This wasn’t an accident. This wasn’t random. Ellie wasn’t being raised.
She was being used. As a test subject.
Jack held her tighter.
His eyes turned to ice. No one would touch Ellie again. No one.
The wailing sirens still hadn’t faded from Jack Harper’s mind as the military transport vehicle pulled out of Havenwood, carrying him and Ellie away. Through the window, the old wooden house, where Ellie had once lived, was now sealed off, swarming with figures in white hazmat suits and flashing emergency lights.
Vanessa had been taken into custody.
Her face, as the handcuffs locked around her wrists, was still vivid in Jack’s memory. A strange mix of fear and hatred. But Jack no longer cared.
He looked down at his daughter, asleep on his shoulder. Ellie was still trembling slightly, her breathing shallow and weak. A few red marks remained visible on her wrists and neck.
Jack tightened his arms gently around her. For the first time in years, he felt truly afraid.
They arrived at the National Quarantine Centre a little over an hour later.
Unlike a regular hospital, this place felt more like a high security military installation. Cold white hallways. Glass doors that opened automatically.
Biometric scanners at every corner and medical staff moving silently like ghosts under layers of sealed protective gear.
Jack was escorted into a special isolation zone with Ellie. A sterile all-white room, so clean it felt untouched by life.
Ellie was laid on a medical bed, hooked up to machines monitoring her heart rate, blood pressure and body temperature. Doctors and nurses worked without pause.
While Jack stood motionless beside her, his eyes locked on every blinking number on the screen.
A few moments later, Dr. Simon Black entered, accompanied by a woman Jack didn’t recognise, tall, lean, short black hair and piercing blue eyes. She wasn’t wearing a mask, but her presence alone silenced the entire room.
«Mr. Harper,» Dr. Black said, «this is Diana West Chief Supervisor of the Federal Bio-Response Unit.
«Ellie’s case has now been escalated to a national emergency.»
Jack shook her hand. Her grip was firm, steady like someone who had seen a battlefield or two.
«I want the whole truth,» Jack said. «What kind of biological interference was done to my daughter? And who’s behind it?»
Diana West pulled up a chair and sat down, her eyes never leaving Jack’s.
«Ellie was targeted by a covert operation known as Project K21, an experimental study into human immune response to genetically modified organisms.»
Jack’s brow furrowed.
«You mean, those bugs?»
«They’re not bugs,» she said. «They’re synthetic organism engineered to inject a triggering agent into a host and then harvest bio-red fluid, enzymes, antibodies, immune markers.
«This experiment was shut down nearly seven years ago due to severe ethical violations.»
Diana paused, leaning toward Jack.
«Vanessa Harper’s stepmother is to be a research fellow in that group.
«She was expelled for using humans in unauthorized red fluid experiments.»
Jack’s heart skipped a beat.
«She… used Ellie as a test subject?»
«Yes.
«And she wasn’t the only one.»
Dr. Black handed over a file. Jack opened it.
Photos, genetic structure diagrams, handwritten notes, confidential records. One codename appeared over and over. E.H.
«E. Harper,» Jack murmured.
Diana continued, her voice as sharp as a scalpel.
«We believe Ellie carries a rare genetic structure, something that either resists or adapts in response to artificial organisms. She’s the ideal physical red fluid for someone trying to illegally continue Project K21.»
«Did Vanessa do this alone?»
«We don’t know yet. But one thing’s certain, she’s not the only one who stands to gain from this.»
Jack clenched both fists.
The red fluid veins on his neck bulged. He stood up and turned toward Ellie still lying there, breathing as gently as a flower petal.
«I want to take her with me.»
«You can’t,» Diana said immediately. «Ellie’s body is showing signs of toxic exposure. We need to keep her under close observation.»
Just then an alarm blared from the hospital bed. The heart monitor beeped rapidly. Red lights flashed.
A nurse shouted.
«Acute physiological response. Blood pressure’s crashing.»
Jack rushed over and held his daughter close.
«Ellie! Ellie!»
Her body arched like a bowstring, eyes wide open, limbs convulsing violently.
«Emergency Teamstat! Prepare a midazolam injection! Heartbeat’s unstable.
«Her skin’s starting to excrete red fluid.»
Ellie’s skin gradually turned bluish, blotched with faint reddish-purple fluid spreading from her neck down to her chest, then her arms. Her body temperature spiked.
«It’s a chemical reaction!» Dr. Black yelled. «The toxins from the artificial organism are activating!»
A physician administered medication into Ellie’s arm. Jack kept holding her, drenched in sweat.
«Daddy’s here. Daddy’s right here, Ellie.»
But her body kept seizing.
A trickle of red fluid began to drip from her nose.
«We need to move her to the Emergency Isolation Unit. Now!»
Jack was pushed back.
A glass shield dropped instantly, sealing him off from Ellie’s bed. Inside, the medical team moved like a whirlwind taking vitals. Administering drugs.
Disinfecting the red fluid. And starting forced cooling.
Jack pressed his forehead against the glass.
He couldn’t hear a thing, only saw scattered images. A doctor placing a ventilator. Another performing chest compressions.
A nurse anxiously counting beats.
Then… The heart monitor fell silent. A long, continuous beep pierced the air.
Jack screamed and lunged toward the door in desperation.
«Ellie!»
But in that moment, Ellie’s heart began to beat again. Slow, but steady.
The monitor picked up a rhythmic beep. The red warning light faded into a soft blue-red pulse.
One of the doctors gave a thumbs up a signal.
«She’s stable. For now.»
Jack collapsed to the floor, both hands covering his face.
His entire body gave out under the weight of the panic. But with it came a flood of relief. She was alive.
Diana West stepped toward him, resting a hand gently on his shoulder.
«Mr. Harper, I promise you, we will do everything we can to save Ellie. But in order to do that, we need your cooperation.»
Jack lifted his head. His eyes now held the look of a father with nothing left to lose and everything to fight for.
«You won’t just have my cooperation.»
Jack’s voice was low, cold, like steel.
«I want to know, who’s behind all of this?»
The blaring alarm echoed through the halls of the bio-emergency ward. Ellie was convulsing violently, her tiny body thrashing on the bed.
Pale reddish-purple blotches spread across her skin, growing darker by the second. Doctors and nurses rushed in, each focused on their task, their voices overlapping in a blur of urgency.
Jack stood frozen, helplessly watching his daughter battle between life and death.
«Hang in there, Ellie. Please, sweetheart, hang on.»
Jack gripped her hand tightly, but Ellie’s small fingers were ice-cold and curled into a stiff, unnatural claw.
«We’re trying to stabilize her temperature and blood pressure,» one of the doctors shouted, «but the toxin is spreading fast. We need to find a way to neutralize it now.»
Diana West and Dr. Simon Black stood beside Jack, their faces equally tense.
«Doctor. Black. Those vials of red fluid.
«Have you found anything yet?» Diana’s voice was sharp as a blade.
«We’re running a full-spectrum analysis now. Preliminary results suggest Ellie may have a rare antibody resistance to the toxin, but her body’s being overwhelmed,» Dr. Black replied, his eyes locked on the monitors.
Diana turned to Jack.
«Mr. Harper, we need your full cooperation immediately. Ellie’s in critical condition.
«We believe her only chance of survival may lie in her biological father’s immune profile.»
Jack stared at her, confused.
«Biological father? What are you saying?»
«Initial studies show Ellie’s immunity, or at least part of it, could be inherited from one of her biological parents.
«We need to test your genetic makeup right away. If you carry a compatible immune gene or even partial resistance, we may be able to transfer immune cells to help her fight this,» Diana explained quickly, her tone allowing no room for hesitation.
Without a moment’s pause, Jack nodded.
«Do it. Do whatever it takes.»
He was escorted to a nearby lab room.
A nurse swiftly drew a vial of Jack’s blood. Then he was asked to lie down on a narrow exam bed, where electrodes were attached to monitor his vitals. Another doctor collected a saliva sample and a few strands of his hair.
The whole process moved with intense speed, every second counted.
Meanwhile, Dr. Black and Diana West waited outside the lab door.
«How long until we know,» Jack asked, trying to steady his breath.
«Just a few minutes if everything goes smoothly. We’re running the tests on the highest speed system available,» Dr. Black replied.
Time stretched endlessly.
Jack lay there, every thought consumed by Ellie. He saw her small face again, whispering about the ones under the pillow, remembered the fear in her eyes when he first came home, the red marks on her skin, a nowhere fragile body convulsing on a hospital bed.
A deep, tearing pain gripped him.
This was his fault. He hadn’t been there for her soon enough.
«We’ve got it,» a technician suddenly called out, excitement thick in his voice.
Dr. Black and Diana West rushed over to the computer screen. They stared intently at the charts and figures.
«The red fluid group is compatible, and the immune gene structure.
«It’s perfect,» Dr. Black exclaimed, visibly relieved and astonished. «Mr. Harper, you have a uniquely strong immune gene. It’s a perfect match with Ellie’s.
«It’s very likely she inherited part of it from you. This is our chance.»
Diana West turned to Jack, her eyes alight with hope.
«We’ll begin the immune cell transfer from you to Ellie immediately. This procedure carries significant risks for both of you, but it’s our best shot.»
«Do it,» Jack said, without a second of hesitation.
«Save her.»
He was moved to a sterile room for the transfer of the specialized red fluid. Nurses prepared the equipment.
Jack lay on a hospital bed while a large needle was inserted into a vein in his arm. Next to him, Ellie remained unconscious on a separate bed, her body wrapped in warm blankets, though her skin was still a bluish purple.
A line connected the red fluid bag drawn from Jack through a complex filtration system directly into Ellie’s vein.
The transfer began. Jack’s red fluid-carrying powerful immune cells flowed slowly through the tube toward his daughter.
He felt something strange.
A mild weakness washed over him, but with it came an inexplicable sense of peace. He was giving a part of himself to his child.
While he waited, Jack looked at Ellie’s pale face.
Memories flooded in those warm moments from when Sarah was still alive. The sound of Ellie’s laughter, the tight hugs. He remembered the promise he’d made to himself when he left the military, that he would come back, that he would make it up to his daughter for the lost years.
And now he was keeping that promise, even if it meant risking his own life. Tears began rolling down Jack’s cheeks.
He hadn’t cried in years, not during combat, not when his comrades fell beside him, not even when Sarah died.
But now, seeing his daughter teetering on the edge between life and death, and knowing he was her only hope, his long-suppressed emotions broke free.
He leaned close to Ellie’s ear, his voice trembling with emotion.
«If there’s any part of me that can save you, you can have it, Ellie.
«You have to live. I need you.»
Hot tears fell onto Ellie’s cheek.
Time stood still. Her heartbeat on the monitor remained faint, but there was a slight improvement. The reddish-purple colour on her skin seemed to fade ever so slightly.
Jack held his breath.
And then something miraculous happened. Ellie stirred, her eyelids fluttered open.
Jack froze. He leaned in, eyes locked on his daughter’s.
Ellie looked at him, her eyes tired, but no longer filled with fear or emptiness.
She knew who he was. A faint smile appeared on her lips. Slowly, she reached out and gently touched his hand.
«Daddy.» Her voice was weak, barely a whisper. «Does it hurt?»
Jack’s chest tightened.
More tears fell, but this time they were tears of overwhelming relief and joy. He leaned down and kissed her forehead.
«No, sweetheart,» Jack whispered, his voice thick with emotion.
«It doesn’t hurt. Not as long as I can still see you here.»
He gripped her little hand tightly.
Ellie’s smile, however faint, was enough to dissolve all his fear and pain. He knew then. Hope had returned.
And he would do everything in his power to hold onto it.
Ellie was stable. The purplish-red fluid on her skin had disappeared and her breathing had returned to a steady rhythm.
Though still weak, she was no longer in critical condition.
The next morning, Diana West stepped into the room. Her expression remained serious, but there was a trace of relief in her eyes.
«Good morning, Mr. Harper. Ellie is now fully stabilized after the immune cell transfusion. You truly saved her,» Diana said, looking at Jack with quiet respect.
«I only did what a father is supposed to do,» Jack replied, his voice still hoarse. «Now I want to know everything about Project K-21, about Vanessa, and about the people behind this.»
Diana nodded.
«You’ve proven yourself trustworthy. And for Ellie’s sake, you have every right to know. Please come with me.»