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134

Author: Tianah

2025-06-25 02:08:39

Chapter 134

The darkness was suffocating. I could barely see a thing in the dark and it gave me the creeps.

Not just the absence of light, but the way it pressed in—thick, electric, alive. Sasha’s console flickered once before it died completely, her gasp sharp in the silence.

“I’ve lost the feed!” she hissed.

“Everyone stay close,” I said, barely able to hear my own voice above the blood pounding in my ears. “Juliet—light!”

A hiss. Then a flicker. Her flashlight cut through the dark in a narrow cone, illuminating our blood-slicked faces and the sparking remains of Subject Zero. Juno leaned against the wall, clutching her shoulder, her breaths shallow. Park had his rifle raised, scanning every corner of the black.

Then the emergency lights surged to life—faint red strobes pulsing like a heartbeat.

Nathan’s voice returned, colder this time. “You shouldn’t have come here, Adrian. You were always predictable. Always emotional.”

“Where is he broadcasting from?” Juliet snapped.

Sasha look

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164
Chapter 164Silence hung in the air for a very long time as each of us looked at ourselves. Suri sat still, eyes glassy and distant, like she was reliving it all again in slow motion. The rain thundered against the roof above us, a steady rhythm that sounded like a war drum—pounding, relentless, maddening.I bent down and picked up a shard of glass from the floor, watching how the dim light refracted off its jagged edge.“He screamed—like he was burning…”Those words replayed in my head. I clenched the shard in my fist until it bit into my palm, and only when Ren placed a hand on my shoulder did I realize I’d started shaking angrily. “Adrian,” he said quietly. “We’ll get him back.”I nodded once, not trusting my voice. It wasn’t about hope anymore. It was about necessity. Marcus wasn’t just my friend—he was practically family.“Did you see their faces?” I asked Suri, keeping my voice low and careful.She shook her head slowly. “No helmets. Black, with this strange symbol on the side
163
Chapter 163Rain.Not the soft, soothing kind that made you want to curl up in bed—but the savage, needle-sharp kind that sliced through the air like glass. It had started just moments after Ren’s warning, and now, it was as if the world itself knew something dark had been set in motion.Marcus was gone.Taken.And I could feel it—the way you feel a missing tooth with your tongue or a phantom limb that should be there but isn’t.I couldn't shake off the dark feeling I was having. I tried to remember what happened to Park. How he fell victim to Nathan’s ruthlessness. If they were building us, what then? Are they going to march us off to some kind of war? I wasn't sure, but now, he is gone too. I don't know where to begin the search from or where to look. “How long ago?” I asked, grabbing my jacket and pulling it over my bare chest.“Just before dawn,” Ren said. “He was with a friend, Suri. They’d just come back from a run—she said they were laughing one second, then the next... b
162
Chapter 162Pain.That was the first thing I felt—or thought I felt. Then, nothing.Just cold.Then heat.A blinding, searing heat that spread through every corner of my being, as though my bones were melting and reforming all at once. I wanted to scream, but there was no mouth, no voice, no air.Only black.Only fire.Only silence.Then… a heartbeat.Ba-dum.It echoed like a drum in an empty hall. Slow. Steady.Ba-dum.Another. Louder.Ba-dum.Then suddenly—I gasped.Air tore into my lungs like a flame. My body arched violently off the ground as I sucked in oxygen. My eyes flew open, and all I could see was the night sky above me—stars scattered like shattered glass across the heavens. The moon stared back at me like a witness, cold and judging.My body—every inch of it—ached, but not in the way it should have.I blinked, realizing I was still whole.No blood. No bone fragments. No internal bleeding. No fatal injuries.Nothing.I was lying in a shallow crater, the impact of my fall
161
Chapter 161 It's been a week now. I didn't see any threat, and I could barely move out of the house. Not because I was scared, but because I needed to think. What are the odds that Edwin was going to come for me?Was he going to look for another forerunner after the death of Nathan, or was he going to supervise the selling of drugs and the abductions himself?Those were the questions that kept going through my mind. My mind went back to Zee a few times, but I was quick to dismiss the thought from my mind. If she wanted us back then, she wouldn't have thrown away what we had in the first place. To me, she didn't care anymore. And it was time I moved on, too, but not to Tessa and clearly not to Juliet. Both of them were women whom I never wanted to get personal with. But for now, Juliet was more like keeping my bed warm. I lay back, relaxing on my bed, and I could smell her body on it. I shut my eyes, remembering the last intimacy that we had. It was my first, but it was clear my
160
Chapter 160The day of Nathan’s burial came, a sky mourning without rain. The cemetery was packed—reporters, students, staff, politicians, and people who had probably never even spoken to Nathan when he was alive. They all wore black, some with cameras hidden in their sleeves, others whispering behind dark shades. All eyes were hunting for one thing: a performance.A lot of them really came to make more connections, while some of them came to see if it was true. If Nathan was really dead. While some came to see if there was going to be anything special to gossip about. And we gave them one.I stood by the edge of the crowd, my face expressionless, hands tucked in my coat pockets. Juliet stood to my right, dressed in a sleek black dress, her face veiled in polite grief. Ren was behind us, arms crossed, his head slightly tilted as he scanned the crowd. Marcus flanked my left, jaw clenched like he was holding back a scream.Nathan’s casket sat like a throne before the crowd, draped in
159
Chapter 159The burial of Nathan was the talk of the town. Edwin flew back immediately when the news of his death reached him. I knew he was not only coming back for his burial, but he was also coming back for revenge, and I was ready. A new university was being built, as many of the students kept tweeting about it. I don't know if I should try and stop it or not. A part of me wished I could, but it was not sponsored by Edwin. I wondered who the anonymous sponsor was. “Do you think we should go?” Ren walked right by my side. “And why would I go to the burial of a guy who almost killed me?. Who took pride in seeing me in pain? Cost me a lot. Why would I want to attend his burial?” “Just to tell people that we are not the bad guys?” Marcus said from my back. I scoffed. “The world has already made up its mind, Marcus. No amount of fake sympathy is going to change that. Do you think some are actually blinded to how wicked he was or Nathan's cruelty?” “No. They were just scared to ta

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