2025-04-27 19:56:34CHAPTER 11: Dead Men Tell No Lies
Darkness.
Rowan couldn't tell if he was dead or dreaming. But his body... his body was screaming.
Not in pain, at least, not the kind he was used to.
This was worse. A dull buzz crawled beneath his skin like electric ants, crawling into his veins, making every muscle spasm in rebellion. He felt what seemed like an electric shock run through his body every few seconds. Every time it went through, it felt like his heart stopped. He couldn't move, he couldn't comprehend what was going with him. He was trembling.
His system was silent. That’s what scared him most.
Not the poison. Not the silence of the garage. But the fact that his system, his edge, his power, his truth sensor was completely, utterly gone.
‘[ERROR: SYSTEM OFFLINE. HOST CONSCIOUSNESS FRAGMENTED.]’
Everything was pitch black, and slowly, Rowan lost control of his mind, feelings, and pain. Everything just went numb.
****
FEW HOURS LATER
His eyes flickered open. Fuzzy outlines. Flashing lights. Metal walls. A faint antiseptic smell. Hospital? No. It was too quiet, Too hidden.
“AHH!!!”. Rowan jumped up from what seemed like a horrible dream, Sweat streaming down his face as he hurriedly checked his background trying to figure where he was and what the hell happened to him.
A sharp slap brought him back. "Rise and shine, Golden Boy," came a voice, Smooth, Cold. Laced with mockery.
He blinked again. The man leaning over him wasn’t familiar and had an odd mask on his face. It didn't cover everything but at least half of it . But the eyes? The eyes kinda belonged to someone with Stormont blood. He had his father’s eyes which were also similar to Kane’s.
“What the hell is happening?”. He whispered to himself, squinting his eyes trying to figure who he was. Utterly confused as to what was happening.
Rowan hadn't noticed that he was bound, until he tried to move. His wrists were cuffed to the chair. Not tight enough to hurt, just enough to say: you're not in charge anymore.
"Who are you?" Rowan rasped, throat dry like sandpaper.
The man tilted his head. "Let’s say I’m... insurance. You can call me Trace."
Rowan gritted his teeth. "What do you want?"
Trace chuckled, pulling up a chair across from him. "See, here’s the thing. The game was getting boring. You and Raven, dancing around each other like two scorpions in a glass jar. But me? I’m here to shake the jar."
Rowan's mind raced. No system. No insight. Just instincts. And his instincts were screaming: he was dealing with a psychopath.
"You don’t look like a Cooper," Rowan muttered.
"Oh no, I'm not," Trace said, leaning forward. "I’m something new. Something you won’t like. Something bred in the cracks your family tried to seal shut. Kane left too many holes. Holes I crawled through."
He pulled out a small silver device and tapped it. A distorted video played. Rowan. Strapped to a bed. Wires in his skin. Monitors blinking. Blood samples being taken.
"This," Trace said, "was your father’s worst fear. That his bloodline would be turned into a weapon."
Rowan stared, fury igniting. "You experimented on me?."
Trace nodded, proud. "Technically, they did. I just inherited the lab. You should be flattered, Rowan. You’re the prototype."
Rowan spat at the floor. "You made a mistake. Letting me wake up."
"Did I?"
A crackle buzzed in the air. The system. Barely audible. Barely there.
‘[WARNING: HOST THREATENED. OVERRIDE IN PROGRESS... 2%... 4%...]’
Trace smirked. "You feel it, don’t you? Your system is trying to come back. But here’s the problem: you need a reboot. And I hold the keys."
He stood. "So here’s what happens next: You tell me where the second ring is, the one connected to your twin. I know you have it."
Rowan blinked slowly. “What the hell are you talking about?”
“Don't play with me”. Trace warned, his eyes darkening.
“I'm serious dude, i dont what youre talking about”.
Trace turned, picked up a drilling machine, turned it on and started taking steady steps towards Rowan. “You better tell me what I need to know or…”
"Or?". Rowan asked, quite frightened but trying to keep his cool, his eyes, stilled on the drilling machine coming close to him.
Trace leaned in close, smile vanishing. "Or I send your body back to Stormont Corp in pieces."
Rowan smiled. Blood in his teeth. "Then send the message, asshole."
BOOM.
The wall exploded. Metal screamed. Dust filled the air. Screams of men erupted. Rowan dropped to the floor with the chair, coughing violently.
Shadows moved through the smoke. Gunshots. Voices.
"Target sighted and secured! I Repeat: Target sighted and secured!" One of the men said.
A sharp blade sliced the cuffs. Warm hands caught him.
"Got you, boss. Let’s move."
Conrad.
Rowan barely registered the lift into the escape vehicle before everything went dark again.
**********
He woke up 36 hours later. Back at Stormont Villa. His arm hooked to an IV.
Valeria at his bedside. Raven pacing. Aria... not there at the moment.
He sat up. The system buzzed to life.
‘[SYSTEM RESTORED. RECOVERY 82%. SYNC: 32.3%]’
He looked around, his head banging with a striking headache. "Where's the guy that kidnapped me?"
Raven stopped pacing and turned to look at him sharply.
"Gone." Valeria added, "He is probably working under Kane. We traced the lab, but it's burnt to the ground.There’s nothing left there."
Rowan exhaled. "Then he’s not done."
“How he did it so fast, I have no idea”.Valeria said.
He turned to Raven. For the first time, they shared a look. Not of hatred, But of realization.
Someone else was moving the board.
The twins weren’t alone in this game.
And now? The system war they didn't bargain for had officially begun.
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