Isaac didn't remember leaving the tunnel.
He remembered blood on his hands.
He remembered the sound Vance made when his body finally stopped trying to move.
And he remembered thinking—very calmly—that this was his fault.
GRIMM MEDICAL WING
Isaac woke up restrained.
Not because he was dangerous.
Because he wouldn't stop shaking.
Lisa was there immediately, gripping his hand so tightly her knuckles were white.
"You're okay," she kept saying.
"You're okay. You're okay. You're okay."
Isaac nodded every time.
He didn't believe it.
Antonio stood at the foot of the bed, arms crossed, eyes dark.
"You did what you had to," Antonio said.
Isaac finally looked at him.
"I killed him."
The room went silent.
Lisa inhaled sharply.
Antonio didn't correct him.
"You killed the thing wearing him," Antonio said instead.
Isaac shook his head. "He screamed like Vance."
That was the end of the conversation.
Isaac didn't rage.
He didn't lash out.
He didn't collapse into madness like GRIMM expected.
He asked questions.
Quiet ones.
Careful ones.
"Did it hurt?"
"Was it fast?"
"Did I do it right?"
Lisa lost it the third time.
"You're talking like this was a test!" she shouted. "That was your brother!"
Isaac flinched—not at the words, but at the volume.
"I just don't want him to have suffered," he said softly.
That broke her.
She hugged him so hard he almost couldn't breathe.
Isaac was cleared for duty within weeks.
Not frontline.
Not executions.
Sols only.
The monsters didn't scream like Vance.
That helped.
Isaac fought efficiently, not brutally. He avoided unnecessary damage. He didn't taunt, didn't enjoy it, didn't linger.
When a Sol was down, he ended it cleanly.
When another Reaper hesitated, Isaac stepped in without judgment.
"You can look away," he told one trainee after a messy kill. "I've got it."
People started noticing.
Not his power.
His control.
Outside missions, Isaac was still… Isaac.
He laughed too loud.
He stole food from Lisa's plate.
He helped Lane with training drills and pretended not to notice when she cried afterward.
He visited Vance's empty quarters once.
Only once.
He didn't take anything.
Just stood there, hands in pockets, staring at the scythe mount on the wall.
"I'll be better," he whispered.
GRIMM never told Isaac the truth.
Not fully.
They said Hugo Nebun was unknown.
They said possession was rare.
They said Vance was gone.
They did not say Hugo chose Vance.
They did not say Isaac had been noticed.
Antonio signed the classified report himself.
SUBJECT: ISAAC DEMONIO
NOTE: Emotional stability maintained.
RISK: Delayed manifestation.
RECOMMENDATION: Observe. Do not provoke.
That night, Isaac dreamed.
Not of blood.
Not of death.
He dreamed of hands reaching into a chest — not his own — and pulling something out that burned like black fire.
He woke up sweating.
Smiling.
Because in the dream, no one he loved was screaming anymore.