ACT TWO - CHAPTER NINE

Last Breath

Jul 27, 2026

When hope dies,
a person can still breathe.
When trust dies,
only the Shadow remains.

SEBASTIAN

I pushed off the ground into a forward flip. In a flash of black light, Lilith collapsed back into the form of a ring. An inhuman roar erupted behind me.

I didn’t look back. I couldn’t.

I had to trust that Miz knew what he was doing.

“SEBASTIAN!” his voice thundered after me. “RUN!”

One word. It was enough.

I sprinted. Taking the stairs three at a time, I burst through the doors of the Emporium. Cold rain slammed into my face. Glasgow carried on as if nothing had happened.

At the edge of the street, a young man had just stopped on a black Honda. He pulled off his helmet and reached into his pocket.

I ran straight toward him.

“Hey, what the—” He never finished.

One punch dropped him onto the rain-soaked asphalt. I caught the falling helmet, pulled it over my head, and swung onto the motorcycle.

“You fucking—!” The rest of his curse vanished beneath the roar of the engine.

The first few streets disappeared behind me in seconds. Then Downtown reminded me why everyone hated it.

Gridlock. A crash. A delivery van was blocking the intersection. Buses, taxis, police cars, and dozens of drivers trapped in the maze of narrow streets.

I forced the bike between the cars, scraping against doors and tearing off side mirrors. But with every meter, the gap narrowed. I jumped off, left the motorcycle where it stood—with the keys still in the ignition—and took off on foot.

My phone vibrated in my pocket. The countdown was still running. The glowing red numbers kept shrinking.

That was Maxwell.

He hadn’t forced me to choose between them. He’d forced me to run, knowing that every wasted second meant only one thing—

that once again... I’d arrive too late.

I vaulted over dumpsters, pushed off rain-slick walls, and cut through fences, courtyards, and abandoned alleyways.

The city ceased to exist. Only one destination remained.

As I rounded an abandoned warehouse, a small figure flashed across my path. She was running unevenly, glancing over her shoulder. Her next step caught the curb. She nearly fell.

The moment she saw me, she sprinted toward me.

No... It wasn’t a sprint.

It was the desperate collision of someone who had nowhere left to run. She slammed into me so hard I had to step back to keep us both from falling.

Her fingers dug into my jacket. Her breathing came in short, broken gasps. Rain-soaked strands of hair clung to her face.

“Ellie.” I caught her by the shoulders. “Breathe.”

She shook her head. She couldn’t. A sob nearly folded her in half.

“Ellie.” I gripped her shoulders a little tighter. “Where are they?”

It took several seconds before she looked up. Her eyes were bloodshot. Wide with panic. Her lips moved, but no sound came out.

She wiped away her tears, only for new ones to replace them. “We found the laboratory... Graveglass... There were people... Shadows...”

Every word came with visible effort.

“Then... the lights went out...” Her fingers clenched my jacket even harder. “There was black smoke everywhere... “I couldn’t see anything...”

She broke down again.

“Sarah yelled at me to run...”

She shot an angry glare at her own shadow, which rippled faintly beneath the streetlight, almost like a grin. The words burst out of her.

“Don’t even look at me!” She pointed at it. “Where were you when I needed you?!”

Her fists clenched.

“But you had no problem finding corpses, did you? You fucking parasite...”

“I know Sarah.” I kept my voice calm. “If she told you to run, it means she’d already realized the only chance was getting at least one person out.”

“I couldn’t save them... It’s my fault...” Those words struck the place that hurt the most. I’d been telling them to myself for years.

I knelt in front of her until we were at eye level.

“Sarah is alive.” I gently took hold of her wrists.

“How can you possibly know that?”

I couldn’t. I simply refused to believe otherwise.

“Because Maxwell wants to break us.” I rose to my feet.

Ellie bit her lower lip. “Then why the fuck did he take them?”

I stared into the distance: “Because the living hurt more than the dead.”

She closed her eyes for a moment. When she opened them again, she was standing a little straighter. “Then we’ll bring them back.”

I nodded. At that moment, my phone vibrated again. Thomas.

I answered immediately. For a moment, all I could hear was his ragged breathing. Then he spoke a single sentence. The words froze the blood in my veins.

“Sebastian... get to the hospital. Now. He is here...”

She walked beside me with her head lowered. Ever since we’d found each other, she’d barely spoken. Every now and then she sniffled and wiped her eyes with her sleeve, embarrassed that she’d broken down in front of me.

I didn’t blame her.

The hospital corridor was unusually quiet. The smell of disinfectant mingled with the aroma of cheap coffee drifting from the vending machine at the far end of the hall.

Thomas sat in his wheelchair outside Jacob’s room.

The moment he saw me, he crushed his half-smoked cigarette into the metal ashtray beside him and pushed himself toward the door.

He looked awful. His hair was a mess, dark circles hung beneath sleepless eyes, and there was an expression on his face I’d never seen before.

We stepped inside.

The monitors beeped with monotonous regularity.

Jacob lay motionless in bed, connected to tubes and an oxygen mask. He looked even worse than he had in the Himalayas. In the span of a single month, he’d aged twenty years.

Ellie remained by the doorway. Even she didn’t dare to speak.

“How did he get in here?” I asked.

“I have no idea.” Thomas pointed toward the bedside table. “He left this.”

A porcelain vase stood on it. Bright yellow sunflowers lit up a room that smelled of death. They didn’t belong there. They looked absurd.

He didn’t need a signature. He didn’t need a threat. The bouquet of sunflowers was enough. Every one of us knew who had brought them.

“Did he say anything?”

Thomas gripped the arms of his wheelchair so tightly his knuckles turned white.

“He sat beside Jacob for almost ten minutes.” His eyes drifted toward the bed. “He talked to him.”

Ellie blinked in confusion: “But he’s unconscious.”

Thomas swallowed before answering. “He put the sunflowers down and wished him a speedy recovery.”

Ellie shook her head in disbelief. “He’s completely fucking lost it.”

“Quite the opposite.” My eyes returned to the flowers. “He knows exactly what he’s doing.”

As if my words had triggered something, the monitor beside Jacob’s bed began beeping faster.

Beep. Beep. Beep.

Thomas shoved himself toward the bed, seized Jacob’s hand, and held it tightly.

The fingers on Jacob’s right hand twitched. His eyelids fluttered. Slowly... he opened his eyes. He looked disoriented. His gaze landed on Thomas. Then on me.

Finally... on the sunflowers.

Every trace of color drained from his face. It wasn’t ordinary fear. It was pure terror. He tried to sit up. His body refused to obey. He began gasping for air. With a trembling hand, he pointed at the flowers.

The monitor erupted into an irregular rhythm.

“No...” His eyes never left the vase. “No...”

The alarm screamed throughout the room.

“Jacob... mon chéri... regarde-moi...” Thomas leaned over him, holding his hand with one of his own while brushing the damp hair back from his forehead with the other.

“Wa...” Jacob’s hand shook harder. His finger remained fixed on the vase. “Wa...” His eyes rolled back. “...ter...” His head fell limply onto the pillow.

The monitors shrieked. The door burst open. Two doctors and three nurses rushed inside.

“Code team!” One of the doctors shoved me aside. “Out!”

I didn’t want to leave. But I was only in their way. I grabbed Ellie by the arm and pulled her into the corridor. The door slammed shut behind us.

Behind the glass, white coats rushed back and forth. Short commands echoed through the room. Rapid footsteps. The sharp crack of a defibrillator.

There was nothing left for me to do... except wait.

Meanwhile, Ellie paced the hallway. Back and forth. Every time she turned around, she looked toward Jacob’s room, waiting for the door to finally open.

After her tenth lap, she lashed out and kicked one of the plastic chairs across the corridor.

“Fuck this!” She was talking to the helplessness itself. Then she stopped. Her eyes dropped to her sneakers. “Come back.”

Her Shadow remained perfectly still.

She clenched her jaw. “I know you can hear me! Don’t play games with me!”

Several people in the corridor turned to look. A passing nurse slowed her pace.

Ellie took a step forward. “I’m ordering you!”

The Shadow ignored her. Instead it turned and faced the opposite direction.

“Then go!” She lifted one foot off the floor.

It didn’t let go. Instead, it wrapped itself around her ankle. Then it snapped upward.

Smack! Her head whipped violently to the side.

I was beside her in an instant, guiding both her and the Shadow behind the corner.

“That was—” Ellie lowered her head.

“Not a word.” I narrowed my eyes at the Shadow. “You neither.”

Its edges quivered. Thankfully it went still.

A few people in the corridor began whispering among themselves. They probably thought she’d suffered a mental breakdown. Better that they believed it.

“Sarah and Aurora are out there somewhere with that psychopath...” She turned away, dragged both hands through her hair, and clenched her fingers into it. “...and I’m just standing here.”

I didn’t answer. It was eating away at me too. Instead of speaking, I walked over to the vending machine. I came back with two chocolate bars.

She glanced at the wrapper and snorted in disgust: “Ugh. This one’s awful.”

“They didn’t have anything else.” I held one out to her anyway.

“The one you buy is better.” Reluctantly, she unwrapped it. She took a bite. The look on her face suggested she’d just tasted cardboard.

For the first time since Graveglass... she stopped cursing Maxwell and focused on the chocolate. Just for a moment... she was Ellie again.

She rolled the crumpled wrapper between her fingers. Eventually she huffed and tossed it into my lap. “You eat it.”

I accepted it without protest and sat down.

“It was awful anyway.”

I shrugged. “You still ate half of it.”

She watched me from the corner of her eye, clearly hoping I’d argue. When I stayed silent, she rolled her eyes.

I reached over and gently ruffled her hair. She hated that.

“Oh, for fuck’s sake!” She immediately smoothed it back into place. “One day I’m cutting you bangs for that.”

“You’d have to be taller first.”

The annoyance on her face gave way to an amused grin. A moment later it faded again.

“I’m really scared for them...”

“That’s normal. Courage was never about fear disappearing.”

“That sounds wise.” She poked me in the side.

“It’s annoying.” I scratched the back of my head. “I know.”

She looked up at me. “Did you just make that up?”

The elevator chimed. Its doors slid open. The first thing I saw... was blood. It dripped onto the pale tiles.

One drop. Another. A third.

Aurora could barely stay on her feet. The right side of her face was battered. Her lips were split with dried blood.

A thin stream trickled from beneath the torn sleeve of her jacket, running all the way down her fingers.

Every breath came with a ragged wheeze. Her lungs fought every inhale.

“My God...” the nurse behind the reception desk breathed. Her chair screeched across the floor as she rushed toward us. “I need a stretcher! Now!”

Several people in the hallway rose from their seats. An elderly woman covered her mouth. A young man lifted his phone, only to be stopped immediately.

“No filming! Step back!”

Ellie was already kneeling beside Aurora. She gently brushed the wet strands of hair away from her face. “Can you hear me?”

Aurora stared blankly at the ceiling. She had no idea where she was. Then her pupils suddenly widened.

“Sarah...” The name burst out of her. She grabbed my jacket with both hands. “Seb...” Her voice was barely audible. “I’m... sorry...”

My chest tightened. I wrapped my hands around hers. “Don’t apologize.”

She tried to breathe. A violent cough shook her. Fresh blood appeared on her lower lip.

“They took her...” A sob shattered the sentence. A tear rolled down her cheek. “I tried to go back... I swear... I tried...” Her voice fell apart. “...I couldn’t...”

Ellie gently pulled her into an embrace. “Rorita...” she whispered, stroking her hair. “Shh... Don’t waste your strength.”

Aurora managed the faintest turn of her head.

“Listen to me.” Ellie cupped her face between both hands. “It’s not your fault.”

She forced her to keep breathing. She repeated the very same words I’d said to her only minutes earlier.

“It is...” Aurora whispered.

“No.” Maybe Ellie didn’t even believe it herself. But she didn’t hesitate. “Sarah would’ve done the exact same thing.”

Aurora buried her face against Ellie’s shoulder.

The paramedics arrived with a doctor and a stretcher. “Please step aside!”

The doctor quickly examined the blood on Aurora’s sleeve and the swelling across her face. Reluctantly... Ellie let go.

I didn’t say a word. I’d never seen Aurora broken.

If anyone carried the blame... it was Maxwell.

At the far end of the corridor, a figure emerged through the haze of hospital lights. Miz. His coat was torn in several places. The right sleeve was dark with blood. A fresh cut stretched across his face.

When he reached us, his black eyes settled on Aurora as the paramedics wheeled her toward the emergency ward.

He lowered his head and removed his hat: “Mrs. Meyer, I’m glad to see you’re still among the living.”

The stretcher disappeared behind the emergency room doors.

Miz brushed dust from his cuff and straightened the wrinkled sleeve, ignoring the blood running down his wrist.

“Holloway?” It wasn’t a question.

“For once in his life... he made the right decision.” His voice remained calm. “He died.”

Silence settled over the hallway. No one smiled.

Holloway’s death solved nothing.

Miz casually adjusted the collar of his coat. “Ladies and gentlemen...” He sighed, almost apologetically. “Would someone be so kind as to explain everything I missed?”

We sat down in a small meeting room at the end of the corridor. A round table. Four plastic chairs. A whiteboard on the wall. A room meant for conversations with patients’ families now looked more like a makeshift wartime bunker.

Rain drummed relentlessly against the windows outside.

Miz removed his bloodstained gloves, carefully placed them on the table, and spread a map of Downtown in front of us.

Beside it landed a crumpled photograph of the laboratory’s piping system.

For several seconds, he silently compared it with the city’s layout. Then he reached for a marker. With a single stroke, he highlighted the thick blue arteries running beneath Downtown. The tip of the marker stopped on the map.

“The city’s main water supply.”

A chill ran down my spine. “Jacob woke up,” I said. “He only managed to say one word... water.”

“It fits.” He pulled out a second map. Three locations were marked on it.

The old treatment plant.

An abandoned pumping station.

The reservoirs beneath Blackhill.

“On my way here, I intercepted three of Winchester’s men. Every one of them claimed they were working somewhere else.” He set the marker down. “They all lied.”

He glanced at the map once more.

“Winchester never divides his people at random.”

Ellie shot to her feet: “So Sarah is at one of those locations...”

Miz turned the map toward us. “We split up.” He pointed at me. “Sebastian, you’re coming with me. We’ll check all three sites.”

“What about me?” Ellie asked impatiently.

“You’ll secure the main water junction,” he replied. “If Graveglass reaches the city’s drinking water... Downtown is finished.”

“I’m going with her.” Aurora tightened the bandage around her forearm. “Sarah stayed behind because of me.”

“You should be staying in the hospital,” Ellie and I blurted out at the same time.

Aurora merely waved the objection away.

Miz put his hat back on. “Mrs. Meyer,” he said with his usual courtesy, “if your condition worsens, Miss Ellie will bring you straight back.”

“Crystal clear.” Ellie slapped Miz’s hand with a grin.

I headed for the door, but stopped after only a few steps. “Aurora...” It was strange how heavy ordinary words could become. “I don’t trust people very much.”

The faintest smirk crossed her face. “I’d noticed.”

I nodded toward Ellie, who was rummaging through the pockets of her jacket while muttering to herself that she’d somehow managed to lose her car keys again.

“Please... Look after her for me.”

Aurora followed my gaze before looking back at me. “You have my word.”

The old pumping station stood on the riverbank like the rusted skeleton of a building the world had long since forgotten. Wind battered the corrugated metal roof, filling the empty structure with a hollow metallic groan.

We searched the entire lower level. Broken pipes. Collapsed shelving. Dust. Not a single trace of Sarah.

I was about to turn back toward the exit when I noticed it.

A small gift box sat atop a concrete pedestal. It was wrapped with meticulous care in dark paper, tied with a black ribbon, with a sprig of lavender resting on top.

My stomach tightened.

Lavender had always been Mayu’s scent. Her favorite flower.

I stepped closer, hesitating. My fingers hovered over the ribbon. I’d never been so afraid of an ordinary box.

Miz stepped up beside me. Together, we untied the ribbon and lifted the lid.

Inside lay a woman’s severed arm. It had been cut cleanly just below the elbow. A delicate silver bracelet still encircled the wrist.

My knees nearly gave out. I caught myself against the concrete pillar. I couldn’t tear my eyes away from it.

“Good evening, Sebastian.” The speakers crackled. “I had a feeling you’d ask the princess for her hand someday.”

I clenched my teeth. “I’m going to kill you.”

“This time... I made your job easier.”

A monitor flickered to life on the opposite side of the hall. Sarah was strapped to a steel chair. Her face was covered in bruises. Even so... her eyes remained locked directly on the camera.

Maxwell stepped into frame. A syringe rested in his hand.

Sarah spat blood at his feet.

His green eyes drifted down to his shoe. With a weary sigh, he pulled a handkerchief from his pocket. “Oh... Those were new.”

He calmly wiped the blood away.

“I must confess, Princess, I’m rather nervous.” I’ve never tested this on a fairy before.” Then he drove the needle into her palm.

Sarah hissed in pain.

He set a small hand saw beside her chair.“Please, watch your fingers.” He turned toward the camera. “It would be a shame to lose the wrong limb.”

The screen went black. My eyes remained trapped on the empty display. As if it might light up again. As if... I could still change something.

“Sebastian.” Miz’s voice reached me, muffled and distant, melting into the noise inside my own head. “We have to go.”

I picked up the box. Carefully placed the lid back on. Without saying a word... I walked out into the rain. It hadn’t eased. I got into the car.

Miz turned the key. The engine rumbled to life, and we pulled away.

The streets of Glasgow blurred into dirty ribbons of light beyond the rain-soaked windows.

The wipers sliced through them over and over... only for the rain to swallow them whole again. The silence inside the car grew heavier.

Heavy enough... for someone else to climb inside.

“You know where you’re making your mistake?”

I didn’t look at him. I didn’t have to.

“You’ve spent your entire life putting out other people’s fires.”

His reflection appeared in the side window. Another raindrop slid down the glass. My fist tightened until my knuckles cracked.

“You still believe you can save them.”

My eyes never left the road ahead.

“You can’t.” He let those two words hang in the air. “But you can make sure no one else ever has to die.”

The car hit a pothole. I didn’t even blink.

“Stop saving the consequences.” His voice sank deeper than the sound of the rain. “Remove the cause.”

My fingernails dug into my palms. Blood trickled between my fingers and soaked into the seat. I didn’t notice.

Ahead, through the curtain of rain, a road sign emerged... marking the final location. Miz slowed the car. I was looking in only one direction now.

At Maxwell.

The final location looked more like an abandoned theater than a waterworks facility. The enormous chamber disappeared into darkness. Dozens of old chandeliers hung from the ceiling. Barely half of them still gave off light.

The doors slammed shut behind us with a hollow boom. No one greeted us.

At the far end of the hall, a single illuminated point emerged from the shadows. A dinner table. An immaculate white tablecloth. Silver cutlery. Two crystal glasses.

Maxwell sat behind them. Relaxed. Waiting.

Opposite him sat Sarah. Her head hung limply against her shoulder. A black wedding dress cascaded heavily onto the stone floor. Candles burned before her, their flames bathing her in warm light.

Her left arm was gone.

“I’m sorry I arrived before the ceremony.” He raised his glass. “I hear grooms tend to be nervous.”

His gaze drifted toward Sarah. He sighed.

“So in the end you did agree on the wedding colors.”

My arm snapped upward. Maxwell’s head jerked backward. His body slipped from the chair— but before it even struck the floor... it dissolved into a cloud of dense black smoke.

A moment later... applause echoed through the hall.

I looked up. The real Maxwell stood on the balcony above us.

“Bravo. You didn’t disappoint.”

From the darkness emerged dozens of chairs arranged in perfect rows. Each held a bound figure.

Men and women dressed in tailored suits and elegant evening gowns. Wedding guests. Black sacks concealed their faces. Heavy steel collars encircled their necks.

“Ladies and gentlemen...” He bowed with theatrical elegance. “Thank you for accepting my invitation.”

His hand slipped into his jacket pocket. He withdrew a small remote control.

“It’s time for the toast.” He pressed the button.

There was no explosion. Only a soft perfectly synchronized click.

Then the screams began. Body after body convulsed in impossible spasms. Expensive fabric tore apart. The sound of jaws cracking and bones splintering drowned out the human cries.

From hundreds of throats came wet, bubbling gasps...

until they fused into a single deafening, animalistic roar.

I sprinted toward the table. With a knife, I sliced through the straps binding Sarah to the chair.

She collapsed forward. I caught her before she hit the floor. She was still breathing.

“Miz!” I carefully placed her into his arms. The left side of her dress was soaked through with blood. “Get her out of here!”

Behind me, the growling grew louder. I already knew what those people had become.

Miz gave a single nod and disappeared into the darkness toward the exit.

Somewhere high within the hidden vaults of the hall… the first notes began to play. Heavy strings. Operatic voices. They merged with the cracking of bones and the monsters’ roars into one grotesque symphony.

0:00

-3:53

On the balcony, Maxwell slowly straightened. His eyes shone with absolute ecstasy. “Finally...” he whispered beneath the swelling music. “I’ve been looking forward to this part all evening.”

He closed his eyes. Gracefully raised both hands. And began conducting. He swayed with the rhythm of the aria, his fingers directing every growl...

every violent twitch...

every movement of the creatures below.

The Shadows slowly turned toward me. Their eyeless, mangled faces, still hidden beneath the torn remains of black sacks all faced me, while the opera surged toward its crescendo.

I closed my eyes. One deep breath.

The aria climbed higher. Their roars swallowed it whole.

When I opened my eyes again...

Sebastian...

was home no longer.

~~ELLIE~~

Thankfully, the freezing rain had finally stopped. The asphalt below gleamed like freshly poured lacquer, every damn streetlight stretching across it in long ribbons of gold.

From the roof of the abandoned office building, the entire compound lay spread out beneath us.

I raised my binoculars. This looked like absolute shit.

“What do you see?” Aurora leaned against the crumbling chimney.

“Way more cars than my survival instincts are comfortable with.”

Beyond the fence, black vans were parked bumper to bumper. A tanker truck rumbled through the open gate. Then another. And another.

Aurora took the binoculars from me. “I count at least thirty people.”

“I’ve got forty-two.”

She didn’t give me one of her judgmental looks. Didn’t even roll her eyes. Made me feel a little warmer inside. At least someone on this team appreciated my exceptional observation skills.

“Counting the ones on the rooftops?” she asked, still scanning the compound.

“And the ones pretending they’re being subtle.”

I pulled out Miz’s map and spread it across the damp concrete between us.

“Look.” My finger traced the entire perimeter. “Seb would never go in this way.”

Aurora raised an eyebrow. “Why?”

“Seb taught me one very important thing.” I traced the fence. The blind corner. The stupid service road. “If there’s an easy way in… it’s probably mined.”

She looked back down at the map. “So?”

“I’ll go through here.” I tapped the narrow strip squeezed between the retaining wall and the main pipeline. “No sane person would crawl through there.”

She let out a long sigh.

I zipped my jacket all the way to my neck to keep the wind from cutting straight through me. Honestly... I didn’t want to go in there. Not even a little.

Floodlights carved through the darkness while men in full tactical gear patrolled between them. They were covering every entrance.

Sebastian would’ve punched me for this. And honestly? He’d probably be right.

I pulled my suppressed sniper rifle from my bag and placed it across Aurora’s lap.

I cut her off before she could even open her mouth. “If this whole thing goes to hell, someone needs eyes on the entire compound.” I slipped the comms earpiece into her ear. “You’ll be my eyes.”

Aurora stayed silent while adjusting the headset. She disengaged the safety, rested the rifle against the broken chimney, and chambered a round. Then she pressed her eye against the scope.

I pulled my hood low over my face and stepped onto the very edge of the rooftop. Then I jumped. The fall lasted barely a heartbeat.

My Shadow stretched hungrily beneath my feet, spilling across the concrete wall.

It swallowed my weight...

wrapped me in cold, damp velvet...

and I landed on the pavement without making a sound.

Static crackled in my earpiece. Aurora’s voice remained calm. Cold. Certain.

“Contact. Twenty meters. South.”

I swallowed hard. A little crookedly... because my stomach had somehow climbed into my throat. “Del, I really hope you knew what you were doing...”

I crouched behind a massive pipeline. Static crackled in my earpiece. “Twelve o’clock. Sniper on the roof.”

I looked up. A faint glint flashed from his scope. If Aurora hadn’t been covering me, I would’ve noticed him only after half my face was gone.

“I haven’t seen this many guys gathered together since one of Kara’s OF videos.”

We needed to cross the western sector and reach the main building. Which meant removing at least a dozen heavily armed professionals without anyone managing to trigger the alarm.

Challenge accepted.

The first volunteer stood with his back to me, smoking.

I loosened my grip on my own mind. My body lost its weight and dissolved into the darkness. Silently, I glided across the wet concrete until I reached his heels. With the faintest whisper, I rose back into human form.

My fingers lengthened, fused together, and hardened into a blade. Left hand over his mouth. Right hand— one swift pull across his throat.

The next fifteen minutes turned the compound into a city of ghosts.

I crawled through the facility as a Shadow. Slipping beneath black vans. Flowing through the blind spots of surveillance cameras. Methodically clearing the route.

One sniper beside a generator disappeared from the rooftop so quickly… the only thing left behind was his flashlight.

A guard dog beside a dumpster suddenly growled. Its handler never even had time to turn around. I dragged them both beneath a truck.

Evidence vanished. The numbers dwindled. The western wing fell completely silent.

Until I reached three heavily armored soldiers advancing along the service path. They moved shoulder to shoulder. Weapons ready. Uneasy because their teammates had stopped answering the radio.

I never stepped out of cover. A wave of darkness spilled from beneath my boots. It spread across the concrete... forming a wide pool of absolute emptiness. Not a single light reflected on its surface.

The first man stepped straight into it. The black surface rippled. He didn’t even have time to scream before it swallowed him to the waist.

The second reached for him— lost his footing— and disappeared with him.

The third stumbled backward, scrambling for his weapon.

Long shadow-claws erupted from my back. They wrapped around his head. Covered his mouth. And yanked him down.

They became part of us. The surge of power... God... it was intoxicating. For one brief moment... I couldn’t tell where I ended... and where the Shadow began.

It rippled contentedly inside my chest. Hungry. Wanting more.

“Ellie.” Aurora’s voice came sharply through the radio. Almost like a warning. “Don’t let yourself get used to it.”

I forced myself to stop smiling.

One last target remained. He stood beneath a floodlight, nervously searching his pockets while muttering curses under his breath. Just an ordinary kid. Sweating through his uniform.

I slipped beneath a row of containers and appeared directly in front of him. The intoxicating taste of my previous victims still pulsed through my veins. I hated how badly I wanted more.

He went pale. His eyes widened in terror. The radio on his shoulder crackled to life. “Unit Seven? Come in. We’ve lost your signal...”

My blade flashed. Fast. Merciful. It ended his fear before he could understand what was happening. I caught him before he hit the ground.

“I’m sorry...” It was the only thing I could say.

Only after he was dead did I allow the Shadow to consume him… to erase the evidence. It obeyed reluctantly. I’d denied it the one thing it truly craved— living prey.

“Route’s clear.” Aurora’s voice returned over the comms. Some of the tension had finally left it.

The uniforms smelled of cheap aftershave and cold sweat.

Mine was a little loose around the shoulders, but the tactical vest mercifully hid the difference.

Aurora, on the other hand, looked as if she’d been born wearing Kevlar.

I expected alarms. Blazing sirens. Bullets flying our way. Nothing happened.

We walked down a long white corridor straight toward the heart of the complex.

Two technicians carrying tablets nearly collided with us. One muttered a quiet apology, lowered his eyes, and hurried on.

My pulse hammered in my temples, but I never quickened my pace.

Sebastian would’ve been proud.

“You belong here. Believe it and they’ll believe it too.” I’d always dismissed his advice as motivational bullshit. Turns out it actually worked.

We stepped into a freight elevator, and the steel doors slid shut behind us. Only then did I finally let out a proper breath.

“That was...”

“…way too easy,” Aurora finished. She removed the heavy helmet from her head and ran a hand through her hair. “This sector was supposed to have tighter security.”

“Maybe this place is run by an idiot.” I leaned against the cold wall of the elevator cabin, feeling the first wave of tension finally leave my body.

The Shadow inside me slept peacefully. Full. Satisfied. Perfectly content after its last meal. Pure bliss.

I loosened the sling of the rifle we’d stolen. Honestly everything had gone far too smoothly. For the first time in forever... I almost believed this mission might end the boring, ordinary way.

The elevator continued descending deeper underground and I finally allowed my muscles to relax.

The air tasted of chlorine, rust, and raw chemicals. At the center of the massive chamber stood four colossal tanks, towering all the way to the steel ceiling.

They were connected directly to the city’s main water supply. Behind thick reinforced glass, their contents churned into view.

A dense, dark-purple liquid swallowed every trace of light around it. There was enough of it to poison half the country.

The Shadow inside me let out a low, irritated growl at the sight of that synthetic death.

“We found it,” I whispered. I pulled a small demolition charge from my pouch.

The plan was beautifully simple. “Cover me. I’ll get to the panel and—”

The rest of the sentence drowned in a blinding burst of white light. Military floodlights exploded to life from every direction.

Catwalks. Staircases. Platforms high above us.

My pupils shrank painfully. I threw an arm over my eyes, but it was useless.

They were everywhere. Dozens of soldiers in heavy ballistic armor emerged from the blind spots.

Their rifles were already raised. Already aimed at our chests.

They had watched every step I took. No wonder the path had been clear. No wonder the corridors had been empty.

They had rolled out a red carpet...

and we’d walked straight into the trap.

There was no villainous laughter. No Maxwell delivering a grand speech about his brilliance. The men above us simply stood in silence.

Then a deep mechanical rumble echoed from somewhere beneath the facility. The machinery came alive. A gigantic wheel mounted on the central pipeline began turning on its own.

I held my breath.

The purple mass inside the tanks stirred. Through the reinforced glass I watched, frozen with horror, as the deadly slurry swirled into motion.

Massive industrial valves swung fully open. With a deafening roar, Graveglass poured straight into the city’s clean water supply.

I turned toward Aurora.

She was holding a tactical shotgun. Its cold barrel was pointed directly at my chest.

“Rorita...?” I whispered.

She didn’t answer. For a fraction of a second— one meaningless heartbeat— her jaw tightened. In the eyes I’d learned to trust, something flashed.

Her chest rose in a short, uneven breath. Sweat shimmered across her forehead beneath the floodlights. It lasted only milliseconds.

To me... it lasted forever. That was the cruelest part.

Because despite all that pain on her face...

she pulled the trigger anyway.

The world split apart in a single deafening blast.

I hit the steel grating hard enough to drive every last breath from my lungs. I lay on my back, staring into the blinding white light overhead, unable to breathe.

Instead of words... red foam bubbled from my lips.

Aurora lowered the smoking shotgun.

Her hands trembled almost imperceptibly. She took a step back. She never looked at me. She couldn’t. Without a word, she returned to the ranks of the others.

I rolled onto my stomach and dug my fingers into the steel grating beneath me. The metal was slick... cold... and sticky. I dragged myself forward. Dark spots bloomed across my vision.

“Please... look after her.” Sebastian’s voice echoed inside my head. If he finds me here... torn apart by buckshot... it will destroy him.

He’ll be alone again. Just like before.

“Aurora... why...?” Only a few hours ago we’d been sitting together on that rooftop. Sharing a cigarette. She had taken my wrist and told me... “We’re in this together.”

Now those same fingers gripped the trigger of a shotgun aimed straight at my heart.

Everything inside me erupted into one devastating explosion. I wanted to scream... but all that escaped my throat was a muffled, blood-soaked groan.

“I... I don’t want to die... not like this...”

Heavy military boots thundered across the steel grating. They were coming to inspect the body.

“After all these years of running...”

I clenched my teeth. They weren’t getting me.

“...after finally letting myself believe...”

With the last fragment of my will, I dragged myself forward, forcing my shattered body beyond the limits of pain—

and rolled over the edge of the platform.

“...that I finally belonged somewhere.”

The surface swallowed me with a massive splash.

Graveglass devoured me alive. It burned through the open wounds in my chest. It flooded my nose. My throat.

The water closed above me. The roar of the pumps... the footsteps overhead... everything faded into silence. Only the stillness of a grave remained.

I sank deeper...

and deeper...

into the endless violet abyss.

The floodlights shimmering on the surface grew dim until they disappeared completely. I struck the bottom hard.

My lungs were full of chemicals... and blood. My heart gave one final fragile beat. I was dying. Alone. At the bottom of a poisoned grave.

And in that absolute darkness he awakened. He felt everything. The torn flesh across my chest. The betrayal. The rage. The terror of leaving Sebastian behind.

“You’re dying, Ellysa,” his voice echoed inside my mind. There was a terrible calm in it. “Your human body is surrendering. Your time is over.”

“Help me...” I begged. “Don’t leave him alone...”

“Give me your everything... ...and I’ll return you to him.”

For one final moment... I saw his face. Not the one he wore in battle. The one that smiled at me.

“Take me whole...” My last thought crumbled together with my fading consciousness. “Just... don’t leave him...”

I opened the door for him.

Black darkness erupted from my torn chest... from my eyes... from my mouth. It consumed the Graveglass. Ripped away what remained of my pain. Swallowed everything that I had ever been.

No one survived...

the bottom of that tank.

0:00

-4:50

Maxim Farrier

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