Sometimes the dead speak louder than the living and sometimes the voice you need most is the one you can't bear to hear.
Rain swallowed the world...and the storm chased me down the coast as I ran with heart pounding, feet slipping, soaked in blood and fear.
Behind me, the sound of engines grew faint, lost in the roar of the water but Darian's voice wouldn't leave my head.
"If I don't make it… go there."
Apapa...
The address burned in my hand, the paper almost torn from my grip by the rain.
I didn't look back....
I couldn't....
Because if I turned around, I'd see him....lying there, broken, bleeding and I wouldn't move again. It took hours to reach the city.
By the time I stumbled into the old port district, dawn had begun to smear pink over the horizon. Lagos was quiet in a way it never should be, like the city itself was holding its breath.
The warehouse sat at the far end of the dock, a giant skeleton of metal and rust. The sign was gone, the air thick with salt and silence.
I stood in front of it, shaking, soaked to the bone. My reflection in the puddle looked like a stranger... a girl who had lost everything overnight.
I swallowed hard and pushed the door....
It creaked open, echoing into darkness...
Inside, dust hung in the air like smoke. Faded crates lined the walls. The smell of oil, metal, and old secrets filled my lungs
I found the power switch...
Nothing....
So I used my phone's flashlight and stepped inside.
Every sound made me jump... the wind, the creak of old wood, the faint drip of water from the roof.
At the center of the room stood a table and on it a laptop, Closed, Wrapped in plastic, untouched for years.
My fingers trembled as I peeled it open...
The screen flickered...
Then came to life...
A single file sat on the desktop...
"ADA_PLAYME.mp4"
My breath caught...
My father used to call me Ada.
I clicked.
The screen filled with static… and then his face appeared.
Older than I remembered...
Tired, but smiling.....that same gentle smile I'd missed for years.
"Adanna," he said softly.
My knees went weak.
"If you're watching this… then it means they got to me and you're not safe."
Tears blurred my vision instantly.
"Daddy…"
"I knew this day would come," his voice continued, calm even through the faint crackle. "The people I worked with..... the Syndicate, they built everything on lies. We created systems that could destroy governments and erase names and when I tried to walk away, they made sure I never would."
He paused, eyes glancing off-screen as if he feared someone might be listening even there.
"I hid the files under your name, Ada. Because I knew they wouldn't look there at first. You were my safety code...my daughter and my lock."
I covered my mouth, sobbing quietly.
His voice softened. "The man who's meant to find you, his name is Darian Cole."
I froze....
"I know you won't understand it now. But if he's still alive when you see this… trust him. He used to work for them. But I saw something in him they didn't. He has the heart they fear most, one that can love."
My tears fell harder....
I shook my head, whispering, "He's gone… he's gone, Daddy…"
"I gave him one task," my father said, voice fading slightly. "To protect you. Even if it meant lying. Even if it meant becoming the monster they sent."
I broke completely then kneeling on the floor, crying until I couldn't breathe.
"I'm sorry," my father's voice said softly. "I wanted you to have a normal life. But you were born into something bigger, and now, you're the only one who can finish what I started."
He leaned closer to the camera, eyes full of sorrow and pride.
"Inside the flash drive is everything... the names, the money trail, the code to unlock their network. Once it's out, the world will know who they really are."
He paused again, then whispered, "But Ada… don't let hate win. Don't let them turn you into me."
Static filled the screen.
Then, one last line before it ended...
"When the storm comes again, follow the red light."
The video went black..
I sat there for a long time...
Just… quiet.
The only sound was the rain tapping on the metal roof..
My father's voice still echoed in my head, mixing with Darian's....
Both men lied to protect me....
Both loved me in their own broken ways.
When I finally stood, something caught my eye.
At the far end of the warehouse, a small red light blinked faintly.
Hidden behind a pile of crates.
My heart jumped....
I moved toward it slowly, pushing boxes aside.
There, a metal door with a scanner pad beside it. The red light flashed softly, like it was waiting.
I reached into my pocket, pulled out the flash drive, and plugged it into the slot.
The scanner beeped once...
Green..
The door unlocked..
Inside was a small room.... cold, silent, lined with computer servers still humming faintly after all these years.
And in the center, a single glass case.
Inside it, a hard drive labeled "Project Eden."
My hands shook as I lifted it.
A small screen beside the case flickered on automatically.
A voice, low and familiar, filled the room.
"If you're hearing this, it means Adanna found it."
I froze...
That wasn't my father's voice..
It was Darian's.
My breath caught. My knees went weak again.
The recording continued.
"Ada… I don't know if I'm alive when you hear this. But I promised your father I'd see this through. He trusted me when I didn't even trust myself."
The sound of rain echoed faintly behind his voice... like he'd recorded it just before everything happened.
"They'll come for you again. The Syndicate doesn't forgive failure. But don't run this time. Upload everything. Let the truth kill them before they kill you."
He paused, voice cracking slightly.
"And Ada… I meant what I said. None of it was pretend."
My tears fell fresh. I pressed a hand to my mouth, trembling.
"If I'm gone, I want you to live. Don't carry me like a ghost. Carry the truth instead."
The recording ended and the screen went blank...
I stood there, shaking, surrounded by the hum of machines and the weight of every secret that ruined my life.
The truth was mine now....
The power they killed my father for....
The same truth Darian bled for....
And I had no idea what to do with it.
Footsteps echoed outside....
Heavy.... slow....
I turned off my flashlight and backed into the shadows.
Voices murmured... low, sharp, male.
"She's here," one said.
"Search everything."
My stomach dropped....
They found me...
I looked down at the drive in my hand. The Project Eden drive. The proof of everything.
If they got it… it would all be over.
I glanced at the open laptop.
The old system was still connected to a faint Wi-Fi signal.... slow, but working.... then father's voice whispered in my memory....
"When the storm comes again, follow the red light."
I looked around. The only red light left was the blinking upload icon on the corner of the screen.
I didn't hesitate....
I plugged in both drives... the one from the warehouse and the one from my pocket. The files began to transfer, lines of code flooding the screen...
Outside, the door burst open...
Shouts...Boots.... Flashlights....
I ducked behind the servers, watching as the men stormed in.
"She's not here!"
"Find the drives!"
The upload bar hit 60%.
Then 70%.
One of them moved closer to the computer. "It's uploading something...."
I threw a metal wrench across the room. It clanged hard against the opposite wall.
They turned....
I ran....
Bullets followed...
I felt one graze my arm but didn't stop. Pain was nothing now. Not after everything I'd lost...
I sprinted down the hallway, past the rain-slick crates, and into the storm again.
Behind me, a massive boom shook the ground.... the servers exploding, fire bursting through the warehouse windows.
The light swallowed the dark.
I fell hard onto the wet ground, gasping, watching as flames climbed into the dawn.
Everything my father died for....everything Darian bled for ...was burning.
But the upload… it had finished.
The truth was out....
By the time the sirens arrived, I was long gone.
I hid in a broken bus near the edge of the docks, shivering under a wet jacket, staring at the sky turning gold.
People would wake up soon...
Phones would ring...
Screens would flash with names...politicians, generals, companies...all tied to one word"Syndicate."
I should've felt peace...
Relief...
Something...
But all I felt was empty.
I pulled the small folded paper from my pocket, the one Darian had given me. The ink was almost gone now, but at the bottom corner, in tiny handwriting, there was one more thing I hadn't noticed before.
A single line....
"If you ever need me… look for the glass wolf."
I stared at it, confused, heart racing again because on the dock ahead, where the rain met the sun, I saw it, a faint reflection on the water.
A wolf symbol. Etched into the side of a black car...
Parked... Waiting...
And just for a moment… I saw him.
A figure in the driver's seat...
Watching...
Then the car drove away, vanishing into the light.
That was the moment I knew...
Darian wasn't gone...
He was out there in the shadows, still protecting me.
And if he thought I'd just sit and wait…
He didn't know me at all.