Kai Langford - September 2120
As I slot the final vial into place, the faint click feels louder than it should. I straighten and start scanning the room out of habit, checking everyone is still safe.
Tessa is hunched over the laptop, fingers flying, brow furrowed in intense concentration.
Then my gaze finds Ethans and I freeze.
He's holding a picture frame, staring down at it with wide eyes. When he finally looks up at me, his mouth is parted in shock, anxiety etched across his face. Something's wrong.
My heartbeat quickens, a steady drum building pressure in my chest."What's wrong?" I ask, stepping toward him.
He hesitates. His eyes flick between the frame and my face, torn, like he's trying to decide whether to tell me the truth.
"Ethan?" I soften my voice, trying not to spook him.
"It's just..." He stops again.
I slowly reach for the frame, but then suddenly the lift door dings.
The sound slices through the room like a warning bell.
I whip my head toward it. Ethan's expression is full of confusion… and guilt. His visions should have warned us. Did the frame distract him that badly?
Just then the lift doors slide open and a figure steps out, gun already raised.
They don't hesitate, but neither do I.
Shadows surge at my command, rising like smoke and hardening into a wall. The bullet slams into it and stops cold. The shock reverberates through my arm.
I grab Ethan and yank him behind me. The frame slips from his hands and shatters across the floor, glass scattering like ice.
There is no time. Whatever it was, he can explain later.
"We're going. Now," I bark.
Ethan is still stunned, eyes unfocused. I shake his shoulder."Ethan, get the bag and go."
He snaps back to life and sprints for the bag.
Another shot cracks through the air. My shield absorbs it, rippling but holding. I raise my hand higher, reinforcing it, and motion sharply for Tessa to move.
She doesn't argue, she never does when things turn lethal. She bolts for the emergency door, Ethan close behind her, breathing fast.
We're halfway across the lab when I drop the shield. I need to go on the offensive if we want to make sure they don't follow us. Shadows coil at my fingertips, ready to strike.
The shooter tracks me instantly, adjusting his aim. The barrel centres on my head.
And then everything stops.
My heart shatters.
The lab goes silent... not quiet... silent, as if the world itself has forgotten how to breathe. I stare across the room, and I know my shadows could move, my body could move… but I can't.
I'm trapped in this moment.
I feel Ethan and Tessa close behind me, their presence warm and alive, but they seem so far away. All I can see is the person in front of me, gun raised, eyes wide.
"Kai?" he says.
My name sounds wrong in his voice. Like it belongs to someone who died.
Finn lowers the gun a little, confusion breaking through his guard, but his finger stays ready. Always the protector.
Finn.
The name aches inside me. He shouldn't be here. He should be down stairs at the summit with Noah... He should be anywhere else but standing in front of the ghost of a friend who abandoned him.
Before I can speak, the lift shifts again, and another figure steps forward.
Finn throws an arm out to shield him, as if by instinct, but the figure doesn't stop.
White hair catches the harsh light. Black eyes lock with mine and my world collapses.
"Noah" I whisper. The word tears itself from me, fragile and broken.
His expression crumples. Shock, disbelief, and grief, all of it floods across his face like a storm. His lips part as though he's afraid to breathe me in, afraid I'll disappear if he does.
For years, he thought I was dead and I let him believe that.
A sharp, unbearable pain punches through my chest. My lungs seize, my throat tightens. I can't drag in enough air. I feel like I'm drowning, right here, on solid ground.
"Kai… is that really you?" Noah asks.
His voice trembles, cracking on the last word, and it's the same voice I remember calling for me when we were kids.
Memories stab through me, our uncles death, him crying and bleeding in my arms as ash and fire spread around us.
My hands shake. The shadows at my fingertips flicker, unsteady, as if mirroring the chaos inside me. I've faced killers, and monsters, … but none of it ever hurt like this.
Finn's eyes glisten. Noah's chest rises too fast, like he's fighting tears he refuses to show.
And I realise something awful,
To them, I'm not just back.
I'm the wound that never healed, torn open again.
The weight of it crushes me. My heart feels like it's breaking all over again, splintering into pieces I can't hold together.
This is too much. Too painful. Too raw.
This is why I decided not to tell Noah the truth.
I step back, panic rising like a storm in my chest. My arm is grabbed before I can turn fully, and my instincts flare, ready to strike. But I freeze when I see Ethan's face.
It's full of Sadness. Quiet, deep, searching sadness.
"We need to go" he says softly, and his eyes flick toward Noah and Finn, like he's debating whether this is the right choice.
But he's right. I can't stay here. I'm not ready to face them.
I nod gently at Ethan, silently acknowledging that he's the anchor keeping me grounded, then turn briefly toward Finn and Noah.
They see me moving.
"Kai, don't go! Please!" Noah calls, and the sound tears through me, like jagged glass slicing into my chest. Every step I take feels heavier, as if the weight of his voice is chaining me in place.
But I can't stay.
Ethan's hand pulls on my arm, firm but gentle, guiding me. That small tug is enough to make my feet obey, to start moving.
We run toward the door. My heart is a chaos of emotion, every beat echoing their voices, their disbelief, but I force myself to focus. I need to make sure Tessa and Ethan get out safe. That is all that matters.
Noah's voice follows me one last time before we turn and run down the stairs.
As we run, I suddenly hear steps above. "Kai, stop!" Finn's voice cuts through the hall like a knife.
We aren't fast enough and his footsteps gain on us, heavy and determined.
"Go. I'll slow him down," I shout without hesitation.
"No! Kai, I'm not leaving you!" Ethan protests, but Tessa grabs his arm and pulls him forward.
"We have to go. The cameras, have probably already spotted us" she says firmly.
I nod. "Go. I'll follow closely."
Ethan grits his teeth, hesitating, torn, but Tessa's insistence drags him down the stairs.
"Don't be too long, or I'm coming back!" he warns, and I want to scream at him to stop caring, to just run, but there's no time.
Once they vanish from sight, Finn appears at the top of the stairs, caught off guard to see me waiting. He's unarmed now, but his hand shoots toward me. I knock it away.
"Kai, will you just stop?" he growls.
"Finn… don't stop me," I reply, voice low, steady, but my chest pounds with a mix of frustration, guilt, and something heavier... regret.
He reaches for me again. And again. And again. Each time, I push his hand away, my muscles tense, shadows flickering around my fingertips, ready to strike if he crosses the line.
I can see the confusion in his eyes now, the desperation. But I can't stop. Not while my heart is still tied to the people I'm responsible for getting out alive.
Finn lunges down the steps before I can think. I duck instinctively, letting his fist swipe past my shoulder. The staircase is tigh, every step, every railing is a hazard. Shadows coil around my arms, ready to strike, but I force myself to move, dodging and pivoting on the uneven steps.
He grabs my wrist as I land a step below him, twisting, and I grunt, yanking free while kicking out. My foot catches his thigh, sending him stumbling on a step. The force rattles my balance too, and I grab the railing to steady myself.
He recovers instantly, charging, fists swinging. I block one punch, duck another, twisting to land a sharp strike to his side. Shadows surge from my hands, lashing along the railing and around his legs, trying to pin him in place.
Finn grunts, lunging again, this time he grabs my collar and yanking me back. I nearly lose my balance on the narrow steps. Panic spikes, there is too much emotion, too little space. I slam my hand forward instinctively, and shadows explode around him, slamming him into the stair wall. He grunts, sliding down against the wall.
My lungs burn. Each step down the stairs feels heavier than the last, my chest tight, my heart hammering in a chaotic rhythm I can't control. The force of the throw against Finn still vibrates through me, and guilt rises like a weight pressing down on my ribs.
But I have to keep moving. Ethan is waiting for me, I have to get to him. I push off the last stair, my legs trembling beneath me, and start running toward the emergency exit.
Finn has stopped chasing. I don't hear his footsteps anymore, but that doesn't ease the tension clawing at my chest. My heartbeat was already unsteady from Christopher guard, but now every thump sends shockwaves of panic through me.
The backdoor swings open, and the cold rush of night air hits my face. I gasp, but the air doesn't fill my lungs, it only sharpens the pressure in my chest. My vision narrows, the world tilting. Pain blossoms across my ribs, my heart skipping and stuttering like a broken machine.
Ethan and Tessa are there, but it feels like I can't reach them. I stumble, vision flickering at the edges, and they rush forward.
"Kai" Ethan says softly, cupping my face. His warmth, his calm, cuts through the chaos just enough for me to hear him. "You're okay. Come on. Just a few more steps and we can head home."
I try to focus on him, on Tessa's steadying grip, but my heartbeat refuses to settle. Each thump is jagged and unpredictable, and sweat trickles down my temples. My legs wobble with every step, and the air feels too thick, too heavy.
But He's right. We have to keep moving. I cling to them, letting them guide me toward the van, each step trembling, unsteady, like I'm walking on a tightrope over a bottomless pit.
As the van comes into view… something inside me breaks. My legs give out, collapsing beneath me. The world tilts violently, my chest convulsing with the chaotic rhythm of my heart.
"Kai!" Ethan shouts, voice cutting through the panic like a lifeline, but I can barely respond. My hands clutch my chest, trying to steady the storm inside, but it's no use.
My vision narrows. The night air, the sweat, the pounding in my ribs, the memory of Noah face... it all collapses into blackness.
And I fall.