Chapter 44: Impossible

Chapter 44

"That's impossible."

Seraphine was already moving before the words fully left her mouth.

She reached the fallen student in an instant.

The boy was convulsing violently across the cracked stone floor.

His body arched.

A scream tore from his throat.

Then another.

And another.

The sound echoed through the ruins.

Raw.

Painful.

Wrong.

Lena dropped beside him.

"What's happening to him?"

Nobody answered.

The silver symbol beneath the student's skin continued spreading.

Up his neck.

Across his jaw.

Toward his eyes.

Like liquid light moving through his veins.

The sight made Lena's stomach turn.

Jacob looked horrified.

"That's the symbol."

Everyone looked at him.

The boy swallowed hard.

"When we were taken."

His voice shook.

"They marked some of them."

The ruins became silent.

Immediately.

Lena turned toward him.

"What do you mean some of them?"

Jacob's face had gone pale.

"Not everyone survived."

The words landed heavily.

A few of the rescued students lowered their heads.

One girl started crying.

Another looked away.

The atmosphere changed instantly.

Because for the first time...

The disappearances became real.

Not mysterious.

Not supernatural.

Real.

People had died.

Lena felt sick.

Jacob continued.

"There was a place beneath the forest."

Caelum's expression darkened.

"A prison."

Jacob nodded.

"Maybe."

His voice grew quieter.

"We weren't allowed outside."

"Nobody spoke."

"Nobody explained anything."

His hands trembled.

"But every few days..."

He stopped.

The memory clearly hurt.

Lena waited.

Eventually he forced himself to continue.

"They'd come for someone."

Silence.

"Then they wouldn't come back."

The wind howled through the ruins.

Nobody moved.

Nobody interrupted.

Then Jacob pointed toward the boy on the ground.

"The symbol."

His voice cracked.

"The people who got marked..."

He couldn't finish.

He didn't need to.

Everyone understood.

The implication was obvious.

And terrifying.

The student suddenly screamed again.

Much louder this time.

Silver light exploded from his eyes.

The ruins shook.

Chunks of stone cracked apart.

The force knocked several people backward.

Lena stumbled.

Caleb caught her before she hit the ground.

Again.

At this point it was becoming a habit.

The silver light continued pouring from the student's body.

Then abruptly...

Everything stopped.

Silence.

The boy lay motionless.

Everyone stared.

Waiting.

Then his eyes opened.

Lena's blood ran cold.

They weren't silver.

They weren't human.

They were completely black.

No pupils.

No whites.

Nothing.

Just darkness.

The boy slowly sat up.

His movements felt unnatural.

Jerky.

Wrong.

Like someone learning how to use a body for the first time.

"Get back."

The warning came from Orion.

Immediate.

Sharp.

Dangerous.

Nobody argued.

Everyone stepped away.

The boy rose to his feet.

Slowly.

Mechanically.

Then he smiled.

The sight chilled Lena to her core.

Because it wasn't his smile.

It belonged to someone else.

Someone looking through him.

The boy's head tilted.

Then he looked directly at Lena.

Not Caleb.

Not Seraphine.

Not Caelum.

Lena.

Of course.

Everything always came back to Lena.

The smile widened.

And then the boy spoke.

Except it wasn't his voice.

It was the same voice that had laughed from the darkness earlier.

Ancient.

Cruel.

Amused.

"Well."

The voice echoed through the ruins.

"This is unexpected."

Nobody moved.

Nobody breathed.

The creature inside the student looked around.

Studying everyone.

Almost casually.

Then its gaze landed on Caelum.

The smile widened.

"Oh."

The voice sounded delighted.

"You're awake."

Caelum's expression turned deadly.

"You."

The creature laughed.

"I missed you too."

Lena looked between them.

Clearly they knew each other.

Clearly it wasn't a pleasant relationship.

The creature's attention shifted toward Seraphine.

Then Orion.

Then Lyra.

The amusement never left its face.

"My."

It clapped slowly.

Mockingly.

"The entire family is here."

Lyra visibly recoiled.

"Don't call us that."

"Why not?"

The smile widened.

"We practically raised each other."

Nobody looked happy about that statement.

Especially Lyra.

Then the creature looked at Lena again.

And everything changed.

The amusement vanished.

Completely.

For the first time...

It looked interested.

Truly interested.

The black eyes studied her carefully.

Long enough to make her uncomfortable.

Then it whispered:

"So you're the one."

The mark on Lena's wrist exploded with heat.

She gasped.

The pain was immediate.

Violent.

The creature saw it.

And smiled.

A genuinely excited smile.

Like someone finally finding a missing piece.

"Oh."

Its voice softened.

"Now I understand."

Caelum stepped forward.

The ground cracked beneath his feet.

"You will leave."

The command echoed through the ruins.

The creature laughed.

"No."

The answer came instantly.

"No, I don't think I will."

The atmosphere became unbearable.

Power crackled through the air.

The rescued students backed away.

Jacob looked seconds from passing out.

Honestly, Lena couldn't blame him.

Then the creature said something that made every person present freeze.

Every single one.

Even Caelum.

Even Seraphine.

Even the mysterious stranger from before.

All of them.

The smile stretched wider.

Crueler.

More knowing.

And then it said:

"Tell me."

Its black eyes locked onto Lena.

"Do you remember your brother yet?"

The world stopped.

Lena stared.

Her brother?

For a second nobody reacted.

Then suddenly every face in the ruins changed.

Shock.

Pure shock.

Not confusion.

Not disbelief.

Shock.

Like a secret had just been ripped into the open.

And in that exact moment...

Lena knew two things.

First.

She had never heard anyone mention a brother before.

Not once.

Second.

The expressions around her told her one terrifying truth.

The creature wasn't lying.