Is That Mom

Part 6 of Chapter 10

Chapter 10:

Confronting the Past

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Part 6:

The Warning from the Past

Ethan stared at the paper in his hands, his eyes tracing the familiar curves of his mother’s handwriting. It was unmistakable—sharp yet graceful, just as he remembered it from her journals. But the message itself was anything but comforting.

Ethan, if you’ve come this far, turn back. The answers you seek will destroy you. Some truths are better left buried.

His heart pounded in his chest as he read and re-read the words. The warning was cryptic but unmistakably urgent. His mother, the woman whose secrets he had spent so long uncovering, had known he would eventually find this place. She had known he would come looking for the truth—and yet, she had tried to stop him. Why?

Ethan’s mind whirled with questions, but none of them had easy answers. If she hadn’t wanted him to discover the full extent of her work, why leave the trail for him to follow? Why fill this chamber with files and recordings, with every clue necessary to piece together the puzzle of her life? It felt as though she had wanted him to know, to understand, but at the same time feared the consequences of his discovery.

He paced the room, the message clutched tightly in his hand. The ominous silence of the outpost pressed in on him, amplifying the weight of the words. His mother’s warning filled him with a deep sense of dread, but it also left him conflicted. He had come so far—how could he stop now? Could he turn his back on everything he had learned, walk away from the truth she had worked so hard to hide?

A part of him wanted to heed her words. There was something chilling about her warning, as though she had glimpsed the darkness at the end of this path and was trying, even now, to protect him from it. But another part of him—the part that had been driven by grief, anger, and the desperate need for answers—couldn’t let go. The truth was within his grasp, and he wasn’t sure he could walk away, even if it meant facing something far worse than he had imagined.

The room around him seemed to grow darker, the shadows lengthening as his thoughts spiraled deeper into uncertainty. His mother’s face appeared in his mind—her voice from the recording still ringing in his ears, filled with regret and sorrow. She had carried this burden alone for so long, hiding it not only from the world but from him. And now, in these final moments, she had reached out across time and space to warn him. But was it a warning born out of love, or fear? Did she want to protect him, or had she been trying to protect herself from his judgment?

The conflict within him was almost unbearable. He felt torn in two, caught between the person he had always known his mother to be and the monstrous truth he had uncovered. How could he reconcile the woman who had tucked him in at night, who had whispered stories of hope and adventure, with the scientist who had committed such unspeakable acts? The lines between love and horror blurred until they were indistinguishable.

His eyes fell on the strange machine in the center of the room. It loomed there, silent and foreboding, a testament to the lengths his mother had gone in her pursuit of knowledge. It wasn’t just a machine; it was a symbol of everything that had gone wrong—of the ambition that had consumed her and driven her to cross boundaries no human should have.

As much as he wanted to, he couldn’t shake the feeling that the warning wasn’t just about the experiments. It was about him, about what he might become if he continued down this path. His mother had seen something in her work, something that had terrified her enough to leave this message behind. But if she had feared it so much, why hadn’t she stopped herself? Why hadn’t she walked away when she still had the chance?

Ethan felt the weight of his mother’s choices pressing down on him, and for the first time, he wondered if he was making the same mistake. Was his need for closure blinding him to the danger ahead? Or was this warning just another layer of manipulation, another way for her to control him from beyond the grave?

He squeezed his eyes shut, trying to steady his thoughts. He couldn’t deny the fear that had gripped him ever since he stepped into this place, but his curiosity—his need to understand—was stronger. It had always been stronger, even as a child. He had spent years in the shadow of his mother’s disappearance, haunted by the unanswered questions. And now, when he was so close to finally knowing the truth, how could he turn back?

But the warning lingered. The answers you seek will destroy you.

He wanted to dismiss it, to tell himself that it didn’t matter, that he was prepared for whatever came next. But deep down, he knew that wasn’t true. He wasn’t prepared—how could he be? The truth was already shattering everything he thought he knew about his mother, about his family, about himself. And there was still more to uncover, more layers to peel back. He could feel it, waiting just beyond his reach.

His mother’s words were clear: this path would only lead to ruin. Yet she had left the door open for him to follow, knowing full well that he might not heed her warning. It was a cruel paradox, and Ethan felt trapped between the two realities she had presented. On one hand, the truth—the full, unvarnished truth—beckoned to him, offering closure but at a terrible cost. On the other hand, there was the chance to walk away, to let the past remain buried and preserve whatever semblance of peace he still had left.

But could he live with that uncertainty?

Ethan stood in the center of the chamber, his eyes locked on the machine. His mother’s voice played again in his mind, tinged with sadness, and for the briefest moment, he felt the weight of her regret. She had walked this path, and it had destroyed her. She had seen what lay at the end, and she had tried to save him from that fate. But at what cost?

His fists clenched around the paper, crumpling it as his resolve hardened. The truth was devastating, but he wasn’t sure he could live with the alternative. His whole life had been defined by the absence of answers, and now that they were within his grasp, he couldn’t turn back. He needed to know, no matter the consequences.

But the fear lingered, gnawing at the edges of his resolve. His mother had seen the darkness at the end of this road, and she had feared it. Ethan, for all his determination, couldn’t shake the feeling that he was standing on the edge of a precipice, staring into the abyss. And once he crossed that threshold, there would be no turning back.

The message in his hand was the final tether to his past, to the part of him that still believed in the mother he had once loved without question. But as he stood there, the weight of her choices pressing down on him, he knew that he had to make his own decision.

With one final look at the crumpled note, Ethan took a deep breath and stepped forward, toward the machine. His heart pounded in his chest, his mother’s warning echoing in his mind.

Some truths were better left buried, but not this one.