CHAPTER 158: CHAPTER 158: THE CHOICE THAT CHANGES EVERYTHING

The military truck hit a huge bump, throwing Elara against the cold metal wall. Her heart pounded as she watched her babies through the tiny window. Sage and Blaze sat calmly in the truck ahead, but she could see the worry in their small faces.

"Mom, look," Phoenix whispered, pointing outside.

Cars were following them. Hundreds of cars. News vans, regular people, even buses full of protesters. They stretched back as far as Elara could see.

"The whole world is watching," Luna said softly.

Kane growled low in his throat. "They’re taking us to a prison."

"Not a prison," Darian corrected grimly. "Something worse."

Through her earpiece, Elara heard the President talking to someone. The voice was crackling, but she caught enough words to make her blood freeze.

"Prepare the memory wipe machine," the President was saying. "All supernatural children will forget their powers exist."

"What about the adults?" another voice asked.

"Enhanced soldiers will handle them permanently."

Elara’s hands started shaking. They weren’t just being captured. They were going to be destroyed.

"Did you hear that?" she whispered to Kael.

His face went deadly pale. "We have to get out of here."

"How?" Ronan demanded. "We’re surrounded by armed soldiers."

Suddenly, baby Sage’s voice came through a tiny speaker hidden in Elara’s jacket. He must have planted it there somehow.

"Mom, can you hear me?" his sweet voice asked.

"Yes, baby," she whispered back.

"Remember what I said about having a plan?"

"Yes."

"It starts now."

The truck in front of them suddenly swerved hard to the right. Elara heard Sage’s voice again, but this time he wasn’t talking to her. He was talking to the enhanced soldier driving their truck.

"You don’t want to hurt children," Sage said gently. "Deep down, you remember being a child too."

"I have no memories," the soldier replied in a robotic voice.

"Yes, you do," baby Blaze joined in. "I can see them. Your mom used to make pancakes on Sunday mornings."

The soldier’s hands started shaking on the steering wheel.

"She sang you lullabies when you had bad dreams," Sage continued softly.

"No," the soldier whispered. "Those aren’t real."

"Your little sister had a stuffed rabbit named Mr. Hoppy," Blaze added.

The truck began to slow down.

"Stop talking to me," the soldier begged. "I’m not supposed to remember."

"But you do remember," both babies said together. "And remembering makes you human again."

The soldier pulled over to the side of the road. He turned around, and Elara gasped. Tears were streaming down his face.

"They took my memories," he said brokenly. "They took everything that made me... me."

"We can help you get them back," Sage promised. "But first, you have to help us."

The soldier looked at the President’s truck, still moving ahead. Then he looked back at the supernatural families.

"What do you need me to do?"

"Get us out of here," Blaze said simply.

The soldier’s name tag read "Marcus." He stared at it like he was seeing it for the first time.

"Marcus," he whispered. "My name is Marcus. My mom called me Marky."

"Hi, Marky," Sage said gently. "Will you help us save other children like you?"

Marcus nodded, his whole body shaking. "Yes. But the President... she’ll kill us all."

"Not if we’re smart," Blaze said with a tiny grin.

Marcus quickly unlocked their restraints. "There’s a forest about two miles east. If you can get there..."

"What about you?" Elara asked. "She’ll know you helped us."

Marcus smiled sadly. "I’ve been dead inside for twenty years. At least now I remember what it felt like to be alive."

Alarms started blaring. The President had noticed their truck wasn’t following anymore.

"Go!" Marcus shouted. "Now!"

They burst out of the truck just as helicopters appeared overhead. Spotlights swept the ground, searching for them.

"This way!" Kane yelled, shifting into his wolf form.

They ran toward the forest, but the helicopters were gaining fast. Elara’s lungs burned as she tried to keep up.

"Mom!" Phoenix called out. "I can create a distraction!"

"No!" Elara gasped. "Too dangerous!"

But Phoenix was already raising her hands. Brilliant light shot into the sky, brighter than the sun. The helicopter pilots were blinded and had to pull back.

"That won’t hold them long," Darian warned.

They reached the forest just as more military vehicles arrived. Soldiers poured out, surrounding the trees.

"Attention supernatural fugitives," the President’s voice boomed through a megaphone. "You have thirty seconds to surrender, or we start shooting."

"She’s bluffing," Ronan said. "Too many cameras."

"Is she?" Luna asked, pointing up.

Military drones were dropping something from the sky. Small metal boxes that hit the ground and immediately started smoking.

"Gas!" Seraphina warned. "Everyone hold your breath!"

But it was too late. The strange purple smoke was everywhere. Elara felt dizzy. Her vision blurred.

"It’s not poison," baby Sage’s voice called out weakly. "It’s magic suppression gas. Our powers... going away..."

One by one, they collapsed. Even the babies’ special abilities flickered and died.

As darkness closed in, Elara heard the President’s triumphant laughter.

"Bring them to the facility," she ordered. "And this time, make sure they can’t use their little tricks."

When Elara woke up, she was strapped to a cold metal table. Bright lights shone down on her face. She tried to move, but thick silver chains held her arms and legs.

"Ah, you’re awake," the President said, walking into view. "Perfect timing."

"Where are my children?" Elara demanded.

"Safe. For now." The President held up a strange device that looked like a silver crown. "Do you know what this is?"

Elara’s blood turned to ice. She’d heard stories about such things. Ancient weapons used against supernatural beings.

"A memory crown," she whispered.

"Very good. It will erase every supernatural memory you’ve ever had. You’ll forget magic exists. Forget your children have powers. Forget you’re anything special at all."

"No," Elara struggled against the chains. "Please."

"But first," the President continued, "I’m going to give you a choice. One last choice before your mind is wiped clean."

She gestured to a wall of monitors. Each screen showed a different supernatural child locked in a cell. Dozens of them. Some were crying. Some looked broken and empty.

"These children have been here for years," the President explained. "Their families think they’re dead. The world forgot they ever existed."

Elara’s heart shattered. So many children. So much suffering.

"Here’s your choice," the President said coldly. "I can make all of this public. Show the world that supernatural beings exist. Let humans decide what to do with your kind."

"That sounds like what we want," Elara said carefully.

The President smiled cruelly. "Oh, but there’s a catch. Humans are afraid of what they don’t understand. They’ll demand that all supernatural children be locked up. ’For safety,’ they’ll say. Every magic child in the world will end up in facilities like this one."

Elara felt sick. "You’re lying."

"Am I? Look at those protesters outside. Half of them want to destroy you. The other half want to study you like lab rats. Is that the future you want for Sage and Blaze?"

The President leaned closer. "Or you can choose option two. I wipe everyone’s memories. Your family forgets about magic and lives normal, happy human lives. The supernatural world stays hidden. These imprisoned children... well, they’re already forgotten."

"That’s not a choice," Elara whispered. "That’s torture."

"Life is torture," the President replied. "I’m offering you a way to end it peacefully."

She placed the memory crown on Elara’s head. It felt like ice against her skin.

"You have sixty seconds to decide," the President said, starting a timer. "Reveal supernatural beings to the world and doom all magical children to imprisonment, or let me erase everything and give your family a normal life."

The countdown began. Fifty-nine. Fifty-eight. Fifty-seven.

Elara looked at the screens showing the trapped children. Then she thought of her own babies, so young and innocent.

What kind of mother was she? What kind of choice was this?

Forty-five. Forty-four. Forty-three.

"Choose," the President demanded. "Save your family or save the world. You can’t do both."

Thirty. Twenty-nine. Twenty-eight.

Elara closed her eyes and made the hardest decision of her life.

But just as she opened her mouth to speak, every light in the facility went out.

In the darkness, a familiar voice whispered:

"Mom? We’re here to rescue you."

It was baby Sage. But his voice sounded different. Older. Stronger.

And absolutely terrifying.