Chapter 38 The Boy Who Wore My Face
Kai’s POV
Ever since Zara left my room, I was at a loss for words. I didn't know what to do so I injected myself with something to sleep. At least when I slept, I thought of nothing and that was something I really required at this point in my life.
Darkness.
That was the first thing I felt. Not pain. Not fear. Not even confusion.
Just darkness weighing on me like a second skin.
I tried to move, but my limbs would not obey. My mind floated between worlds, suspended in a thick fog that refused to clear. It felt like sinking through cold water slow, heavy, suffocating.
Then the darkness cracked.
A thin line of light split down the middle of my vision, bright enough to burn but impossible to look away from. Something pulled me forward, dragging my consciousness through that line, forcing my eyes open inside a world that did not belong to me.
I stood in a haunted hallway.
Cold. Silent. Recycled air humming like a dying heartbeat.
Silver walls stretched endlessly on both sides. I could hear distant footsteps echoing as though someone was pacing… or guarding.
My mind stuttered.
This place smelled like chemicals. Like electricity. Like fear.
A ship.
Not water-bound. Something else. Something older. Something designed to keep things inside... Not out.
Something seemed off.
The ship looked foreign.
A sharp clang echoed.
I followed the sound, every step feeling dreamlike but painfully real. My feet moved without permission. My breath turned shallow. My wolf pressed against me with unease, whispering warnings I could not decipher.
Then I reached it.
A cell.
A glass chamber sealed with runes I had never seen before. They pulsed faintly, like veins filled with silver blood. The moment I saw inside, every thought in my head froze.
Someone was crouched on the floor.
Shackles around his wrists. Shackles on his ankles. A collar digging into his neck.
His hair was matted. His skin bruised. His breathing shallow.
And he looked exactly like me.
“W… what?” The word scraped out of my throat.
He lifted his head slowly.
The same eyes.
The same jaw.
The same scar beneath the lip I got when I was fourteen.
The boy inside the cell stood... no, staggered... to his feet. His knees trembled as though he had been starved of sunlight for years.
He came closer to the glass. His fingers pressed weakly against it, leaving streaks of dried blood behind.
His lips parted.
But no sound came.
I swallowed hard.
"Who are you?”
His eyes widened with something between desperation and relief. He slammed his palm against the glass once, twice, again until the runes sparked in warning.
“Stop,” I whispered, even though he could not hear me.
He mouthed something.
Two words.
“Help me.”
My heart crashed against my ribs.
Who was this person?
Then something clicked in my head.
"The original hybrid." It was something dropped in my subconscious state.
Suddenly, alarms wailed through the hallway. Red lights drenched everything. The ground trembled beneath me. The air tightened, heavy with danger.
Footsteps thundered from every direction.
I turned just in time to see shadows approaching through the foggy red haze tall figures in armor, faceless, silent, marching toward the cell… toward him.
Toward me.
“No.... no, wait!” I yelled, but my voice felt swallowed by the dream.
The boy in the cell, the real me backed away. Panic ripped through his features as the armored figures raised weapons glowing with a dark, humming energy.
Electric blue.
The same shade my device turned when Dr. Voss activated it.
My breath stilled. My wolf howled inside my chest, claws scraping at my ribs.
The boy locked eyes with me through the glass.
He mouthed something again.
This time… not a plea.
A warning.
"They’re coming for you too.”
"What... What do you mean?" I questioned.
The figure which looked like me just smiled wickedly.
"Be safe Kai. Be safe." It said.
"Avoid destroying your planet."
Before I could react, the glass shattered outward in a burst of blinding white light.
The world ripped apart.
The hallway dissolved.
My body jerked violently....
I seemed to be fighting off something wherever I found myself.
My head spun badly...
I kept going on and out of consciousness.
One second, I would be on my room, next I would see Zara and Mira, next thing silver cities burning.
I felt my blood dripping but I couldn't regain full consciousness of myself.
My skin felt like it was tearing open in a worse possible kind of way.
"Zara." I whispered to the air silently.
"I'm sorry Zara." I apologized again on a feeble voice.
Then.... I woke up with a scream trapped behind my teeth, except…
I was not in my room.
I was not anywhere I recognized.
I tried understanding my surroundings but it kept giving me a headache.
"Where am I?" I thought.
I got no response. My wolves kept mute at some point.
A cold metal cuff clamped tightly around my wrist.
That made me fuy aware of my surroundings.
The lights flickered on and off.
"Who's there?" I questioned, my voice sounding deeper than usual.
Still no response.
Then the memories hit me hard again. I swear I could see that figure who looked just like me sitting down in the same place I was settled. Fuck!! Something or someone had to be messing with my head.
A voice echoed from the darkness beside me. Low. Familiar. Terrifying.
“Welcome back… Kai.”
Then I heard it. Slow... A slow silent whisper.
"I did tell you to run else you'll be caught up in the exact same mess I found myself in."
The sting came from the full impact of the slap that landed on my left cheek.
"I'll show you how to be submissive."
That was the last thing I heard before I blacked out.