The rules were final, and there was no turning back.
Flauge stood before Arnold, his posture as still as a statue. His expression was calm, yet his eyes held a weight that felt like a death sentence.
"If you accept this deal," Flauge said, his voice echoing in the quiet air, "you follow every rule I set. Without question. Without hesitation."
Arnold didn't speak. He didn't even blink. He stood there, soaking in the gravity of the moment, listening to the terms of his own disappearance.
"First," Flauge continued, "you must abandon the concept of self-preservation. You no longer care about your life. From this moment on, you either fight, or you die."
He paused, letting the harsh reality settle.
"Second. You will never misuse the power I give you. If you turn it toward a selfish end, if you let it corrupt you, I will erase you from existence instantly."
Arnold's gaze remained fixed, his resolve hardening like iron.
"Third. If anything from outside this planet appears, if any rift or entity shows itself, you inform me before you take a single step."
The air grew colder as the conditions became more personal.
"And last..." Flauge stepped closer, looking directly into Arnold's soul. "After this deal is sealed, your identity will be erased. Completely. No one will ever know you the same way again. The Arnold they loved is gone."
Silence followed. Arnold understood perfectly. This wasn't just a trade for power. This was a total sacrifice of his past, his future, and his very name.
Present Day
Arnold stood at the door of the house that used to be his sanctuary. When the door creaked open, Miyara was standing there. She looked at him with a tilted head, her eyes clouded with confusion. To her, he was a total stranger.
"I'm new to this colony," Arnold said, his voice steady despite the roar of emotions in his chest. "I just wanted to introduce myself and meet the neighbors."
Miyara hesitated for a heartbeat, her hand lingering on the doorframe. Then, she stepped aside. "Come in."
Arnold walked inside, his footsteps heavy on the familiar floorboards. His eyes moved across the room, catching on every little detail. The scratched coffee table, the faded photos, the scent of the home he had been exiled from. Every corner held a memory that stabbed at his heart.
Slowly, his eyes filled with tears. He couldn't help it. The pain of being a ghost in his own home was too much.
Miyara noticed the change in his face. Her voice softened with concern. "Are you okay? Why are you crying?"
Arnold quickly wiped his face with the back of his hand, forcing a hollow breath out of his lungs. "It's nothing," he lied. "Just a condition I have. My eyes get watery sometimes."
He turned his gaze toward Ayelen's room, the door slightly ajar. "I heard about the boy who lives here. I heard he's a cancer patient." His voice dropped to a whisper. "I feel terrible for him."
A sudden, suffocating silence filled the room.
Flashback
I have nothing to protect.
I'm alone in this world.
What is the point of any of this?
These weren't just dark thoughts; they were the scars of Arnold's younger years. He had spent so much of his life feeling empty, a hollow shell drifting through the days.
But then, everything changed. A small child had wandered up to him one afternoon, sobbing uncontrollably while clutching a broken plastic toy. The child didn't say a word, just grabbed Arnold's arm and held on as if he were an anchor.
Arnold had taken the toy, his large hands careful as he snapped the pieces back into place. When he handed it back, the child's face lit up. The boy reached into his pocket and offered Arnold a crumpled piece of chocolate.
It was an ordinary, cheap sweet. But for Arnold, it was the first time he felt a spark of light in the darkness. It was the birth of responsibility.
Back to Present
Arnold looked down at the floor, his jaw tight. "Ayelen..."
His voice nearly broke. Before he could spiral further into his grief, a voice called out from the doorway.
"Who are you?"
Arnold froze. The world seemed to stop spinning for a second. He turned and forced a stiff, practiced smile. "Nice to meet you. My name is Arnold."
The silence stretched out, awkward and heavy.
"Where is Dad?" Arnold asked suddenly.
The atmosphere in the room shifted instantly. Miyara stared at him, her eyes wide. Ayelen's expression went cold.
"What did you just say?" Miyara asked slowly.
Arnold realized his mistake immediately. His heart hammered against his ribs. "I mean... where is his dad? I noticed he wasn't around."
Miyara's eyes searched his face, suspicious, but she answered anyway. "He went to the hospital."
Arnold nodded, but a cold realization washed over him. He looked at the calendar on the wall. "But today is Sunday. The hospitals are closed for outpatient visits."
Miyara didn't blink. She didn't change her story. "He still went."
Arnold didn't push it. He didn't ask again. He simply turned on his heel and ran out the door.
The Hospital
The building was a dark monolith against the sky. Empty. Locked.
Arnold's heart raced as he circled the perimeter. "Then where is Mr. Lor?" He didn't wait for an answer that wasn't coming. A sense of pure dread took hold of him, and he sprinted back toward the house.
The Home
The front door was swinging wide open. Arnold burst inside, but the house was eerily silent. No Miyara. No Ayelen. No mother.
And there, on the polished floor of the living room, was a smear of fresh, bright red blood.
Arnold froze, his breath hitching in his throat. "No. Please, no."
Without wasting another second, he tracked the faint scent of ozone and iron, racing toward the only lead he had.
The Warehouse
In a dimly lit, damp room, Ayelen was lashed to a chair. He was pale and weak, his breath coming in shallow gasps. Nearby, Miyara and Mrs. Reanie were huddled together, bound and terrified.
Ayelen struggled against the ropes, his voice cracking with desperation. "Leave them alone! If you want to hurt someone, hurt me! Just let them go!"
Suddenly, a sharp, wet sound echoed through the room. A man fell into the light, gasping for air. It was Mr. Lor. He had managed to break free, stabbing one of the captors and shoving another aside in a frantic attempt to reach his son.
But he was one man against monsters. A knife whistled through the air, sinking into his chest. Another hit his shoulder, and a third buried itself in his stomach.
Mr. Lor collapsed in the center of the room.
"DAD!" Ayelen screamed, the sound tearing through the air.
Flashback
Ayelen had been sitting alone weeks ago, clutching a crumpled letter. I'm sorry, Dad. I couldn't make you proud. Tears had stained the ink before he threw the paper into the trash.
But Mr. Lor had found it. He had read it in secret and smiled to himself. My son cares so much about what I think. I'm already proud of him.
In another memory, the doctor's office felt like a cage.
"You can't say no now," the doctor had hissed. "You already signed the agreement."
Mr. Lor had clenched his fists, his eyes burning. "I won't let you use my son's body like a lab rat. If you don't stop this, I'm going to the police!"
The doctor had remained silent. Then, a shadow moved. A heavy blow struck Mr. Lor from behind, and the world went black.
Back to Present
Mr. Lor looked up at Ayelen one last time. His eyes were dim, the life fading from them like a dying candle. "Sorry..." he whispered.
His head slumped forward. He was gone.
The room exploded into a chorus of agony. Ayelen screamed until his throat bled. Miyara and Mrs. Reanie sobbed, their worlds shattering in an instant.
Then, the heavy steel door creaked open. A girl entered, her footsteps light and rhythmic. She was holding a serrated knife, a faint, twisted smile on her face.
"Hello, Ayelen."
It was Nyla.
She stepped into the center of the room, twirling the blade. "You want to know a secret? Your cancer report... it was fake."
Everyone froze. The crying stopped as the horror sank in.
"It was all a setup. A plan to get you here," she said, leaning in close to Ayelen. "You have something special inside you. Something valuable."
She raised the knife and plunged it into Ayelen's shoulder. He cried out, but as the blood flowed, it wasn't just red. It shimmered with a strange, golden hue.
"See?" Nyla giggled, her eyes wide with a manic light. "You are unique. You are my brother." Her expression flickered for a second, a shadow of pain crossing her face. "I didn't want it to be like this. But you are the problem. You're the reason they won't let me go."
She pulled out a gun and pointed it directly at Mrs. Reanie's head.
"Please don't!" Miyara shrieked. "Nyla, stop! Don't do this!"
Flashback
A younger Nyla shivered under a thin blanket, clutching a handful of blood-stained money.
Why do the bad people always win?
My father only loved the coins in his pocket.
When I turned twenty, he didn't give me a party. He sold me.
He sold me like a tool.
Back to Present
"Can't a woman just live in peace?" Nyla whispered, her finger tightening on the trigger.
Bang.
The shot rang out. Mrs. Reanie collapsed, the light vanishing from her eyes instantly.
Ayelen let out a sound that wasn't human. It was the sound of a soul breaking into a thousand pieces.
Suddenly, the air in the room warped. Arnold was there. He moved faster than the eye could track, a blur of silent rage. With precise, bone-breaking strikes, he knocked the guards unconscious. He moved to the chairs, slicing through the ropes to free Ayelen and Miyara.
In the chaos, a Nylomite appeared from the shadows. To Arnold's surprise, it didn't attack. It helped them move, blocking the entrance as a new group of enemies swarmed the warehouse.
Arnold didn't stop to ask questions. He grabbed Ayelen and Miyara and sprinted toward the safety of the trees.
The Forest
They skidded to a halt deep in the woods, their breath coming in ragged gasps. For a moment, the only sound was the rustle of leaves.
Then, the atmosphere changed. Miyara stood up, but her movements were wrong. Her joints popped and twisted at impossible angles. Her skin rippled like liquid.
She wasn't Miyara. She was a Nylomite.
Arnold's eyes widened in horror. "That's not her!"
He lunged forward, throwing a blast of energy. The creature dodged with sickening grace, its hand lashing out to grab Ayelen. Arnold reacted with the same lightning-fast technique he had used in the hospital, knocking the creature back and pulling Ayelen to safety.
"We have to find the real Miyara," Arnold growled, his body glowing with a faint, dangerous light.
They turned to run, but their feet rooted to the spot. A presence emerged from the darkness ahead. It was something massive, something terrifying, a pressure that made their lungs feel like they were collapsing.
Arnold and Ayelen stood frozen. Something was very, very wrong.
• CHAPTER 11 ENDS •