The Evolution System of the Drowned

Chapter 4: The Ghost at the Gala

The storm outside was a monster, screaming against the cliffs of the Thorne Estate, but it was nothing compared to the storm in my blood. I moved through the shadows of the terrace, my footsteps silent on the stone. My skin felt tight—denser and more powerful than it had ever been. My eyes hummed with a faint, silver bioluminescence that made the pouring rain look like falling diamonds.

Inside the grand ballroom, the "Passing Ceremony" was in full swing. It was supposed to be a wake for me, but through the glass, it looked more like a coronation.

"To the future!" I heard a familiar, grating voice shout over the music.

I stepped toward the French doors. Through the gold-leafed glass, I saw Cuthbert standing on a raised platform. He was holding a glass of vintage scotch, his face flushed with triumph. Beside him stood Elowen. She looked stunning in a black silk dress that cost more than a lifeboat. She didn't look like a grieving widow. She looked like a queen who had finally gotten rid of a nuisance.

"To the Thorne-Vane merger!" Cuthbert barked, raising his glass higher. "And to Osric. May the Atlantic treat him better than he treated his business ventures!"

The crowd of socialites laughed. It was a cruel, hollow sound.

"He was always too soft for this world," Elowen said, her voice carrying perfectly through the cracks in the door. "He lacked the stomach for what was necessary. But don't worry, everyone. With Cuthbert by my side, we will lead this company into a new age of prosperity."

"And a new age of love!" Cuthbert added, slipping an arm around her waist. "Since we are all gathered here to celebrate Osric's departure, I think it's only fitting that we announce our engagement. Why waste a good party, right?"

The room erupted in applause. My hand gripped the door handle. The metal groaned under my strength, warping like soft clay.

"Engagement?" I whispered. "You didn't even wait for the body to get cold."

I didn't knock. I didn't announce myself. I simply pushed. The heavy doors didn't just open; they flew off their hinges, slamming into the buffet table with a deafening crash of silver and porcelain.

The music died instantly. The silence that followed was heavy, broken only by the howl of the gale blowing in behind me. I stepped into the light. Seawater dripped from my hair, pooling on the priceless velvet rugs. My clothes were shredded, clinging to a body that was now leaner, harder, and taller.

"I hope I'm not interrupting the toast," I said. My voice was a low, resonant rumble that seemed to vibrate the very floorboards.

The crowd gasped. Several women screamed. Elowen's face went from a triumphant glow to a ghostly, sickly white. The crystal glass in her hand slipped through her fingers, shattering on the marble floor with a sharp crack.

"O-Osric?" she stammered. Her voice was barely a whisper.

"You look like you've seen a ghost, Elowen," I said, walking toward the center of the room. Every step I took left a wet, heavy print. "But I'm afraid I'm a lot more solid than that."

"This is impossible," Cuthbert hissed, his face turning a mottled purple. He stepped in front of Elowen, his hands shaking. "You fell. The anchor... the chains... nobody survives that!"

"The anchor was a bit heavy," I said, tilting my head. My eyes flared with that silver light, and I saw the room through the system's lens. I could see Cuthbert's heart rate spiking to dangerous levels. I could see the sweat breaking out on his brow. "But the Atlantic is a big place. It has a way of changing a man."

"Security!" Elowen finally found her voice, though it was shrill and panicked. "Security, get this intruder out of here! He's... he's an impostor! A madman!"

Four large men in black suits rushed forward from the corners of the room. They were the Thorne Estate's elite guard. Men I had paid for years.

"Stop right there, pal," the lead guard said, reaching for his holster.

"I wouldn't do that, Marcus," I said, calling him by name.

He froze, his eyes widening as he looked into mine. He saw the silver glow. He saw the way my skin seemed to absorb the light. "Mr. Thorne?"

"Stand down," I commanded.

"Don't listen to him!" Cuthbert screamed, stepping off the platform. "Look at him! He's a freak! He's dangerous! Shoot him!"

Marcus looked at me, then at Cuthbert, then back at me. He saw the authority in my stance—an authority that felt ancient and crushing. He took a step back, lowering his hand. "I... I can't, sir."

"Coward!" Cuthbert lunged toward me, driven by sheer, panicked desperation. He swung a wild, clumsy punch at my face. "You should have stayed in the dark!"

I didn't even blink. I caught his fist in mid-air. The sound of his bones creaking under my grip was audible to everyone in the front row.

"You always had a bad habit of overreaching, Cuthbert," I said. I squeezed just a fraction.

Cuthbert let out a pathetic, high-pitched wail as he dropped to his knees. "Let go! You're breaking it! My hand!"

"You tried to bury me," I said, leaning down so only he could hear me. "You tied my feet and threw me to the sharks. But the thing about the deep, Cuthbert, is that it breeds things much hungrier than you."

I tossed him aside like a piece of trash. He skidded across the wet floor, crashing into the base of my "casket" display.

I turned my gaze to Elowen. She was backed up against the wall, her chest heaving. The socialites were murmuring, their phones out, recording every second of the humiliation. The "Thorne-Vane Merger" was dying in real-time on social media.

"Osric, wait," Elowen said, her voice trembling. She tried to force a tear, a trick that used to work on me every time. "I was forced... Cuthbert threatened me. He said he'd kill me too if I didn't go along with it. I've been praying for you to come back!"

"Save it," I said. I walked up to her, the scent of the sea drowning out her perfume. I reached out and touched the black silk of her dress. "Nice dress. A bit much for a funeral, don't you think?"

"I can explain everything," she pleaded. "We can go back to how it was. You're the head of the company! We can fix this!"

"How it was?" I laughed. It was a cold, harsh sound. "The man who loved you drowned in that storm, Elowen. I'm just what was left over."

I leaned in closer, my silver eyes locking onto hers. "I know about the rig, Elowen. I know what your family did to my father. I know everything."

Her eyes went wide. The last bit of color drained from her lips. "You... you couldn't know."

"The ocean has a long memory," I said.

I turned to the room, raising my voice so everyone could hear. "The party is over! Get out of my house. All of you. And tell the world that Osric Thorne is back. And tell them the tide is coming in."

The guests scrambled for the exits, terrified by the sheer intensity radiating from me. Within minutes, the ballroom was empty, save for me, a whimpering Cuthbert, and a frozen Elowen.

"What are you going to do to us?" Cuthbert moaned from the floor.

"Me?" I looked at my hands, feeling the power of the Abyssal Pearl pulsing in my veins. "I'm not going to do anything. Not yet."

I walked toward the shattered French doors, looking out at the raging sea.

[SYSTEM ALERT: MULTIPLE UNKNOWN SIGNATURES DETECTED AT THE CLIFF BASE. THEY ARE NOT HUMAN.]

I narrowed my eyes. Down in the surf, beneath the cliffs of the estate, I saw them. Pale, spindly shapes crawling out of the water. They had too many limbs and eyes that glowed with a sickly, familiar green light.

"Osric?" Elowen whispered, sensing the change in my energy. "What is it? What do you see?"

I didn't answer her. I watched as the creatures began to scale the cliff walls with impossible speed.

"It seems I wasn't the only thing that followed the pearl back to the surface," I said, my voice tight.

[WARNING: BREACH IMMINENT. THE WARDEN MUST DEFEND THE GATE.]

The glass of the ballroom windows began to vibrate. Then, with a collective roar that drowned out the storm, the windows shattered inward.

The things from the deep were here. And they didn't look like they were here for the party.