Chapter 59: She Kidnaps Adrian
Chapter 59: She Kidnaps Adrian
Adrian’s POV
The sound of alarms filled my ears while I made my way through the dense metallic hallway. Above me, smoke spiralled from the vents while the escalating heat pressed harshly against my skin. The building trembled violently while its walls seemed to issue deep groans under the immense pressure of impending destruction. The exact duration of time we had escaped me, but I understood that it was very limited.
Kieran’s voice crackled in my earpiece. “Adrian, where are you?”
“Almost at the lower level,” I gasped as I ducked beneath a live wire that dangled from the ceiling like a serpent. “I’m going to get Evelyn.”
“No—change of plan,” he said sharply. “She’s already out. Ezra helped her escape.”
My heart pounded against my ribs as I came to an abrupt standstill. “Ezra? He’s alive?”
“Barely. But we don’t have time to explain. Get out. Now.”
I gave him a nod despite the fact that he wasn't able to see me. My boots slapped the floor as I faced the door while an odd sensation nibbled at my thoughts. A gut feeling. Something wasn’t right. Not just the alarms. Not just the smoke or the countdown.
It was the silence.
The hallway before me became totally dark in an instant. Not just dim—completely dark. As if the lights had been swallowed. My fingers wrapped around the flashlight which I kept attached to the side of my belt.
I clicked it on.
The flashlight beam broke through the shadows, revealing either an object or a person.
At the hallway's far end a figure stood silent and still. A woman in a dark red coat. Her arms formed a barrier and her face remained hidden in shadows yet I recognized her instantly before she uttered a word.
“Hello, Adrian.”
Serena.
My blood ran cold. “You shouldn’t be here.”
She moved her head to a side angle with eyes reflecting the flashlight’s beam like polished glass. “Oh, but I should. I still have one card left to play so I’m not done yet.
I advanced toward her, saying firmly, “Your games don’t concern me here.”
She didn’t move. “You always were the stubborn one. Just like your mother.”
I stiffened. “Don’t talk about her.”
She gave me a weak smile, which seemed to be exactly what she had hoped for. “Why not? She joined our operation many years before you entered the world. Did she remain ignorant about our activities? She was responsible for making sure the files vanished.
“That’s a lie,” I snapped.
Serena approached me slowly across the steel floor while her heels made a clicking sound. “Your mother made choices. We all did. Some of us accepted the cost. Some of us—like you—pretend we’re above it.”
My hand stayed near my side to keep the tranquilliser dart concealed. “Why are you here?”
She explained that her presence ensured the conclusion would proceed correctly.
As the floor quaked once more I noticed through the smoke a control panel had been damaged behind her position. The building collapsed under the chaotic forces Victor created. Yet Serena looked calm. Almost like she was enjoying the destruction.
I warned her that leaving this place was not going to happen.
Her smile stretched wider. “I don’t plan to. You will leave this place unless I convince you to change your plans.
I narrowed my eyes. “What are you talking about?”
She raised one hand.
A sharp hissing sound filled the air.
Suddenly, a needle pierced my neck.
My body jerked.
The flashlight dropped.
I tried to catch the dart while falling backwards, but failed to stop it. The chemical moved swiftly into my bloodstream. My muscles weakened, knees buckling.
My vision blurred.
Serena approached me without any hindrance from my side.
The hard floor took my body as I fought to remain conscious.
Her whisper carried the message of her last card beside me. “And now I’ve played it.”
My mouth opened to speak, but no words emerged from my lips. Everything spun.
She placed a cool hand against my cheek. “Sleep, Adrian. You’ve always been so curious. So brave. But even you have a limit.”
Darkness swallowed me.
—
I opened my eyes to discover my mouth was dry while my head felt heavy as if filled with sand. I tried to sit up in the dim light but only managed to blink before realising my arms were fastened to the chair.
Another chair.
Another damn chair.
My heart pounded as I looked around. This wasn’t the lab. It was… somewhere else. The square room featured plain walls that were covered with white panels along with blinking monitors. Clean. Cold.
And Serena was watching me.
She positioned herself next to a glass wall with her hands positioned at her back. Her coat was gone. The black she wore now had simplicity and sharpness as though she prepared herself for mourning.
Mine.
“You’re awake,” she said softly.
“Why… why have you come?” My throat scorched.
“Truth,” she replied. “Just like you’ve always wanted. Truth costs something Adrian and you haven't paid that yet. And you haven’t paid it yet.”
The idea of what you believe I should deserve means nothing to me. “You won’t get away with this.”
She dismissed the statement with a negligible shrug. “This isn’t about getting away. This is about legacy.”
I pulled on the ropes and paid no attention to my pain. “You kidnapped me.”
“I saved you,” she corrected while approaching my direction. “The others would’ve left you behind. You were too close to the core. And Ezra… he has no loyalty. No soul.”
“Ezra holds more true spirit than you ever possessed,” I spat out.
She stopped inches away, her smile fading. “You don’t understand, do you? All these years, I kept you alive. I protected you from the truth.”
I stared at her. “What truth?”
The experiment was designed for you not to survive.
My body went cold.
She moved away and allowed her words to settle.
“You were part of the second batch. The unstable ones. But somehow, you adapted. You thrived. That made you… interesting.”
I shook my head. “No. That’s not—”
What led Victor to conceal your records in secrecy? What makes your blood respond so uniquely to the compound?” Her voice descended. “You were a mistake. A beautiful, rare mistake.”
“You’re sick,” I said, voice shaking. “You played with people’s lives. You took children—”
“I created evolution,” she snapped. “But Victor betrayed me. He wanted control. I wanted freedom.”
“Freedom?” I laughed bitterly. “You don’t even know what that means.”
“I do,” she said, her eyes narrowing. I will make the entire world understand through you.
“What?”
The monitor received her attention as she pressed a button.
A screen lit up.
My name. My data. My DNA.
“This is the final broadcast,” she said. Every screen across the nation will reveal your identity in fifteen minutes. Proof of evolution. Proof of what comes next.”
I froze.
“No,” I whispered. “You can’t do that.”
“I already did.”
“You’ll expose everyone.”
She looked back at me. “They deserve to know. Adrian will become the symbol of this new era. The new beginning.”
I tugged on the ropes until my wrists began to burn. “You’re insane.”
Serena leaned down, face inches from mine. “And you’re the future.”
Then the lights flickered again.
An intense sound reverberated throughout the hallway beyond the room.
Serena turned sharply.
Footsteps.
Loud. Heavy.
Getting closer.
She stood up rapidly before heading toward the door while her hand remained suspended above the panel.
Then she looked back at me.
“If they break in,” she told me, “I’ll personally end you.”
The door slid open.
Smoke poured in.
A figure stepped through the mist.
My heart stopped.
It wasn’t Kieran.
It wasn’t Damien.
It was someone else.
Someone I thought was dead.
“Hello, brother,” the voice said.
My blood ran cold.
“…Ezra?”
But the figure only smiled.
“No,” he said. “I’m not Ezra.”
He stepped into the light—
To my shock, the figure's face reflected my own image.