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Home / Urban / Bloodline Unknown / One hundred and sixty - eight
One hundred and sixty - eight
Author: Manesa
last update2026-03-03 22:52:58

Three days later, the hospital no longer felt like a crisis site.

It felt like a siege.

Security rotations had tightened. Bruno’s men blended into corners with clinical precision—plain clothes, neutral expressions, eyes that missed nothing. The press had thinned outside the gates but never fully disappeared. Satellite vans still occupied the far end of the street like patient vultures.

Inside the private recovery wing, Clara D’onyx was propped upright against a careful arrangement of pillows.

C
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  • One hundred and eighty - four

    Aurelius?”Eli’s voice came out steady, but there was something quieter beneath it—something sharper. Not disbelief.Recognition.He shifted slightly, pushing himself more upright despite the resistance in his limbs. The dull ache at the side of his head pulsed once in protest, but he ignored it.His gaze didn’t leave her.“...Aurelius?” he repeated, slower this time.Lyra’s smile didn’t falter.“If that’s the part you’re stuck on,” she said lightly, “then yes.”A small pause.“Aurelius.”Eli watched her for a second longer.Then—unexpectedly—He smiled.It's wasn't a wide smile. Nor was it amused.It was just…. there.Faint. Controlled. Almost thoughtful.“…That’s interesting.”Lyra’s eyes flickered, just slightly.Eli tilted his head a fraction, studying her like he was looking at something that didn’t quite fit into place.“Why,” he continued calmly, “would you want to take on the name of a man who isn’t your father?”The question landed cleanly.No hesitation. No softness.Just pr

  • One hundred and eighty - three

    The next few days didn’t follow a pattern.They didn’t need to.For once, Eli wasn’t measuring time in outcomes or deadlines, wasn’t splitting hours into things that mattered and things that didn’t. He wasn’t chasing anything, wasn’t running through possibilities in the background of every quiet moment.He was just… there.Moving through the day as it came.And somehow—That was enough.It started small, almost unnoticeable at first. Then, without him realizing it, it stopped being small at all.By the second day, he was standing at the edge of Uetliberg Mountain, the city stretching wide and steady beneath them, buildings layered into the distance like something carefully placed rather than something chaotic.Carlos stood beside him with the kind of satisfaction that suggested he’d personally arranged the entire view.“Tell me this isn’t worth waking up early for,” he said, hands on his hips.Eli didn’t answer immediately. The air felt different up there—clean in a way that didn’t re

  • One hundred and eighty - two

    The morning didn’t arrive loudly.It didn’t demand attention or pull him awake with urgency.It just… came.Soft light filtered through the curtains, stretching slowly across the room like it had all the time in the world.Eli noticed it before he even opened his eyes.Not consciously.Just—somewhere in that quiet space between sleep and awareness.There was no tension in his chest.No immediate list forming in his head.No instinct to reach for his phone.And that alone—Felt unfamiliar.His eyes opened gradually.The ceiling came into view.Still. Unchanging.But for once, he didn’t stare at it like it held answers he needed to find.He just looked.Then blinked.And breathed.Slow. Even. Unrushed.It took him a few seconds to realize what felt different.Not the room. Not the light.Him.There was no weight pressing against his thoughts.No urgency clawing at the edges of his mind.Just… space.Eli shifted slightly, pushing himself up into a sitting position.The quiet remained.It

  • One hundred and eighty - one

    The room didn’t change.Not immediately.Not in any obvious way.The same dim light stretched across the floor. The same quiet pressed gently against the walls. The same untouched food sat where it had been for hours, forgotten.But something—Subtle. Shifted.Eli stood by the window, his hands in his pockets, his gaze unfocused as it rested somewhere beyond the glass.Zurich moved.Cars passed.People walked.Lights flickered on and off in distant buildings.Everything carried on.Everything except him.For once, he wasn’t reading reports.Wasn’t analyzing.Wasn’t trying to force pieces together that refused to fit.He was just… there.Still.The sound of the door opening broke the silence.It was soft. Unhurried.Eli didn’t turn right away.A small part of him already assumed who it was.Selene.Back again.Either she had forgotten something—Or she wasn’t done trying to convince him.He exhaled quietly, already preparing a response he wasn’t sure he believed himself.“…You’re persi

  • One hundred and eighty

    Days passed.Not quickly.Not slowly.Just… heavily.Each one blending into the next in a way that made it hard to tell where one ended and another began.Zurich remained calm.Peaceful.Unbothered.The lake shimmered the same way every evening.The streets stayed clean.The people moved on with their lives.And somewhere in the middle of all that—Eli felt like he was standing still.The first report came two days after he contacted Bruno.Eli was in his room when his phone buzzed.A message.Short.Direct.Match #1 — Female, 34. No behavioral or biometric alignment. Too old.Eli stared at the screen for a second.Then locked his phone.That was it.No frustration.No reaction.Just… another dead end.The second report came later that night.Match #2 — Female, 19. Facial structure similarity 62%. Dismissed. Too young.Eli leaned back in his chair, staring at the ceiling.Too old.Too young.Not her.Not her.Not her.By the third day, the reports started coming in faster.Bruno had s

  • One hundred and Seventy - nine

    For a while after Carlos set the photograph down on the bed, neither of them spoke.The room had fallen into that strange quiet that came after a long day—when the mind was still working even though the body was tired.Eli leaned back slightly, resting his forearms on his knees.Carlos sat across from him in the chair, the photograph lying between them like a small puzzle neither of them knew how to solve.Outside the window, the lights of Zurich shimmered softly against the dark lake beyond the city.Carlos tapped the edge of the photo with one finger.“So,” he said slowly, “we’re looking for someone who looked like this as a kid.”Eli nodded.Carlos squinted at the image again.“How old do you think she was here?”“Maybe ten,” Eli said. “twelve at most.”Carlos leaned back.“Meaning she could be… what now? Mid-twenties? Early thirties?”“Possibly.”Carlos scratched the back of his head.“That’s not exactly a helpful starting point.”Eli gave a quiet breath of agreement.“No.”Carlos

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