CHAPTER 62

CHAPTER 62
Evelyn’s POV 

The sound of the collision reached my ears before I caught sight of it.

A metallic scraping noise blended with the impact of bodies hitting the ground and fists pounding. Like a powerful magnet, the force pulled me through the smoke-filled corridor. Despite my boots sliding on broken tiles and my lungs burning from dust and fire, I kept running.

I turned the corner and froze. 

Kieran was fighting him. The prototype. 

He looked just like Adrian. Same height. Same hair. Even the same eyes, except colder. Sharper. My son’s face appeared hollow as if someone had removed his soul through carving.

They were locked in a brutal fight. Kieran delivered a powerful punch, which failed to make the prototype show any reaction. His retaliatory strike was so powerful that it knocked Kieran into the wall.

I quickly moved to Kieran’s side when he groaned while attempting to rise.

“Stay down,” I said, crouching beside him. 

With a shaky breath, he revealed his inability and cleaned blood from his lips. “He’ll take Adrian.” 

I looked past him. Under the dim glow of red lights Adrian lay motionless on the ground with his face drained of color. The timer mounted on the wall indicated less than two minutes remaining.

Through clenched teeth, I declared, "That thing is not going to touch him."

Kieran pulled himself up beside me. “You have a plan?” 

I gave an affirmative nod despite my heart thundering as though it were a battle drum. “We distract him. Together. You take the right. I’ll take the left. We manage to secure enough time to grab Adrian so that we can escape.

He gave a short nod, eyes fierce. 

And then we moved. 

Kieran charged forward, shouting, which caught the prototype’s attention. Moving in a low left circle, I picked up a broken pipe while my hands trembled.

The prototype intercepted Kieran's incoming punch and sent him flying backwards with ease.

I leapt ahead and delivered the pipe strike using my full strength.

The pipe struck his head from behind.

The sound was awful. A sharp crack. He stumbled, but didn’t fall. 

He turned, eyes locking with mine. 

And I saw it—confusion. 

His head tilted. “Mother?” 

The word froze me. 

Breathing escaped me for a short while. “What did you just call me?” 

He blinked at a measured pace while his brain worked to process new information. “You look like her.” 

I gripped the pipe tightly. “I’m not your mother.” 

“You created me,” he said calmly. “In the files. I read everything.” 

I stepped back. “You’re not real.” 

He stated that he existed more tangibly than Adrian as he pointed at him. “He is weak. You chose wrong.” 

“You’re wrong,” I hissed. “Adrian is stronger than you’ll ever be.” 

He didn’t like that. 

He lunged, fast and sharp. 

I swung the pipe toward him, but he intercepted it in midair and removed it from my grasp.

Kieran surprised him with a tackle from behind, which sent him falling to the ground.

“Go!” Kieran shouted. “Get Adrian!” 

I ran. 

I went down to the ground next to Adrian and lifted his arm to rest on my shoulder.

He was heavy. Dead weight. But I didn’t care. 

“Come on, baby,” I whispered. “Stay with me.” 

The exit became my target as I pulled him toward it while each movement sent flames through my legs. The wall-mounted red timer blinked to show one minute remaining.

Behind me, I heard more fighting. 

Grunts. The crunch of bone. 

Kieran screamed. 

I turned back for a second. 

The prototype had him pinned. 

Kieran was still engaged in combat despite blood flowing from his face.

Still trying. 

I couldn’t leave him. 

I placed Adrian gently on the ground before picking up the fallen pipe once more.

And I ran back. 

Using all my weight, I drove the pipe into the prototype's ribcage.

He reeled, letting go of Kieran. 

Kieran coughed hard and rolled away. 

We stood side by side together as both of us were panting and bruised.

This was the first moment we did not engage in conflict. We didn’t question. We moved as one. 

He made a leftward feint, and I delivered a right-sided strike. Again and again. 

It wasn’t clean. It wasn’t pretty. 

But it worked. 

The prototype collapsed to the ground in a series of jerking movements.

I didn’t wait. 

I rushed to Adrian so I could pull him up once more.

“Kieran!” I shouted. 

He was right behind me. 

We moved Adrian down the last hallway together. The ground shook beneath us. Smoke filled the air. The sirens wailed louder. 

Twenty seconds. 

We saw the exit door. 

The door abruptly closed between us.

Locked. 

I exclaimed, "No, no, no!" while I struck the panel.

It was dead. 

Kieran cursed and backed up. “Stand back!” 

He ran forward and kicked the door. 

Once. 

Twice. 

The metal groaned. 

Ten seconds. 

He kicked again. 

And the door burst open. 

We emerged into the storm while rain fell upon our faces as if it offered salvation.

Kieran pulled Adrian along the final stretch while we fell to the ground behind a concrete barrier as the facility exploded behind us.

The ground rocked. 

Flames roared. 

The sky flashed as if another sun had appeared.

And then—silence. 

Only the rain. 

Only our gasping breaths. 

Adrian groaned softly in my arms. His eyes opened briefly before closing again.

“Mom…” he whispered. 

Tears spilt down my cheeks. “I’m here, baby. I’ve got you.” 

We stayed there for an extended period in our defeated and tired state.

But alive. 

Kieran stared at me while streaks of blood and rain cascaded down his face. “We did it.” 

I nodded. “We did.” 

He reached out and squeezed my hand. 

We didn’t speak after that. 

There was nothing left to say. 

The silence was broken by the arrival of a new sound.

The rumble of an engine. 

We both looked up. 

The edge of the cliffs became the stopping point for a black SUV.

The door opened. 

Out of the vehicle emerged a tall man wearing black clothes.

He raised a hand. 

Kieran’s eyes narrowed. 

“I know that face,” he said. 

I stood slowly, heart pounding again. 

The man walked toward us, calm, certain. 

And then he spoke. 

“You have something I want,” he said. 

Two additional figures exited the vehicle from behind him.

And one of them— 

One of them was Serena. 

Alive. 

Smiling. 

Even after the fire. 

Even after everything. 

I remained frozen in stunned silence when her gaze locked with mine.

And she said, “Round two starts now.”