The drive to Grace’s house was long and monotonous, the highway stretching endlessly under a gray winter sky. Snow clung to the edges of the road, dirty and melting, as if even the season had given up on looking pristine. Daniel’s thoughts raced, each twist of the road pulling him deeper into speculation.
What kind of person would blow the whistle on an organization like Corvin? Was Grace a selfless crusader, or had she simply been pushed too far to remain silent? And, more importantly, why had she disappeared afterward?
The turnoff to her address led him to a narrow gravel road lined with skeletal trees. The house at the end was small and unassuming, its wooden exterior weathered and chipped. Smoke curled lazily from the chimney, a sign of life.
Daniel parked his car and stepped out, the crisp air biting at his face. As he approached the door, the sound of a dog barking startled him. A large German Shepherd bounded into view, its hackles raised and teeth bared.
“Woah ho Easy,” Daniel said, holding his hands up in a gesture of peace and no harm intended.
“Rex, hush!”
The voice came from an older woman standing at the door, her frame petite but her voice commanding. She looked to be in her sixties, with short gray hair and a no-nonsense demeanor. The dog immediately quieted, sitting obediently at her feet.
“Can I help you?” she asked, her sharp eyes scanning him.
“Grace Holloway?” Daniel asked.
She hesitated, her expression tightening. “Who’s asking?”
“My name’s Daniel Cross. I’m investigating something...something connected to Corvin Research Institute. I was hoping you could help me.”
Grace’s face paled at the mention of Corvin, and she stepped back, clutching the doorframe. “I don’t know what you’re talking about” she said.
“Please,” Daniel pressed. “I’m not a reporter, and I’m not here to dredge up the past for the sake of sensationalism. I’m just trying to help someone...a mother who lost her daughter because of what Corvin did.”
Grace’s eyes flickered with something..sympathy, perhaps, or recognition. But her guarded stance didn’t waver. “You should leave, it's sad to hear about it but I can't help.” she said firmly.
“Grace,” Daniel said, his voice softening, “you were brave enough to speak out once. You exposed the truth when no one else would. I need that courage now. This isn’t just about the past, it’s about holding them accountable for the lives they destroyed.”
For a long moment, Grace said nothing. The wind whistled through the trees, and Rex let out a low, wary growl. Then, with a sigh, Grace stepped aside. “ Fine, Come in” she said.
---
The inside of her house was modest and cozy, with mismatched furniture and shelves lined with books. A fire crackled in the small hearth, casting a warm glow over the room. Rex followed them inside, settling on a rug near the fire but keeping his watchful eyes on Daniel.
Grace gestured for Daniel to sit at the kitchen table, where a pot of coffee sat waiting. She poured two mugs, setting one in front of him before taking a seat across from him.
“I thought I left all this behind” she said, her voice tinged with weariness. “But I suppose some ghosts don’t stay buried. Still haunting the livings."
Daniel nodded, understanding the weight of her words. “Can you tell me what happened? Why you decided to come forward?”
Grace sipped her coffee, her hands trembling slightly. “I worked in one of their labs” she began. “At first, I thought we were doing good work—developing treatments for diseases that had no cure. But then I started noticing discrepancies. Patients would go missing, and no one seemed to care. Children, especially. Their names would vanish from the records, replaced with generic codes.”
She looked down at her mug, her expression haunted. “I confronted my supervisor, and he brushed it off, said it was above my pay grade. But I couldn’t let it go. I started digging, reading files I wasn’t supposed to have access to. That’s when I found out about the trials...the illegal ones.”
Grace’s voice cracked, and she took a shaky breath. “They were using children from low-income families as test subjects. Promising their parents free treatment, but in reality, they were experimenting on them without proper protocols. Most of those kids didn’t survive, and the ones who did… well, they weren’t the same.”
Daniel felt a cold fury bubbling in his chest. “Why didn’t the authorities shut them down sooner?”
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“Money,” Grace said bitterly. “Corvin had powerful allies. Politicians, pharmaceutical companies...you name it. They were untouchable.”
“But you exposed them” Daniel said.
“I tried,” she said. “I leaked everything I could to a journalist I trusted. It caused a stir, but it wasn’t enough. They buried the story, discredited me, and threatened my family. That’s why I disappeared. Should I be glad that they don't actually shut me up for eternity...”
Daniel leaned forward, his voice steady. “Grace, I’m trying to make this right. I need your help to do that. Do you still have any of the evidence you gathered?”
Grace hesitated, her eyes darting to a locked cabinet in the corner of the room. After a long pause, she stood and retrieved a small key from a drawer. She opened the cabinet and pulled out a battered box filled with folders and USB drives.
“This is everything I managed to save” she said, setting the box on the table. “Names, dates, trial results—it’s all there. There could be more, but this is everything I could get my hands on."
Daniel’s heart raced as he looked at the box. This was the breakthrough he needed.
“Thank you” he said, his voice thick with emotion.
Grace nodded, her expression somber. “Be careful, Daniel. Corvin may be gone, but the people behind it aren’t. If you dig too deep, they’ll come after you, just like they came after me.”
Daniel met her gaze, his determination unwavering. “I’ll take that risk,” he said.
.................................................................
Daniel drove home in silence, the weight of the box of evidence heavy in the passenger seat. Snow fell lightly now, blanketing the road in a thin layer of white. The rhythmic swish of the wipers was the only sound in the car, underscoring the gravity of what lay ahead.
As the city lights grew closer, Daniel couldn’t shake Grace’s parting words:
'If you dig too deep, they’ll come after you. It wasn’t a hollow warning. The people who had silenced Grace once wouldn’t hesitate to do it again.'
When he finally reached his apartment, he carried the box inside like it was a fragile relic. He locked the door behind him, double-checked the windows, and pulled the curtains closed. Paranoia crept in, but it wasn’t unwarranted. Grace had lived in hiding for years. Would he have to do the same if this blew up?
He placed the box on the kitchen table, staring at it as if it might spring open on its own. The documents inside held truths that could unravel lives, not just for Corvin’s victims but for Daniel himself. If Maria and Sofia's death wasn’t an isolated tragedy, how deep did this rot go?
---
The first folder Daniel opened was marked Subject Group A-5. The pages inside were clinical and devoid of emotion, each entry detailing a child’s name, age, and medical history. A chill ran down his spine as he scanned the names, each one a life reduced to statistics.
Maria and Sofia weren’t in this folder. He flipped through quickly, searching for anything that might connect to them. Each name felt like a ghost, whispering for acknowledgment.
Then he found it.
Case Study: Sofia Gonzalez – Age 8
The report was detailed, horrifyingly so. Sofia had been enrolled in an experimental treatment program for a rare genetic disorder. The trial promised groundbreaking results, but the reality was far darker.
“Severe adverse reactions,” Daniel read aloud, his voice cracking. “Neurological damage… organ failure…” The clinical detachment of the words only made the cruelty sharper.
The last entry was a single line, as cold as a death knell: Subject deceased. Cause: experimental treatment failure.
Daniel clenched his fists, the edges of the paper crumpling under his grip. Sofia hadn’t died from natural causes or even her illness. She’d been killed by the very people who claimed to be helping her.
And Maria had been forced to watch it happen.
---
The night stretched on as Daniel sifted through more files. Each document painted a picture of systemic abuse and negligence. The subjects weren’t just test cases, they were victims, chosen because they were vulnerable and easy to silence.
By the time dawn broke, Daniel felt hollowed out. The evidence was overwhelming, but it wasn’t enough. He needed to connect the dots, to find the people who had orchestrated this nightmare and hold them accountable.
He reached for one of the USB drives, plugging it into his laptop. The screen filled with encrypted folders, each labeled with an alphanumeric code. He opened one at random, revealing a series of video files.
The first video was timestamped ten years ago. The grainy footage showed a sterile lab room, with a child no older than seven sitting on a hospital bed. Her small frame was dwarfed by the machinery surrounding her. A man in a lab coat entered the frame, speaking to someone off-camera.
“Subject A-12, day four of treatment. Administering dose increase.”
The child flinched as the man injected her with a syringe. Moments later, she began to convulse. The medical team in the video moved quickly, but there was no urgency in their actions..no empathy. They treated her like a malfunctioning machine rather than a suffering child.
Daniel slammed the laptop shut, his stomach churning. He couldn’t watch any more.
---
The sound of footsteps made him freeze.
Daniel glanced toward the door, his heart pounding. He grabbed the nearest object, a heavy candlestick, and crept toward the noise. The footsteps stopped, replaced by a soft tapping sound.
“Who’s there?” Daniel called out, his voice hoarse.
No answer.
He reached the door and peeked through the peephole. A shadow moved just out of view.
“Daniel,” a voice whispered from the other side.
It wasn’t human.
Daniel stepped back, the candlestick slipping from his grasp. The temperature in the room plummeted, and a faint mist began to form in front of him.
“Maria??” he asked, his voice trembling.
The mist coalesced into a faint figure...Maria, her expression etched with sorrow. She pointed toward the box of evidence, her translucent hand passing through the table as she gestured.
“I found it,” Daniel said, his voice breaking. “I know what they did to you and Sofia.”
Maria’s lips moved, but no sound came out. She pointed again, this time more urgently.
“What do you want me to do?” Daniel asked.
She vanished, leaving the room cold and silent.
---
Daniel sat down heavily, his mind racing. Maria’s appearance wasn’t just a haunting...it was a message. She was telling him to keep going, to dig deeper...or was she warning of something?
He picked up the next folder, his resolve hardening. He wasn’t just exposing a conspiracy; he was fighting for Maria, Sofia, and every other name in those files.
(To be Continued)