Page 49 of Echoes From the Void
Another impact. More cracks. Matteo’s shadows writhe in response to the creature’s movements, his predator nature recognizing something familiar in that twisted darkness.
“It’s calling to me,” he growls, fighting his instincts. His fangs lengthen as he struggles for control. “Like a shadow beast but... hungrier. More wrong.”
“Yeah?” I grip his arm, anchoring him like he’s anchored me through so many nightmares. “Well, it can’t have you. I saw you first.”
His answering smile is all teeth, but I feel his predator nature settle slightly at my claim.
“How long on that data, Bishop?” Leo asks, keeping his eyes on the containment chamber. His usual playfulness has hardened into something dangerous. “Because I’m pretty sure we don’t want to be here when that glass breaks.”
“Two minutes. But—” Bishop swears as new text scrolls across his screen, his Guardian marks flaring with rage. “Blackwood, you absolute psychopath.”
“That’s not concerning at all,” Finn mutters, his light pulsing faster.
“She was trying to recreate Father’s essence.” Bishop’s voice shakes with fury, his fingers flying over the keyboard. “These notes... she thought if she could concentrate enough shadow energy...”
“She could make her own Eredar,” I finish, the truth hitting like a punch. Old memories surface—Valerie taking samples of my blood, measuring my shadow output, rambling about perfect vessels and pure lineage. “That’s why she needed us. We’re not just vessels, we’re?—”
“Templates,” Dorian says softly, his academic detachment cracking as the implications sink in. “The perfect balance of light and shadow. Born from an Eredar and a light shifter.” Frost spreads from his fingers as calculations form in the air. “She was trying to replicate your father’s power using...”
Another impact. The cracks spread like frost across glass. Like the way my skin used to split when Valerie pushed too much shadow essence into my veins.
“Thirty seconds to containment failure,” the mechanical voice announces helpfully. The same voice that used to count down my treatment sessions.
“Bishop?” I hate how my voice shakes, how easily this place strips away my hard-won strength.
“Almost there.” His Guardian marks pulse faster as he downloads everything he can find.
The creature slams against the glass again. This time, I hear it—a sound like screaming static, like dial-up internet from hell. Like children’s voices distorted through shadow essence.
“Okay, that’s new,” Leo says, his attempt at lightness failing as darkness creeps into his usually bright aura. “And thanks, I hate it.”
Finn’s light flares as something in the containment chamber resonates with him. “It’s not just shadow essence in there. There’s something else. Something...”
“Human,” Matteo finishes grimly, his predator senses confirming what my heart already knows. “I can smell it. Can smell them.”
The realization hits me just as Bishop whispers, “No.”
“What?” I move to the terminal, read the text on his screen. My blood turns to ice as memories slot into place—other children disappearing into that chamber. Other twins. “She didn’t...”
“Project Gemini,” Bishop says, his voice raw. “Named after twins. But not you and Finn.”
“Got it!” Dorian announces, temporal energy crackling around the data transfer. “Now can we please?—”
The glass finally shatters.
What emerges isn’t shadow or light or anything natural. It’s a twisted mass of darkness shot through with burning veins of gold, pulsing like infected lightning. And at its core, visible for just a moment before the corruption swallows them again?—
Two bodies, fused together. Children. Twins. Their faces locked in eternal screams as shadow essence writhes through them, binding them into something that should never exist.
“Run,” I whisper, memories of Valerie’s other “failed experiments” flooding back. Then louder, as the thing that used to be children surges toward us, “RUN!”
We bolt for the door, but everything’s different now. Every step carries the weight of understanding—this could have been us. Could have been me and Finn, twisted and fused and corrupted until nothing human remained.
“Left!” I scream as the corrupted mass surges through the corridor behind us. “Emergency exit!” The same path I used to plot escapes in my head, counting steps while strapped to examination tables.
“That’s not an exit anymore!” Leo shouts back, vaulting over fallen debris. “Pretty sure that’s just a wall with attitude!”
“Then make it an exit!”
