness.
May you like
"They've been waiting for Ethan since before he was born."
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