Her choice

The corridor smelled like rust and blood, the stale air heavy with a tension that weighed on my chest. I had just returned here. Mira found me first, her face pale, her voice shaking.

“They’ve… changed,” she whispered, gripping my arm so tightly it hurt. “You need to come now.”

I didn’t ask what she meant. I ran.

The halls felt endless, each step louder than the last as my boots slapped against the cold, metal floor. When I reached the containment area, I skidded to a halt. The sight before me turned my blood to ice.

Torres and Baker—their bodies were barely recognizable. Twisted and deformed, their skin had split in places, dark scales forming in jagged patches across their arms and faces. Baker’s fingers had elongated into claw-like talons, while Torres’s mouth stretched unnaturally wide, her teeth sharper than they should’ve been.

They were writhing, but not in pain. They were laughing.

Praising.

“Hail the Light,” Baker growled, his voice a guttural rasp that didn’t sound human anymore.

“Blessed be the Abyss King,” Torres crooned, rocking back and forth as though in prayer. Her eyes gleamed with a feral devotion that made my stomach churn.

Behind me, someone gagged. I turned to see Adrian, his hand over his mouth, his face pale.

“What happened?” I asked, my voice barely audible.

“They heard it,” Mira said from behind me, her voice cracking. “His voice.”

Light’s voice.

I had felt the corruption in his words before, the way they wrapped around my mind, soft as silk but sharp as blades. But I hadn’t realized how deeply they could sink into someone’s soul.

Torres lunged, her claws raking against the reinforced glass that separated her from us. The screech of her nails echoed through the room, and I flinched.

“Destroy it!” she shrieked. “Destroy everything for him!”

The sound of a gunshot made me jump. I turned just in time to see Graves lower his pistol, smoke curling from the barrel.

Torres slumped to the floor, her body twitching before going still.

“No!” Baker roared, slamming his claws against the glass. His rage was palpable, his movements wild and erratic.

Graves didn’t flinch. “Lock him in the decontamination room,” he barked, his voice cold and unfeeling.

Two crew members hesitated, then moved forward, dragging Baker away as he screamed and thrashed.

Graves turned to the rest of us, his eyes hard. “This does not leave this room. Do you understand me?”

No one answered.

“This is an order,” he snapped. “If anyone speaks of this, I will personally ensure you’re locked in with him.”

My stomach churned. I wanted to scream at him, to tell him this wasn’t right, but my throat felt like it was closing.

I turned and walked away, unable to bear it any longer.

I didn’t remember falling asleep.

When I opened my eyes, I wasn’t in my quarters. The cold floor beneath me was unfamiliar, and the soft glow of the tank’s light made my heart sink.

I was in the containment chamber.

Again.

My body moved before my mind could catch up, drawn toward the edge of the tank. Light was there, waiting for me, his massive form coiled in the water. His tail swirled lazily behind him, the motion hypnotic.

“Sleepwalking again, little pet?” His voice was soft, almost teasing, but it sent shivers down my spine.

I stopped just short of the edge, my fists clenching at my sides. “I’m not your pet.”

His lips curled into that sharp smile that both terrified and intrigued me. “Still so defiant. It’s adorable, really.”

“Why are you doing this?” I asked, my voice trembling. “Why us?”

He tilted his head, studying me like I was a curious insect pinned beneath his gaze. “You’re asking the wrong questions, Lila.”

I swallowed hard. “Then what’s the right question?”

“Why you?” he said, his tone dark and amused. “Why does my voice not break you like the others? Why do you keep coming back to me, no matter how much you try to resist?”

I didn’t have an answer.

He leaned closer, his upper body rising out of the water. The movement was fluid, unnatural, and mesmerizing.

“Do you know what makes us so different?” he asked, his voice low and intimate. “Your mind is slow, trapped in linear time, stumbling over thoughts like a blind man in the dark. My mind… my mind moves at the speed of light. Faster, even. So fast that even I can barely comprehend it sometimes.”

I tried to step back, but my legs refused to obey.

“And my voice,” he continued, his gaze locked on mine. “It exists on a frequency your kind cannot withstand. It breaks them, bends them, until they are mine. All except you, my little pet. You’re special.”

“I’m not special,” I whispered.

He laughed softly, a sound that sent a jolt of fear and something else I didn’t want to name through me. “Oh, but you are. You’re sick, Lila. So sick, so sweet, and so deliciously defiant.”

I opened my mouth to protest, but before I could, he moved.

One moment, he was watching me from the tank; the next, he was on me. His hand gripped my chin, his touch cold and unyielding as he tilted my head up to meet his gaze.

“Do you know what I see when I look at you?” he asked, his voice a dangerous purr. “A tiny, predictable creature, chasing its tail over and over again. But you amuse me, Lila. For now.”

His lips crushed against mine, and the world tilted.

It wasn’t a kiss. Not in the way humans kissed. It was brutal, invasive, his sharp teeth nipping at my lips until I tasted blood. His tongue, rough and alien, forced its way into my mouth, and I choked, my hands clawing at his chest.

It should have terrified me. It did. But it also…

No. I couldn’t think like that.

When he finally pulled back, I was gasping for air, my lips swollen and bleeding.

“You have a choice,” he said, his voice soft but deadly. “Surrender to me completely, and I will save you. Resist, and you will lose everything.”

“I’ll never surrender,” I spat, my voice trembling but firm.

His smile widened. “We’ll see.”

Before I could respond, he released me, his hand trailing down my arm like a whisper.

“Goodnight, Lila,” he said, his tone mocking. “Think carefully about your decision.”

I stumbled back, my knees giving out as I fell to the cold floor.

And then he was gone, his form disappearing into the depths of the tank, leaving me shaking and breathless.

For the first time, I wondered if I could ever truly escape him.