Chapter 169 The Stranger at the Gate
Chapter 169 The Stranger at the Gate
Chapter 170 – The Stranger at the Gate
The morning should have felt ordinary.
For the first time in weeks, the corridors were calm. The emergency lights were off, conversations had returned to their normal volume, and the weight that had hung over the entire facility had finally begun to lift. Aria stood by the window with a warm cup of coffee between her hands, telling herself that this was what peace was supposed to feel like.
Then the alarm sounded.
It was not loud.
Just one sharp tone.
Then another.
Daniel was already moving before anyone else reacted. He crossed the room, grabbed the security tablet from the desk, and glanced at the screen. His expression changed instantly.
"What is it?" Aria asked.
He did not answer.
Instead, he pressed a button on the tablet. "Who triggered the outer gate?"
A crackling voice came through the speaker.
"We don't know, sir."
Daniel frowned.
"What do you mean you don't know?"
"There is a visitor outside."
"So?"
The guard hesitated.
"He refuses to identify himself."
Aria felt a chill crawl down her spine.
Daniel's voice became colder.
"Nobody gets this close without authorization."
"That's the strange part, sir. Every security checkpoint opened for him."
Daniel stared at the screen.
"I didn't authorize that."
"Neither did anyone in control."
The line went silent.
Daniel exchanged a quick glance with Aria before heading toward the elevator. She followed without thinking.
"Stay here," he said.
"I'm not staying behind."
"This could be dangerous."
"So was everything we've survived already."
He wanted to argue, but the determination in her eyes stopped him. She was frightened, but she was no longer hiding from fear.
The elevator doors opened onto the ground floor.
Outside, several security officers stood near the main entrance. None of them looked relaxed. Their eyes remained fixed on the man waiting beyond the iron gate.
He stood alone.
A dark coat hung neatly over his shoulders despite the cool wind. His posture was calm, almost impossibly calm, as though he had expected this exact moment for a very long time.
Daniel stepped forward.
"Open the communication line."
One of the guards nodded.
The speaker beside the gate crackled to life.
"State your name."
The man smiled faintly.
"I've come to speak with Aria."
Daniel's jaw tightened.
"You didn't answer my question."
"Because my name won't mean anything to you."
"It will determine whether you walk away or get arrested."
The stranger looked directly at Daniel.
"I don't think either of those things will happen."
Aria moved closer until she could finally see his face clearly.
Something about him felt familiar.
Not his appearance.
His eyes.
They carried the same quiet certainty she had seen only once before.
As if he already knew how this conversation would end.
Her heart began to race.
"I know you," she whispered.
The man looked at her for the first time.
"No."
His voice remained calm.
"You know what I came from."
The courtyard fell completely silent.
Daniel immediately stepped in front of Aria.
"What does that mean?"
The stranger's expression never changed.
"It means your battle wasn't the beginning."
A cold knot formed in Aria's stomach.
Daniel's voice hardened.
"Explain yourself."
The man slowly reached into his coat.
Every guard raised a weapon.
"Don't move!" one of them shouted.
The stranger stopped immediately and held up his free hand.
"I'm not armed."
With slow, deliberate movements, he removed a small sealed envelope instead.
Across the front, only one name was written.
Aria.
Daniel did not lower his guard.
"What is inside?"
The stranger looked directly at Aria.
"The answer to the question she hasn't asked yet."
Aria's breathing became uneven.
"What question?"
The man's eyes darkened.
"Why she was chosen."
No one spoke.
The wind swept through the courtyard, carrying an uneasy silence between them.
Then the stranger said the words that made every face turn pale.
"Because someone chose her long before the darkness ever found her."