The engines roared closer, echoing across the rain-soaked yard.Reyan tightened his grip on the pistol, scanning the darkness. Aarvi crouched beside him, breath trembling.
"Reyan…" she whispered. "There are too many."
"I know." His voice was calm, steady — but his eyes, those deep storm-grey eyes, burned with something fierce. "We just need to survive the next five minutes."
He pulled her behind the watchtower, rain dripping down their faces.In the distance, black vehicles screeched to a halt. Figures in tactical gear poured out, flashlights cutting through the fog.
A voice boomed through a speaker.
"Subject 07, surrender immediately. You can't outrun your origin."
Reyan's jaw clenched.Aarvi looked at him. "Subject 07… they mean you."
He didn't answer. He just loaded the gun.
The First Wave
The first soldier appeared from the mist.Reyan fired once — a clean shot. The man dropped. Then two more came running, lasers flashing through the fog.
"Move!" he shouted. He pulled Aarvi behind a container as bullets shattered metal inches above them.
"Where do we go?" she cried.
"There's an old drainage tunnel near the fence — my father showed it to me years ago."
"And you think it's still open?"
He gave a dry smile. "We're about to find out."
They sprinted, crouching low as flashes of light tore the darkness apart. Rain splashed their faces; thunder rumbled in the distance like a warning.
Reyan's shoulder screamed with pain, but he ignored it. Every heartbeat sounded like a countdown.
The Escape
They reached the fence — twisted wires and mud everywhere.Aarvi dropped to her knees, brushing away wet leaves until she found a rusted grate.
"It's here!" she said.
Reyan knelt beside her, prying it open with the metal pipe he'd kept since the lab.The grate gave way with a loud creak.
"Go!" he urged.
Aarvi slid inside first. Reyan followed, pulling the grate shut just as footsteps thundered nearby.
The tunnel was narrow, dark, and smelled like metal and decay.Water dripped from the ceiling as they crawled through.
Aarvi's voice trembled in the dark. "Reyan… how long have they been watching you?"
"Since before the hospital. Maybe since before I was even born."
"You mean… your father knew this would happen?"
He didn't answer for a moment. Then softly, "He tried to stop it. But he couldn't stop me from becoming what they wanted."
Memories of Fire
As they crawled, Reyan's mind flashed back — a burning lab, his father shouting, "Run, Reyan! Don't look back!"The smell of smoke. The sound of sirens.And then… blackness.
He blinked, trying to push the memory away.
Aarvi's hand touched his arm. "Hey… stay with me."
He looked at her — mud on her face, hair sticking to her cheek, eyes still full of light even in the dark."How do you still have hope after all this?" he asked.
She smiled faintly. "Because someone has to remind you what you're fighting for."
They reached the end of the tunnel. A faint glow spilled from a crack above — city lights.Reyan pushed the hatch open, lifting himself and Aarvi out.
They emerged behind a row of abandoned warehouses. The rain had slowed, replaced by cold mist.
Aarvi hugged herself. "Where do we go now?"
Reyan scanned the skyline. "There's an old safehouse my father used. Sector 12. We'll rest there, and then—"
A sudden vibration in his pocket cut him off.
His phone.
The screen flickered on by itself, despite being dead earlier.A video file began to play.
The Message
A dim room. A man sitting at a desk — face hidden in shadow.But the voice… Reyan knew it instantly.
"Reyan," said the man. "If you're seeing this, it means they've activated Phase Three."
Reyan froze. "Dad?"
Aarvi gasped softly.
"I tried to stop them," the voice continued. "But your DNA was already marked. The Circle doesn't just want your power… they want your connection to her."
The camera shifted — a blurry figure behind the man, strapped to a medical chair.Aarvi.
Her younger self, eyes open, lifeless.
The voice went on, "They called her the Anchor. Your emotional bond keeps your system stable. Without her, you lose control."
The screen glitched, showing flashes — Reyan in a hospital bed, doctors panicking, energy pulsing through machines.
Reyan felt his heart pound. "No… this can't be real."
His father's voice: "They will come for both of you. If you want to survive, find the core. Destroy it. End this cycle."
Then the video cut to static.
The Truth Between Them
Silence.
Aarvi's hands shook. "Reyan… he said I'm your anchor. What does that even mean?"
He couldn't look at her. His voice cracked. "It means… if anything happens to you, I—"He stopped, swallowing hard."I might not stay human."
Her eyes softened. "You think I'm afraid of that?"
"I'm afraid of me."
He stood up, walking a few steps away, gripping his hair like he wanted to tear the truth out of his head."I've hurt people, Aarvi. Things I don't even remember doing."
She walked closer, voice gentle. "And yet you still came for me. That's what matters."
He looked at her, rain glistening in his lashes. "Why do you keep saving me?"
"Because someone once did the same for me."
For a heartbeat, neither of them spoke. Just the sound of rain, slow and quiet now, falling on their skin.Their eyes met — a thousand unspoken things between them.
Then a faint red light blinked on the warehouse wall. A laser.
Reyan's instincts kicked in. He pushed Aarvi down.The bullet hit the ground where she'd stood.
"Sniper!" he shouted.
They dove behind a metal beam. Reyan scanned the rooflines. A silhouette moved near a vent.
He raised the gun, fired — missed.The second shot came closer, grazing his arm.
Aarvi pulled his sleeve, panicking. "They found us again!"
Running in the Rain
They ran.Through puddles, through smoke, through the maze of steel and silence.
Every corner looked the same — broken glass, hollow windows, echoes of footsteps.
Reyan pressed his hand against a wound, blood mixing with rainwater.He could feel something burning beneath his skin again — that same strange pulse.
Not pain. Power.
Aarvi looked at him, terrified. "Your veins—they're glowing."
Reyan gritted his teeth. "Not now…"
His father's words from the video echoed in his head. Without her, you lose control.
He stumbled, falling to his knees. The air around him rippled, lights flickering wildly.
Aarvi knelt beside him. "Reyan! Listen to me—look at me!"
Her voice cut through the storm, trembling but strong.He forced his gaze toward her — her hand on his cheek, eyes filled with desperate warmth.
"Breathe," she whispered. "I'm here. You're not alone."
And just like that, the glow faded.The storm inside him quieted.
Reyan gasped, clutching her hand. "You saved me again."
She smiled weakly. "Then stop making me do it."
They both laughed — tired, broken laughter that felt like life returning after too much darkness.
The Call of the Circle
Before they could move again, a voice echoed through a speaker nearby — calm, cold, almost inhuman.
"Reyan Kael. You've done well surviving this long. But running is over. The core has awakened."
Reyan froze. "How do they know my name?"
The voice continued:
"Bring the Anchor to the Old Spire at dawn. Do that… and she lives. Refuse, and she burns with the city."
The transmission ended with static.
Aarvi looked at him. "They want me."
Reyan shook his head violently. "They're not getting you."
"Reyan…" she said softly. "If I go, maybe they'll stop."
"They won't. They'll use you. Just like they used my father."
Her lips trembled. "Then what do we do?"
He looked up at the night sky, lightning flashing across it."We end this. My father left me clues — the safehouse, the files, everything leads to the Spire. That's where it began… and where it ends."
Aarvi nodded slowly, trusting him without question. "Then let's finish it."
The Dawn Before the War
Hours later, the rain stopped.They sat by a fire made from broken crates, drying their clothes.
Aarvi leaned against him, eyes half-closed. "You think we'll make it?"
He smiled faintly. "We have to. Someone has to tell the world what they did."
She tilted her head toward him. "And after?"
He looked at her — the flicker of flame reflected in her eyes. "After… we live. Away from all this."
She smiled, resting her head on his shoulder."Promise?"
"Promise."
But deep down, Reyan knew promises meant nothing in war.
As the first light of dawn touched the sky, they stood up, watching the distant silhouette of the Old Spire rising above the mist — dark, sharp, and waiting.
Reyan whispered, "This is where everything changes."
Aarvi took his hand. "Then let's make it count."
The wind blew softly, carrying the faint hum of machines from far away — the Circle preparing for the final act.
And for the first time, Reyan didn't run.He walked straight toward his destiny.