Chapter 89 - Chapter 82 : Wraith-Born

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*****

One Week After the Raccoon City Nuking Incident

Raccoon City was gone — wiped off the map in a single flash of light.

The world watched the footage in shock — a city swallowed by fire, reduced to ashes in seconds.

But what's the truth behind it?

No one knows.

Umbrella Corporation made sure of that.

Within hours of the explosion, their PR teams were already on every major news network — calm, composed, dressed in black. They spoke with perfect precision, their sorrow rehearsed, their voices steady.

They expressed condolences for the tragedy and assured the public that Umbrella was "fully cooperating with federal authorities" to uncover the cause.

Their official statement followed soon after:

"The nuclear reactor at the Raccoon City Power Facility suffered a critical meltdown, triggering a catastrophic chain reaction. Despite Umbrella's efforts to assist in containment, the city was lost. We mourn the innocent lives taken by this tragic accident."

It sounded official. Technical. Safe.

And more importantly, believable.

News outlets around the globe repeated it word for word. The image of the mushroom cloud became the symbol of "the accident," while reporters stood behind military barricades miles from the city ruins, reciting Umbrella's version of events.

The public didn't question it. Why would they?

Umbrella wasn't just a company — it was the company.

Their logo marked hospitals, vaccines, pharmaceuticals, even bottled water. To most people, Umbrella meant safety, progress, and life itself.

So when they said it was an accident… the world believed them.

But behind closed doors, the truth was buried deeper than the crater where Raccoon City once stood.

Umbrella's internal clean up teams worked in silence.

Satellite footage was deleted. Civilian records were erased.

Survivor lists were quietly edited — names removed overnight - as if those people had never existed.

And anyone who mentioned words like virus, infection, or monsters found themselves labeled unstable… or simply vanished.

To the rest of the world, it was just another tragedy. A nuclear accident. Nothing more.

A few conspiracy forums tried to tell a different story — whispers about strange creatures seen near the city's edge, soldiers in black hazmat suits, screams that continued long after the explosion.

Those posts never stayed up for long. Within days, they were gone — deleted without a trace.

And so, the world moved on.

Umbrella remained untouchable — polished, powerful, and adored.

The company hadn't just covered up the truth.

It had rewritten history.

***

In Detroit

Inside one of the hotel rooms, the dim glow from the television flickered across the group's tired faces.

"—Umbrella Corporation has announced a generous donation to aid in the redevelopment of Raccoon City. The President praised the company's efforts, calling it 'a symbol of corporate responsibility in times of tragedy.'"

Jill nearly choked on her drink. "Corporate responsibility? You've got to be kidding me!" she snapped, slamming the can down hard enough to rattle the table. "Those psychos nuked the damn city, and now they're playing heroes?"

"Jill, easy," Peyton muttered as he stepped in, balancing two boxes of pizza. "Yelling at TV isn't going to change anything."

"Oh, it helps," Jill shot back, her voice rising. "It helps me stay sane! Look at this garbage—'Umbrella relief program for survivors'? What survivors? They're the ones who wiped out the city!"

On TV, the reporter kept speaking in that calm, professional tone that made it all worse.

"Umbrella officials have dismissed recent online rumors of biological experiments as unfounded. The Raccoon City tragedy was the result of a reactor failure—nothing more."

Jill groaned and snatched up the remote, killing the sound. The room went quiet except for the low hum of the air conditioner.

"Even knowing the truth, we couldn't do a damn thing," she muttered, voice low now, her anger fading into something heavier.

Alice leaned against the wall, arms crossed, her expression cold. "We tried. We showed Terri's footage, went public, told everyone everything we knew. And what happened? They branded us terrorists before the day was over."

Peyton sighed, setting the pizza down. "Yeah. 'Domestic bioterror suspects'—that's what the news is calling us."

A week ago, they went public—showing the footage Terri recorded inside the city. The chaos, the infection, the deaths.

But Umbrella had dismissed it as fake, claiming it was "fabricated terrorist propaganda." Within hours, their faces were plastered on every national alert. Alice, Jill, Peyton, Terri—all labeled fugitives.

All thanks to Umbrella.

Alice's eyes softened as she glanced toward the next room, where Luke still lay unconscious.

"If Luke were awake…" she murmured. "Things would be different."

The room went quiet for a moment. Even Jill's anger faded.

"Yeah," Peyton said quietly, rubbing the back of his neck. "He'd know what to do. Somehow, he always does."

And Jill missed him — though she'd never admit it out loud.

***

In the bedroom,

The curtains fluttered from the cool night breeze slipping through the cracked window. Luke lay motionless on the bed, his body unnaturally still, while Selene sat beside him — silent, watchful, her expression unreadable.

Over the past few days, his appearance had changed drastically. His once healthy complexion had turned faintly pale, his hair shifting to a grayish brown.

Silvery veins pulsed faintly beneath his skin, glowing with every slow heartbeat. Even his left arm — once destroyed beyond repair — had completely regenerated, smooth and strong once more.

[99%]

[100%]

[Evolution Completed]

[Race Changed: Human → Wraith-Born]

[Trait Acquired: Telekinesis (Minor)]

[Trait enhancement detected — Mental Strength exceeds baseline]

[Telekinesis upgraded to: Intermediate]

[Trait Acquired: Regeneration (Advanced)]

[Physical and Spiritual Parameters Increasing…]

[Strength: 40 | Endurance: 60 | Agility: 35 | Intelligence: 60 | Wisdom: 55]

[Host is waking up…]

The final line pulsed slowly across the interface — like a heartbeat.

Then the air shifted.

A deep, low vibration rolled through the floorboards — a sound that started soft, almost like distant thunder. Then it grew.

RRRRRRRRRMMMMMM...

The entire building trembled. Dust fell from the ceiling. The curtains whipped against the window as a violent BOOM cracked through the air.

Selene shot up from her chair, eyes flashing toward Luke. The glow around his body brightened — faint at first, then rising to a blinding, icy blue.

Another tremor. Stronger this time. The bedframe groaned, the windows rattled.

In the living room,

"Huh?! Earthquake?!" Jill shouted, gripping the couch as the ground lurched beneath her. The pizza box slid off the table, crashing to the floor.

"Everyone out! Now!" Alice yelled, steadying herself as another violent tremor rippled through the walls.

"Lights—what the hell is happening?!" Peyton barked, ducking as a lamp fell and shattered. The entire hotel flickered, power surging through the circuits with a loud bzzzzzztttt!

"Jill, go get Selene and Luke!" Alice ordered sharply, her voice nearly drowned out by the rumbling. "I'll get Angela and her father!"

"Peyton, grab the weapons! Terri, move!"

"On it!" Peyton shouted, diving for the duffel bags as Terri stumbled after him.

The floor jolted again — a deep, thunderous KRRRMMMMPHH! — making the walls crack and lights flare in and out.

Back in the bedroom,

Jill burst through the door—

—and froze.

The moment she stepped in, the air hit her like a wall. It was thick. Heavy. Alive. Every hair on her arm stood up as static crackled in the air, dancing along the metal frames and curtains.

The overhead light flickered wildly — bzzt... bzzt... bzzt... — before exploding in a shower of sparks.

And there he was.

Luke wasn't lying anymore.

He was floating.

His body hung weightless above the bed, suspended in a storm of invisible energy. His veins glowed beneath his skin, and his hair lifted slightly in the static wind swirling around him.

Then his eyes opened.

Two burning orbs of spectral blue light locked onto nothing — bright enough to pierce the dark, casting ghostly shadows across the room.

The power surged again — a BOOM that made the window crack and the air conditioner spark out.

Jill stumbled back.

"What… the hell… is happening?" she whispered, her voice trembling as the air hummed like a living thing.

The glow around Luke pulsed at once — a single, deep heartbeat of light — and every bulb in the hotel died in an instant.

BZZZZT—POP.

Darkness.

And then, silence.