The footsteps stopped just outside the door.
Chloe felt it before she heard it — the shift in the air, the quiet confidence of someone who knew she had already won half the battle.
The door creaked open.
Elise stepped inside.
She looked exactly as Chloe remembered from the mirror.
Elegant. Calm. Dangerous.
Her dark hair was pulled back neatly, her red coat sharp against the sterile white of the room. Her eyes moved first to Lucas — lingering, assessing — then to Chloe.
A slow smile curved her lips.
"So," Elise said softly, "this is what you've become."
Chloe didn't flinch. "And this is what you never stopped being."
Elise laughed, a sound without warmth. "You sound stronger. I like that."
Lucas stepped forward. "This ends tonight."
Elise tilted her head. "You always said that."
Her gaze slid back to Chloe. "Do you know how hard it was to let you go?"
Chloe's heart pounded. "You didn't let me go. You erased me."
Elise's smile faded slightly. "I protected you."
"You used me," Chloe snapped.
Elise took a slow step closer. "I created you to survive."
Lucas's voice was sharp. "You tortured her."
Elise glanced at him. "You helped me."
Silence fell like a blade.
Chloe turned slowly to Lucas.
"Is that true?" she asked.
Lucas didn't look away. "At first," he said. "I didn't know the cost."
Elise clapped once, softly. "Honesty. Finally."
Chloe's chest tightened, but she kept her voice steady. "Why bring me back now?"
Elise's eyes darkened. "Because you're remembering."
"And you're losing control," Chloe said.
Elise smiled again — this time, proud. "You were always quick."
Elise walked toward the mirror, her fingers brushing the cracked glass.
"I needed someone who could hold what I couldn't," she said. "Memories. Truths. Contingencies."
Chloe shook her head. "I'm not your container."
"No," Elise agreed. "You're my insurance."
Lucas moved closer to Chloe. "You're done, Elise."
Elise turned, her eyes cold. "If I'm done, then so are you."
She reached into her coat.
Lucas stiffened.
But Elise didn't pull out a weapon.
She pulled out a photograph.
She tossed it onto the floor.
Chloe looked down.
It was her.
As a child.
Standing beside Lucas.
Her breath left her body.
"I remember that day," Elise said calmly. "You were crying. You didn't want to leave him."
Chloe's hands shook. "That's impossible."
Elise's voice softened — dangerously. "You called him your protector."
Chloe looked up at Lucas, tears burning her eyes.
"You knew me," Chloe whispered. "Before."
Lucas's voice broke. "I promised I would keep you safe."
Elise stepped back. "And now the promise is breaking."
Alarms began to sound.
Red lights flashed.
Elise smiled wider. "This place is going to disappear."
Lucas grabbed Chloe's hand. "We have to go."
Chloe didn't move.
"No," she said. "Not yet."
She looked directly at Elise.
"You don't get to decide what I remember anymore," Chloe said. "And you don't get to decide who I become."
Elise's smile faltered for the first time.
"You think you've won?" Elise asked quietly.
Chloe stepped forward. "I think you're afraid."
The lights flickered violently.
Elise took one last look at Lucas.
"You always choose wrong," she said.
Then she turned and disappeared into the smoke-filled corridor.
Lucas pulled Chloe into his arms as the building shook.
"I won't lose you again," he said fiercely.
Chloe clung to him.
"You already did," she whispered. "But I came back."
They ran.
Behind them, the clinic burned — taking secrets with it.
But Chloe knew the truth now.
This wasn't the end.
It was the beginning of the war.