2025-12-10 22:40:21Rain hammered the alleyways as Frank and Morgan sprinted through the maze of ruined buildings behind the clinic. Neon signs flickered overhead, painting the puddles in shifting colors.
Frank gasped, “Morgan, who in my family would betray me? I don’t even have a family.”
“You have blood,” Morgan replied, not slowing down. “And blood remembers.”
“That makes no sense!”
“It will.”
Frank slid behind a dumpster as a squad of armored soldiers spilled into the street behind them, their rifles glowing with purple energy. Morgan pressed Frank against the wall. “Quiet.”
One of the soldiers scanned the alley with a handheld device. Another raised a comm: “Target’s pulse signature detected. Moving in.”
Frank whispered, “Pulse signature? They can track my heartbeat now?!”
Morgan grimaced. “They shouldn’t be able to. Which means”
“More betrayal?”
“Exactly.”
The soldiers got closer. Frank mouthed, What do we do? Morgan pointed upward.
Frank stared. “We’re climbing the fire escape?”
“We’re jumping.”
“That’s even worse!”
Morgan grabbed his wrist. “Three… two”
They leapt. Frank barely registered the air before Morgan landed them on a lower balcony, rolling to absorb the impact. “Are you trying to break my legs?!”
“Your legs are the one thing I’m confident will survive a fall,” Morgan said dryly. “You heal faster than you realize.”
Another explosion rocked the street. Soldiers shouted. Something metallic clanged against the walls. Frank peeked over the balcony edge. “They brought drones!”
Hovering machines buzzed upward, red scanners sweeping. Frank pulled back. “We’re surrounded.”
“Not yet.”
Morgan dragged Frank through a broken window into a dusty apartment. The place smelled like mold and old carpet. Furniture lay overturned, as if abandoned in a hurry.
Frank coughed. “Do people still live here?”
“No. Not since the Shadowfall Riots.”
Frank stiffened. “Morgan… that was fourteen years ago.”
Morgan didn’t answer. Frank grabbed his sleeve. “Fourteen years. The same year I was born.”
Morgan still didn’t respond. Frank’s voice lowered. “Don’t you dare keep quiet on me now.”
Morgan finally met his eyes. “Frank… you were born during the riots. The Shadowfall wasn’t random. Darrius wasn’t trying to destroy the city. He was trying to destroy you.”
Frank’s breath caught. “He tried to kill me as a baby?”
“He didn’t know which newborn you were. There were… many casualties.”
Frank stepped back. “Morgan… why didn’t you tell me this?”
“Because you were a child.”
“I’m still a child!”
Morgan shook his head. “No. You lost that choice the day you were born.”
Before Frank could respond, a harsh buzzing rose outside. Drones. They hovered inches from the window, scanning. Frank whispered, “Morgan, we can’t run forever.”
“We don’t have to. Just long enough to get you to the safehouse.”
“Well, they’re blocking the streets, the alleys, the roofs, what route is left?”
Morgan pointed at the floor. Frank blinked. “We’re… going down?”
Morgan knelt, pulling up a loose floorboard. Beneath it was a rusted hatch.
Frank’s eyes widened. “A tunnel?”
“A transport shaft,” Morgan said. “Old maintenance route. No scanners.”
Frank breathed out slowly. “Okay… okay, that’s actually good.”
Morgan opened the hatch and motioned for Frank to descend. Frank paused at the edge. “Morgan… if Darrius has my pulse signature, he’ll track me even underground.”
“Not if we scramble the reading.”
“How do we do that?”
Morgan reached into his coat and pulled out a thin metal cuff. Frank frowned. “What’s that?”
“A dampener.”
Frank held out his wrist. “Put it on.”
Morgan didn’t move. Frank looked up. “Morgan?”
Morgan’s expression softened. “Frank… this dampener only works if it syncs with your bloodline. Which means…”
Frank waited. Morgan swallowed. “Which means the person who betrayed you had to be someone with the same bloodline signature.”
Frank blinked. “But that means”
“Yes,” Morgan whispered. “The traitor isn’t just from your family… they’re someone who shares your blood.”
Frank’s stomach tightened. “But I don’t know anyone”
“You don’t,” Morgan said gently. “But someone out there knows you.”
Frank stared at the dampener. “Why didn’t they come for me? Why didn’t they protect me?”
“Maybe they tried,” Morgan said. “Or maybe they’re not who you wish they were.”
The drones outside grew louder. Frank inhaled deeply. “Put it on me.”
Morgan clipped the dampener to Frank’s wrist. Tiny needles extended into the skin. Frank winced. “Hold still,” Morgan said. “It needs to map your pulse.”
The cuff glowed briefly, then dimmed. Morgan nodded. “Done. Your signal’s scrambled.”
Frank rubbed his wrist. “So now Darrius can’t track me?”
“For now.”
Frank glanced at the hatch. “What about you?”
“I’ll be right behind you.”
Frank hesitated, then climbed down the ladder into the dark shaft. The air was cold, metallic, echoing with old vibrations from machinery long dead.
Halfway down, he heard boots crunching above. Frank whispered upward, “Morgan?”
“Keep going,” Morgan called softly.
“You’re following me, right?”
“Of course.”
But something in Morgan’s voice made Frank pause. “Morgan… what aren’t you telling me?”
There was a long silence. Then Morgan said, quietly: “They didn’t just get your file, Frank.”
Frank looked up, heart hammering. “What do you mean?”
Morgan exhaled. “They got mine too.”
Frank froze. “So you’re in danger because of me.”
“Always have been.”
“That’s not fair.”
“No,” Morgan agreed softly. “But it’s the truth.”
Frank tightened his grip on the ladder. “What else did they take?”
Morgan didn’t answer immediately. When he finally spoke, his voice was low, strained. “They didn’t just learn where we are, Frank. They learned where we’re going.”
The hatch above slammed open. Frank screamed, “Morgan, move!”
Morgan didn’t scream. He didn’t curse. He simply said: “Run, Frank.”
Boots thundered. Soldiers shouted. Something metallic clanged, a rifle being raised. Frank’s eyes widened in horror. “Morgan !”
“GO!”
Frank dropped down the ladder into the darkness just as gunfire exploded above. Morgan’s final words echoed down the shaft: “I’ll hold them off. Find the next hatch. Don’t stop.”
Frank hit the bottom hard, breathless, terrified, alone. And for the first time since he’d met Morgan, he felt something worse than fear. He felt abandoned.
But before he could collapse, a small red light blinked on in the darkness. A speaker clicked.
And a distorted voice whispered through the static: “Hello, Frank. I’ve been waiting for you.”
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CHAPTER 9 — “WHISPERS IN THE DARKROOT”
Frank didn’t sleep. Not even when the forest finally quieted, not even when Morgan ordered a short rest.His body was exhausted, but the inside of his mind felt crowded, like someone else was pacing inside his skull.By dawn, his nerves were frayed raw. Morgan kicked dirt over their small fire. “Pack up. We’re moving.”Frank rubbed his eyes. “Already?”“Darrius won’t wait.”Frank laced his boots slowly. “Morgan… what if I’m the danger now? Not the solution.”Morgan paused. “What did you hear this time?”Frank looked away. “Not words. Just… breathing. Like something asleep is waking up. Inside me.”Morgan slung his pack over his shoulder. “Then we keep moving. The Darkroot is ahead.”Frank froze mid-step. “The what?”“The forest we avoided yesterday,” Morgan said. “We go through it now.”Frank blinked. “You want to take me into a forest literally called the Darkroot?”Morgan didn’t answer directly. “It’s the only place Darrius’s scouts fear entering.”“That doesn’t comfort me!”“It sho
CHAPTER 8 — “THE SPEAR OF ASHENFIRE”
The armored warrior crashed into the clearing like a meteor, scorching a black crater beneath its boots. Heat washed over Frank, forcing him backward until his spine hit a tree.Morgan didn’t move. He stood like a wall between Frank and the monster. The warrior’s helm tilted. “You cannot protect the boy.”Morgan raised his sword. “Try me.”Frank whispered, “Morgan… that thing is huge.”“Size isn’t everything,” Morgan murmured.“His spear is on fire.”“I noticed.”The warrior slammed its spear into the ground, sending a blast of flames across the clearing. Morgan shoved Frank behind a fallen log. “Stay down!”Frank ducked as flames roared over his head, searing bark and earth. The heat made his lungs burn. “Morgan!” Frank shouted, “You can’t fight fire with a sword!”“Watch me,” Morgan said, and charged.The warrior swung its spear. Morgan dodged under it, sparks flying as the spear sliced through trees like paper. Morgan countered with a slash at the creature’s leg, but his blade boun
CHAPTER 7 — “THE MARK OF THE SILENCED”
Frank was already awake when Morgan shook his shoulder. Dawn hadn’t even cracked yet, the forest still looked bruised with lingering night.Fog coiled low, sliding between the trees like something with intention. “Up,” Morgan whispered. “Quietly.”Frank pushed himself upright. “Another patrol?”“Worse,” Morgan murmured. “Listen.”Frank held his breath. At first he heard nothing. Then, not footsteps, but absence. The forest wasn’t silent. It was being silenced.Frank shivered. “That’s… not normal.”“No,” Morgan said. “And it means Darrius sent a Silencer.”Frank’s stomach dropped. “A what?”Morgan shouldered his pack. “Move. I’ll explain once we’re not in its hunting zone.”They started down a narrow deer trail, branches drooping overhead like warning hands. Frank caught up to Morgan, whispering frantically: “What’s a Silencer?”“Assassins made from people who died screaming,” Morgan said. “Darrius binds their last breath inside them. They hunt sound. They erase whatever they catch.”F
CHAPTER 6 — THE GIRL ON THE ROOFTOP
Frank shoved the rusted hatch upward, blinking against the sudden blast of cold night air. The city stretched out before him, a maze of high-rises, neon billboards, and streets glowing with the blue pulse of barrier lights.He climbed out onto the rooftop of an abandoned building. Wind whipped at his hair. Sirens wailed somewhere far below. But what froze Frank wasn’t the noise, It was the figure already waiting for him. A girl.Maybe sixteen. Maybe seventeen. Hard to tell. She crouched on the edge of the rooftop like a shadow given shape, dark jacket fluttering in the wind, hair braided tight along one side.She didn’t turn around when Frank climbed out. Frank whispered, “Um… hi?”No answer. He stepped closer carefully. “Are you Mirra?”The girl didn’t move. Frank frowned. “The, uh… voice in the speakers? My maybe-father? He said”She cut him off with a single word: “Don’t.”Frank blinked. “Don’t what?”“Don’t come any closer.”Her voice was steady, cold, almost eerily calm. Frank fr
CHAPTER 5 — THE HUNT IN THE TUNNELS
Frank hit the platform hard, palms scraping the metal as the Shadowfire ripples ebbed around him. His chest tightened with a sharp, unfamiliar pressure, not pain, not quite, more like a second heartbeat awakening beneath the first.“Get up,” the voice urged through the speaker. “They’re closing in.”Frank tried to push himself upright, but his muscles spasmed. “Hold on, I’m still”“No time.”The voice sharpened. “Frank, stand. Now.”Frank forced himself up, gasping, sweat sliding down his neck. “Why didn’t you tell me it would feel like that?” he demanded.“Because you wouldn’t have stepped onto the platform.”Frank groaned. “Honesty would’ve been nice.”“You’ll appreciate it later.”Frank clenched his jaw. “I’ll complain later.”He staggered toward the chamber door, the one he’d entered through, but the voice snapped: “Not that way.”Frank froze. “Why not?”“It’s already too late. They’re there.”As if on cue, a long, guttural snarl echoed from the tunnel. Frank stiffened. “How many?
CHAPTER 4 — THE FATHER IN THE STATIC
Frank staggered back from the speaker, heart pounding so loudly he could hear the blood in his ears. “No,” he whispered. “You’re lying.”The voice didn’t hesitate. “I wish I were.”Frank shook his head violently. “My father died before I was born.”“That is the story Morgan chose to give you.”“It’s the truth!”“No,” the voice murmured. “It’s the safest version of the truth.”Frank slammed his fist against the console. “Stop talking in riddles!”Static crackled through the speakers like heavy breathing.Then: “Frank… Darrius hunted your bloodline long before you were born. Telling the world your father died was the only way to keep you hidden.”“That doesn’t mean you are him,” Frank shot back.“I know. So let me prove it.”Frank paused, tension coiling in him like a drawn bow. “…And how are you going to do that?”“Say your full name.”Frank’s throat tightened. “You already know my name.”“Say it anyway.”Frank swallowed. “Frank Tarrow.”“Your real name, Frank.”Frank’s fingertips went
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