CHAPTER 3 – “THE HOSPITAL THAT NEVER EXISTED”
The silence after the phone call was unbearable.
Alejandro stood still.
His hand was still holding the pill bottle.
But his eyes were somewhere else now.
Far away.
“What do you mean a hospital trial?” I finally whispered.
He didn’t answer me.
He looked at the bottle again.
Then at Leticia.
And something in his face changed.
Not confusion anymore.
Recognition.
“Mom…” he said slowly. “Tell me you did not get this from St. Arden Medical.”
Leticia’s expression finally cracked.
Just for a second.
But it was enough.
Valeria stepped back.
“What is St. Arden?” she asked nervously.
Alejandro turned to her.
“Answer me.”
Leticia forced a laugh.
“You are being dramatic. It is just medicine—”
“No,” Alejandro interrupted.
His voice rose.
“This facility shut down five years ago after patients died in testing.”
My legs went weak.
“Testing?” I repeated.
Alejandro finally looked at me.
And what I saw in his eyes terrified me more than anything that had happened before.
“Camila…” he said quietly. “Why would my mother have anything connected to that place?”
Leticia suddenly stepped forward.
“Enough,” she snapped. “You are overreacting because of a child’s mistake.”
But Alejandro was no longer listening.
He opened his phone again.
Scrolled.
And then froze.
“Mom…” he whispered again.
“This is your signature.”
The room went dead.
Valeria’s breath hitched.
Sofía grabbed my shirt tighter.
And I felt my stomach twist.
“No,” Leticia said instantly. “That is not possible.”
Alejandro held up the screen.
A scanned document.
Her name.
Her approval.
Her authorization.
For human testing.
My knees nearly collapsed.
“You told me you were a board consultant…” Alejandro said slowly.
Leticia’s face hardened.
For the first time.
The mask disappeared completely.
“I was,” she said coldly.
“But not for the side you think.”
The temperature in the room dropped.
Valeria whispered:
“Mom… what are you saying?”
Leticia looked at her.
Then at me.
Then at Sofía.
And smiled.
But this time…
It wasn’t human.
“You should not have opened that backpack,” she said softly.
Alejandro stepped forward.
“What did you do to her?” he demanded.
Leticia tilted her head.
“I did not do anything to her.”
Pause.
“I did it to all of you.”
The lights flickered.
Once.
Then again.
A deep alarm sound suddenly echoed from somewhere inside the house.
Not the hospital.
The house.
Alejandro froze.
“That alarm…” he whispered. “Why is that system active here?”
Leticia sighed.
Almost disappointed.
“You were never supposed to come home early,” she said.
And then she looked directly at me.
“You were supposed to take the pills.”
My blood turned cold.
Alejandro turned to me instantly.
“Camila… don’t move.”
But it was too late.
Sofía screamed.
The backpack slipped from her hands.
The pill bottle rolled across the floor.
And cracked open.
May you like
A small black tracking device fell out.
And started blinking.
