2026-09-22 10:11:32The woman was gone.
No footprints. No movement. No sound. Just trees. Endless trees. I stood there staring into the darkness long after everyone else had stopped looking. "Which one of you is real?" Her words wouldn't leave my head. I looked at the two women beside me. Both were breathing. Both were watching me. Both looked terrified. And both had the same name. Aria. That wasn't possible. But then again, nothing about this island was possible. "Ethan." I turned. The hostess was staring at me. "Are you all right?" "Yes." It was a lie. She knew it. So did the other Aria. "You're lying," she said. I looked at her. "You've known me for three years." She nodded. "Then you know I lie when I'm scared." Her expression softened. "I know." The hostess looked between us. "Three years?" The other Aria hesitated. "Yes." "How long have you been here?" "Three years." The hostess swallowed. "That's impossible." "Why?" "Because I was on that plane." She pointed toward the empty runway. "I took off less than an hour ago." I stared at her. "What was the date?" She frowned. "What?" "The date." She told me. I felt something cold settle in my stomach. It was the same date. Three years ago. The other Aria looked at me. "Tell me I'm wrong." I couldn't. The hostess covered her mouth. "No." She looked at the jungle. "I remember boarding the plane." Her breathing quickened. "I remember the passengers." She closed her eyes. "I remember the captain announcing takeoff." Her voice broke. "Then..." She opened her eyes. "Nothing." The other Aria stepped closer. "What flight?" The hostess gave the number. The other woman's face changed. She knew it. "That flight disappeared three years ago." "No." "I saw it." "That's impossible." "I watched it come down." The hostess stared at her. "Where?" "Here." Silence. The hostess shook her head. "There were passengers." "Where are they?" "I don't know." "You said you saw the plane." "I saw the plane." She looked toward the runway. "Not the people." I felt a pressure behind my eyes. A memory tried to surface. Metal. Screaming. Water. A hand gripping mine. Then darkness. I staggered. "Ethan." I caught myself against a tree. The hostess reached for me. Her fingers touched mine. The pain stopped. Immediately. I looked at her. She looked at our hands. Neither of us moved. Something inside me had gone completely still. The other Aria noticed. Her expression tightened. "You've never done that with me." I looked at her. "Done what?" "Made the pain stop." I didn't know what to say. The hostess slowly withdrew her hand. "I didn't do anything." "I know." "But it stopped." "Yes." She looked uncomfortable. "So what does that mean?" "I don't know." The other Aria looked toward the jungle. "Then we shouldn't stay here." I agreed. "We need shelter." She nodded. "We have one." "Where?" "About twenty minutes from here." The hostess looked at me. "You're trusting her?" I looked at the woman I'd known for only minutes. Then at the woman who claimed to have known me for three years. "No." Neither of them expected that answer. "I'm trusting the fact that we're all still alive." We moved. The jungle swallowed us almost immediately. Branches scraped against my arms. Roots twisted across the ground. The air was thick and wet. Every few seconds, I heard something moving in the darkness. The silver-eyed creature followed us. It stayed several meters behind. Always watching. Always silent. The hostess kept close to me. Not touching. But close enough that I could feel her presence. After several minutes, she whispered, "Can I ask you something?" "Sure." "Do you actually know me?" I looked at her. "No." She nodded slowly. "I was hoping you would say yes." "Why?" "Because..." She hesitated. "Because when I looked at you, I felt like I'd finally found someone." My chest tightened. "I felt the same thing." She looked at me. Neither of us smiled. Neither needed to. A branch cracked behind us. We turned. Nothing. The other Aria raised a finger. "Quiet." Everyone stopped. She listened. A low growl came from somewhere ahead. The silver-eyed creature moved between us and the jungle. Its body changed. Muscles expanded. Dark plates formed along its shoulders. Claws extended from its hands. The hostess stepped backward. "What is that?" "He's protecting us." "That's your definition of protection?" "He's never hurt me." The creature growled again. Then something screamed in the jungle. It wasn't human. It wasn't an animal. It sounded like both. The creature charged. We heard crashing trees. Then silence. The other Aria grabbed my arm. "Move." We ran. The shelter appeared between the trees. Stone walls. A wooden roof. Torches. It looked ancient. But inside were modern supplies. Bottled water. Medical kits. Batteries. Weapons. A radio. The hostess stopped at the doorway. "Who built this?" "I did." She looked at the other Aria. "You?" "Some of it." She pointed at me. "He did the rest." I stared at the shelter. "I don't remember." "You wouldn't." "Why?" She didn't answer. I walked inside. There were photographs pinned to the wall. Dozens of them. Maybe hundreds. Different people. Different years. Different aircraft. Different clothes. But one thing remained the same. The island. I picked up the nearest photograph. A group of men stood beside an aircraft. The photograph was dated 1964. I picked up another. Another. Another. Another. And then— The hostess stood beside me. "That's this year." "Yes." "Who took these?" "I don't know." She looked at the photographs. "Why are you in some of them?" I froze. "What?" She pointed. There I was. Standing beside a group of people. Except the photograph was dated 1989. I stared at it. My face. My body. My eyes. Everything was mine. But I was wearing an old military uniform. The other Aria walked over. She saw the photograph. Her face went pale. "I've never seen that one." I turned toward her. "You said you've been here three years." "I have." "Then how did you miss this?" "I don't know." I turned the photograph over. There was writing on the back. Only four words. HE WAS HERE BEFORE. My fingers tightened around the photograph. The hostess whispered, "Ethan..." I looked at her. She was staring at another picture. "What?" She pointed. My breath stopped. It showed the same beach from my memory. The red sky. The three moons. And the woman with violet eyes. Standing beside me. But the photograph had been taken decades before I was born. I stepped backward. "No." The other Aria picked it up. "What is that?" "I don't know." The hostess looked at me. "She's the woman from your memory." "Yes." "And she was here before you." I didn't answer. A radio on the table suddenly crackled. All three of us turned. Static filled the room. Then a voice came through. A man's voice. Calm. Clear. Familiar. "Ethan Cross." My blood ran cold. The hostess stepped closer. The other Aria reached for a weapon. The radio spoke again. "You're wondering which Aria is real." I stared at it. "Who are you?" A pause. Then— "You already know." I looked at the other Aria. Then the hostess. The voice continued. "One of them arrived three years ago." Static. "One arrived today." Another pause. "And one of them..." The radio went silent. I waited. Nothing. Then the voice returned. "...has been waiting for you since before you were born." The radio died. No static. No electricity. Nothing. The hostess whispered, "What does that mean?" I didn't answer. Because something had just appeared on the wall behind her. A symbol. Black lines burned themselves into the stone. The same symbol from my chest. The same symbol from the aircraft. The same symbol from the underground chamber. Then a second symbol appeared. Then a third. Seven symbols. Seven circles. One after another, they began glowing. The other Aria backed away. "What is happening?" I stared at the wall. Six circles were dark. Only one was glowing. Then the glowing circle cracked. A voice whispered inside my head. Not the silver-haired woman. Not Kane. Not the voice from the radio. My own voice. You opened the first one. I touched my chest. The mark burned. The hostess grabbed my hand. "Ethan." I looked at her. Her violet eyes were filled with tears. "I remember something." "What?" She swallowed. "I remember you." The room seemed to stop breathing. "When?" She looked directly into my eyes. "Before the plane." I frowned. "No." "Before today." "That's impossible." "I know." She squeezed my hand. "I remember standing beside you." "Where?" Her lips trembled. "Somewhere with three moons." My heart stopped. She whispered "And you were the one who told me to forget you." The seventh symbol on the wall suddenly appeared. I stared at it. It wasn't a circle. It was a door. And behind it Something knocked. Once. Twice. Three times. Then a voice whispered from the other side. Ethan. The hostess went pale. Because the voice sounded exactly like hers.
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CHAPTER 40 — THE LAST COPY
The screen went black.For several seconds, nobody moved.I stared at my own reflection in the dead monitor.Same eyes.Same scar beneath my left eyebrow.Same face I had seen in mirrors for thirty-two years.Except now I didn't know if it belonged to me.Behind me, Aria whispered my name.“Ethan.”I didn't answer.My eyes remained fixed on the screen.ORIGINAL SUBJECT: ETHAN CROSS.The words had stopped being words.They had become a weapon.A clean, precise blade driven between my ribs.I stepped closer to the monitor.My reflection stepped closer too.I raised my hand.It did the same.“It's lying,” Aria said.Her voice was steady.Too steady.I turned toward her.“You believe that?”“I believe Meridian lies.”“That isn't what I asked.”She hesitated.That was enough.Something inside my chest tightened.“You don't know either.”“No.”The honesty hurt more than a lie.I looked away.Behind the reinforced glass, E.C.-01 stood completely still.He had been watching us the entire time
CHAPTER 39- THE ORIGINAL
The countdown kept moving.00:41:17.I couldn't take my eyes off the screen.PRIMARY TARGET — ETHAN CROSS.My name.My photograph.My heartbeat.My entire life reduced to a red box on a military computer.I looked at the man behind the glass.E.C.-01.He wasn't smiling anymore.“You knew this would happen.”His eyes remained on the countdown.“I knew it could.”“That's not the same thing.”“No.”He looked at me.“But with Meridian, it usually becomes the same thing.”Marcus stepped toward the control console.“Daniel.”Daniel was already working.His fingers moved across the keyboard.“What are you doing?”“Trying to establish a manual connection.”“To Leviathan?”“Yes.”“Can you stop it?”Daniel didn't answer.That was answer enough.The facility shook.A deep vibration rolled through the floor.The glass beneath my boots trembled.Somewhere far below us, machinery came alive.Not a creature.Not something ancient.A machine.Thousands of tons of steel and electronics waking beneath
CHAPTER 38 — THE MAN IN THE ROOM
I saw myself.Not a photograph.Not a recording.A man.Sitting in a chair.Alive.He was behind a thick glass partition.His wrists were strapped down.His head hung forward.His hair was longer than mine.His face was thinner.But there was no mistaking him.Me.Or someone who looked exactly like me.Aria stopped beside me.“No.”Her voice barely existed.Marcus raised his weapon.Kane stepped closer.Daniel didn't move.The man behind the glass slowly lifted his head.His eyes opened.He looked directly at me.For several seconds, neither of us spoke.Then he smiled.Not happily.Sadly.Like someone seeing an old friend after years of waiting.“Ethan.”My skin went cold.I stepped toward the glass.“Who are you?”The man laughed quietly.“You still ask that.”“I've never met you.”“You have.”“When?”He looked at Aria.She was frozen.Then back at me.“Before they changed you.”My heart began pounding.Marcus moved beside me.“Step away from the glass.”The man ignored him.“Did th
CHAPTER 37 — THE TRUTH ABOUT ETHAN
CHAPTER 37 — THE TRUTH ABOUT ETHANIDENTIFY THE IMPOSTOR.Nobody moved.The words remained on the screen.White letters.Black background.Simple.Clinical.Terrifying.I looked at Kane.He looked at me.Then at the screen.The man on the vessel was gone.Only the Meridian symbol remained.Marcus raised his weapon.“Both of you.”Kane slowly turned toward him.“General—”“Hands where I can see them.”Kane obeyed.I did the same.Aria stood between us, breathing hard.Daniel backed away from both of us.Marcus looked at the two men.“Which one of you is Victor Kane?”The Kane beside me answered immediately.“I am.”The screen beeped.IDENTITY CONFLICT.Marcus's finger tightened around the trigger.I looked at the screen.“There's only one way to settle this.”Kane looked at me.“What?”“Ask something only the real Kane would know.”Marcus shook his head.“Meridian could have copies of personnel records.”“Then not a fact.”I looked at Kane.“A memory.”His expression changed.“That's d
CHAPTER 36 — YOU WERE HERE BEFORE
The floor moved.Not much.Just enough to make the lights swing overhead.A low vibration traveled through the concrete beneath my boots.I felt it in my knees.Then my chest.Then my teeth.Whatever was below us was enormous.Marcus looked at Daniel.“What exactly is Leviathan?”Daniel didn't answer.The vibration increased.A pipe above us rattled loose.Water sprayed across the wall.Kane grabbed the edge of the control console.“That's not a generator.”“No,” Daniel said.“Then what is it?”Daniel looked at me.“An underwater platform.”I frowned.“That doesn't explain the size.”“It wasn't built as a ship.”He pointed toward the floor.“It was built as a weapon.”Another tremor.Aria grabbed my arm.“Ethan.”“I know.”“No.”She looked frightened.“I've heard that sound before.”“Where?”She closed her eyes.“Under the water.”My stomach tightened.The ocean.The creature we'd seen.The impossible roar.The silver eyes.The words you returned.Maybe none of it had been supernatura
CHAPTER 35 — THE DREAM
00:49The number changed.00:48.Then—00:47.The room hummed around us.I could hear the ventilation system kicking into a higher setting.A faint chemical smell entered the air.Marcus noticed it too.“Cover your mouths.”Everyone reacted at once.Kane pulled his sleeve over his nose.Daniel grabbed a piece of cloth from a medical cabinet.I tore the bottom of my shirt and wrapped it across my face.Aria looked at the ceiling.“What are they releasing?”Marcus examined one of the vents.“Sedative.”Daniel shook his head.“Not just that.”Marcus looked at him.“What?”“Something designed to lower resistance.”My eyes went to the timer.00:41.The projector came alive.A white screen appeared on the wall.Then a video.A young man sat in a chair.Me.Twenty-five years old.Thinner.Shorter hair.Bruise beneath my left eye.Blood on my lip.I stared at myself.I had seen recordings of this man before.But this was different.He was awake.Alert.And terrified.A voice came from behind
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