Kai Langford - July 2120
The grass beneath my hands shifts with the wind, rippling like water. It moves upward, brushing strands of hair from my face.
I breathe in deeply, eyes fixed on the sea below. My legs dangle over the cliff's edge as the sunlight warm against my skin. It's quiet, peaceful. I can't remember the last time I felt so calm.
"Kai."
A faint voice carries through the wind, but I don't move. I don't want to. The ocean waves crash far below, hypnotic, drawing me in.
"Kai."
There it is again. Someone's calling me.
Reluctantly, I turn my head. My body feels heavy, like my mind is warning me not to look away from the sea. But something else, something deep inside, pushes me to turn around.
A boy is running towards me, waving an arm high above his head and my heart tightens.
Noah?
He's wearing a lab coat that's far too big for him, the sleeves flapping as he runs. His goggles keep sliding down his face, and he keeps pushing them back up with that same impatient grin I remember. He's so young, ten, maybe. Much younger than the last time I saw him.
What's happening?
I try to stand, but my body won't move. It's as if I'm rooted to the ground.
Noah skids to a stop beside me, his face glowing with excitement.
"Noah?" My voice feels small, unsure.
"Guess what, Kai! I won my science project!" He bounces on his heels, unable to stay still.
A smile pulls at my lips. "That's great. I told you you could do it."
But then he suddenly stops. The light drains from his face. His smile falters, and he looks down at me with eyes I don't recognise.
"Then where were you?" he asks.
"What… what do you mean?" My words stumble out, lost in the sudden stillness. The waves below still crash, but the wind has died. The world feels too quiet.
Something warm splatters onto the ground. I look up. Blood is running down Noah's face. Bruises bloom across his skin, cuts marring his arms.
My breath catches. "Noah-"
I reach out, desperate to touch him, to help, but my arm won't move any further.
"Where were you when I needed you to protect me?" His voice cracks, twisted with pain.
"I tried! I'm sorry, Noah, I tried!" I shout, the words tearing at my throat.
He stares at me, but then his expression hardens. "Father was right about you. You are useless."
The words hit harder than the wind ever could. He steps forward, his hand reaching out. For a moment, I think he's reaching for me. But then his palm presses against my back.
"Noah, wait-" but before I can react, he shoves me and the world tilts. The cliff edge vanishes above me as air rushes past me in a violent roar. And then-
Impact.
Cold. Darkness...
Gasp!!
I jolt upright, clutching my chest, air burning in my lungs. My heart hammers wildly. The room around me spins, unfamiliar. There are not windows apart from small one that appears above the door. Pale light filters though it casting the room in a low dim.
Where… where am I?
Ugh… my head is killing me.
I groan softly and press both hands against my temples, as if that could somehow dull the pain. It doesn't. The pounding behind my eyes feels like a hammer striking bone.
When I finally blink the haze from my vision, I take in the room around me. It's small, barely enough space for a bed, a table, and a wornout wardrobe. The wallpaper is peeling, the air smells faintly of dust and damp wood. It looks… old. Abandoned, even.
If I'm not back at the facility… then where the hell am I?
I force myself to sit up, the floor tilting slightly beneath my feet. I can't afford to stay here, not when I don't know who brought me or why. If there's danger, I need to handle it before it finds me.
When I swing my legs over the side of the bed, I notice something unexpected, my shoes. Placed neatly by the frame. I frown, shove them on, and move towards the door, careful not to make a sound.
The handle creaks when I turn it, and I freeze for a heartbeat before slowly pushing it open.
The corridor outside is empty.
I step out, shadows curling instinctively around my feet. The sound of my footsteps vanishes, muffled by the living darkness that follows me like smoke. The early morning light seeps weakly through the dirty windows, illuminating faded paint and warped floorboards.
It feels… familiar. The long hallways, the echoing silence. Almost like an old school that's been left to rot.
What the hell is this place?
I don't know. But I do know one thing, I have to get back to the facility. If I can report in before they find out, maybe Father will go easy on me. Maybe.
At the end of the hall, an EXIT sign glows faintly. I start towards it, but then something in the cracked mirror on the wall catches my eye.
My reflection.
My hand rises on instinct, brushing the side of my neck.
It's now... Empty. The metal collar is gone.
For a moment, everything inside me stops. Then, like a floodgate breaking, my memories slam back into place.
The cabin.Dr. Thomas.The fight.And then… Ethan.
I wince, gripping my head. The pain is slightly duller now, more pressure than agony.
Did Ethan do it? Did he get the collar off me? Did he bring me here?And how...how is he even alive?
Questions stack on top of each other until I can barely breathe. I look again at the exit. I could leave. I could go back, explain what happened, maybe even-
My fingers trace the skin where the collar used to sit. It's tender, raw. Without it, Father can't control me easily. He can't punish me without a fight.
But… if I don't go back… what about Noah?
The ache in my head sharpens again, a pulse of confusion and guilt. For so long, everything was simple, follow orders, survive, don't think too hard. Now… I don't even know what I want.
Before I can decide, I hear it, a soft click behind me.
A door opening, and instinct takes over. My body moves before I can think. Shadows surge from the floor, wrapping around a figure that's just stepped into the corridor. A muffled gasp, then silence, as the darkness seals over her mouth.
She struggles, but not enough to break free. Good. I move closer, reaching for the knife I usually keep strapped to my back, but they are now long gone. I form one from shadow instead, the blade whispering into existence in my hand.
I step around her to see who I've caught.
A girl. Tall, just small than me in height. Brown hair messy and uneven, sticking out in every direction like she just rolled out of bed. What catches me off guard isn't her appearance, it's her expression. She isn't afraid. She's… irritated.
"You're going to tell me where I am, and how to get out of here," I order, keeping my voice cold, steady. 009's old advice echoes in my head- when you don't know the terrain, retreat and assess.
Her eyes lock onto mine, sharp and unwavering.
I slowly pull the shadow away from her mouth, but keep the blade close to her throat just in case.
"Do you mind?" she says flatly, her voice low, unimpressed. "I've literally just woken up."
Her calmness throws me for half a second, but I don't show it. "Where am I?" I demand again, more force this time.
But before she can answer, movement flashes in the room she came from and something whistles through the air.
Reflexively, I throw up a wall of shadow. The impact slams into it hard enough to make my ears ring, but the barrier holds. For a second.
Then spikes tear through the darkness, causing me to jump back. The wall collapses as the attacker steps through.
A man. Broad-shouldered, older than me by a few years, eyes blazing. Green vines twist around his arms like living snakes, barbed and writhing.
"Tessa, are you okay?" he shouts, glaring in my direction.
"Yes, Daniel. Don't worry about me," she answers, calm as ever, despite still being partially wrapped in my shadows.
Daniel's jaw tightens. "I knew we shouldn't have brought a GeneX agent. Let her go!"
GeneX… he knows who I am?
I glance around, gauging escape routes, measuring the light, the shadows, the reach of those vines. Daniel's muscles tense, he's about to move.
The ground erupts. Vines lash out from beneath the floorboards, tearing through splinters of wood as they snake toward my ankles.
I flick my wrist, shadows lashing out in return, slicing through the vines before they can reach me. I leap backward, landing lightly.
He growls, drawing the vines tighter around his hands. The air hums with tension.
I steady my breath, the knife still coiled in shadow between my fingers.
If they know what I am, this won't end peacefully.
Daniel's vines whip across the floor again, sharper this time, like he's done holding back. They slam into the spot where I'd been standing a heartbeat ago, splintering the floorboards into jagged shards.
He's fast. But I'm faster.
Shadows flare outward from my feet, coiling around me like a storm. I twist to the side, slide across the ground, and slash toward him with a blade of darkness. He reacts instantly, his vines burst up to intercept it, the spike-covered tendrils clashing against my weapon with a snap.
Tessa watches us with narrowed eyes. Not afraid. Calculating.
"You shouldn't have let him come here," Daniel growls, forcing my shadow-blade back.
"I didn't exactly invite him," Tessa fires back, still bound but far too calm for someone with a knife near her throat a moment ago. "Can we maybe not destroy the building before breakfast?"
Another vine lunges toward me. I drop low, letting it whistle above my head, then thrust my hand up, shadow erupts from the floor, wrapping around the vine's base and yanking it downward. Daniel curses, stumbling.
Good. An opening.
I push forward, forming a second blade in my free hand, both weapons slicing through the dim corridor. Daniel blocks again, vines knotting and weaving around each other to shield him. He's stronger than he looks, each strike sends vibrations up my arms.
"You're pretty well-trained for a gardener," I spit.
His eyes flare. "And you're exactly what they said you'd be."
The vines spike outward without warning, they are too fast this time. One grazes my shoulder, tearing a line of heat across my skin. I hiss and leap back, shadows tightening protectively around me.
I have to get out.
Tessa finally wrests one arm free from the shadows and shouts, "Daniel, will you stop for second"
But he's not listening. He slams his hands to the floor, sending a whole wave of vines ripping across the corridor toward me like living spears.
Too many to counter.
My shadows brace themselves, rising into a curved barrier around my body. The vines crash into the shield with enough force to crack the floor, pushing me back until my heel hits the wall.
Damn.
Daniel snarls and pulls his arm back for another strike, but I take the moment to form a shard ready to aim at this head as soon as my sheild drops. Then...
"ENOUGH!"
The word hits the corridor like a shockwave and everything stops.
The vines freeze mid-lunge, quivering with tension. My own shadows flicker uncertainly.
Tessa's eyes widen slightly, while Daniel pivots sharply.And I...
…I feel my chest tighten.
Because the voice is one I haven't heard in years. One I never expected to hear again.
A figure stands at the far end of the hallway, breathing hard, hair messy, shirt half untucked as if he sprinted here the second he realised what was happening.
Ethan.
Alive.
My heart stutters. My legs almost forget how to hold me up. For a moment, all I can do is stare.
His eyes are wide when they land on me. Shock. Relief. Something else, something harder to read.
"Daniel!" Ethan's voice cracks through the corridor, not sharp, but breathless, urgent. "Whoa, hey buddy just… just pause for a sec!"
Daniel stiffens, vines twitching around his arms. "Ethan, he started it!"
"Okay, okay" Ethan says quickly, hands flying up in a frantic little gesture, his expression somewhere between exasperation and please stop breaking things. "But can we not do the whole murder-garden thing right this second?"
Tessa snorts, but Daniel does seem to want to stand down.
Ethan steps forward anyway, trying for seriousness but failing because he still looks like a golden retriever who ran here at full speed. "Daniel. Please."
Daniel's jaw tightens, but Ethan gives him a hopeful, lopsided smile, the kind that somehow always melts people's resistance.
"…Fine," Daniel mutters, retracting the vines in a grumble of wood and thorns.
Ethan beams at him. "Thank you! See? No one died. Floors are only slightly ruined. Progress!"
Then he turns to me and the brightness softens into something warmer, gentler.
The corridor falls silent. My own shadows slowly unwind from around my legs and dissipate into smoke.
Ethan takes another step towards me.
My throat tightens. I can't speak. I don't know what to say. How to breathe. How to exist.
He stops just a few feet away, his expression softening even more.
"…Kai?"
The sound of my name from his voice cuts deeper than any vine. Familiar. Impossible, but some how real.
I swallow. "Ethan."
He looks like he wants to approach me, but he hesitates, as if unsure whether I'll bolt or attack.
"Kai," he says quietly, "you're safe. You don't have to fight."
My heartbeat thrums painfully against my ribs.
Safe. He thinks I'm safe. Not if my Father comes for me.
How? How is he alive? Why did he save me? What is happening?
Before I can form a single question, pain erupts in my head. The adrenaline drains too fast and my vision blurs at the edges.
And Ethan lunges forward.
"Kai, hey, are you okay?," he murmurs, his arms firm around me.
For a moment, I let myself lean into him. Just for a second.
Then reality crashes back.
I shove myself out of his hold, stumbling a step backwards, shadows rising defensively around my feet again.
"Don't," I snap, breath shaking. "Don't touch me."
Ethan's face falls, but he nods, voice soft.
"Okay. But you're not a prisoner. And you're not going back to the facility."
My pulse spikes with panic.
"And," he adds, meeting my eyes, "I'm going to explain everything. I promise."
Tessa watches us curiously, while Daniel scowls at me but stays still.
The corridor is silent again, except for the sound of my own ragged breathing.
"No, I have to go back" I murmur. This is to much to handle. Feelings I have long locked away threaten to breakout.
"Kai… you're free now." Ethan's voice is steady, careful.
My mind feels like it's working overtime, every thought colliding with the next. It only makes the headache worse. Every instinct I have screams at me to get out, to run back to the facility, report in, return to the only structure I remember.
But there's something else inside me. Something small but persistent. Something whispering for me to stay.
I look toward the exit door again. I know I'm fast enough to make it before anyone reacts-
"Kai, don't you dare."
Ethan's tone changes, it is firmer, more tense. When I look back at him, his eyes flash with bright blue light. His eyebrows pull together in a silent warning.
He must've seen me run. If he can see what I'm about to do, my chance of escape decreases drastically.
"Ethan, I can't stay here," I say at last.
He takes a step forward, lifting a hand toward me, almost reaching for mine, but stopping himself halfway.
"Just… please don't go. Can we talk first? Please?"His voice wavers, and the desperation on his face hits something deep inside my chest.
I hesitate. Everything feels tangled, but I hear myself say, "Okay…"
I can leave after the conversation. That's all.
But who would've guessed that a single word could make someone so happy? His expression brightens instantly, relief turning into excitement. Before I can react, he grabs my hand and practically pulls me down the corridor.
"Okay, so we're acting like nothing just happened?" Tessa says behind us, voice as calm as ever.
"No idea what you mean... alright, see you later!" Ethan calls back, not even glancing over his shoulder as he drags me along.
We move through the corridor until he stops in front of a door, something like the entrance to an old classroom. He pushes it open and tugs me inside.
Once the door closes, he finally lets go of my hand and walks to a small chest of drawers in the corner.
I scan the room. It's another bedroom, but this one feels warmer, there are blankets and pillows piled on the bed, posters layered on the walls. It looks lived in. It some how feels... safe.
But it's the window that pulls me in. Or more accurately, the view outside it.
The sea.
Before I even realise it, my feet take me towards the open window. I rest my hands on the sill and lean forward, staring out. I've only ever been to the sea once, when Noah and I were around ten. We sat on a cliff, wind in our hair, water stretching out endlessly below.
A memory that brings back this mornings dream.
From here, the land slopes from an old running field down toward wide, open water. Seagulls cry in the distance. The morning air smells like salt and freedom.
My breath catches and something loosens in my chest.
I sense movement beside me, but I don't look away. A part of me, maybe because of the dream, feels like something terrible will happen if I turn from the waves.
Ethan leans on the windowsill next to me, but he doesn't speak. We just stand there, letting the warm summer air brush through our hair.
The stress in my body unwinds slowly, like a tight coil being released and the headache fades completely. A sigh slips out without my permission.
I still feel lost. More than before, even.But at least my mind feels quiet.
I can feel Ethan watching me, even though he's trying to hide it. He waits for me to say something, but the words just don't come.
Eventually, he fills the silence.
"It's beautiful, isn't it?"
I look up at him. His eyes linger on me for a fraction of a second before turning back to the horizon.
"Yeah… it is," I murmur.
His smile returns, soft and warm, and he nods before stepping away from the window.
"Come here," he says, moving around the bed. "Sit down."
I hesitate, but follow.
The moment I sit on the edge of the bed, he kneels in front of me and opens a small box, a first aid kit.
He pulls out a bandage and tape, then stands and leans closer. Too close. I tense for a moment, unsure what he's doing, until he looks at my shoulder, where the spike tore through my skin.
"Not too deep," he says with a small pout. "Dumb Daniel… okay, let's fix it up."
His eyes flick to mine, but I turn away before they can hold me too long.
"It's fine. It'll heal on it's own" I mutter.
"Yeah, yeah, you're strong, I get it," he says lightly, but his tone allows no room for argument. "Still bandaging it though."
"…Fine."
The cut barely hurts now, but if it settles his nerves, then… fine.
Ethan hesitates before speaking again."Um… it's kind of in an awkward place. Do you… could you take your top off?"
He looks genuinely flustered.
Does he think I'll be embarrassed? After years of medical checks and patch-ups, modesty stopped being a concept.
I grab the hem of my shirt, it is still dirty from yesterday, and pull it over my head. The motion is strangely easy without the collar to catch on the material. My hand drifts to my neck, fingers brushing the bare skin.
It still doesn't feel real.
I expect Ethan to immediately start patching me up, but he doesn't. When I turn, he's staring, not in a weird way, more like something heavy just hit him. His smile from earlier is gone.
Before I can say anything, he snaps back to himself.
"Right, quick fix," he says, then leans in to clean and bandage the wound.
We're quiet while he works. When he steps back to check the bandage, he nods to himself to show that he is satisfied.
I reach for my shirt, but he grabs it first.
"Let's get you a clean one," he says brightly, almost too quickly.
He walks to the wardrobe and rummages through a mess of clothes until he finds a dark grey shirt. He knocks half the pile onto the floor in the process.
"I've got something, hang on", he states before he hands me the shirt.
It's a little bit tight, but fine.
He starts picking up the clothes he dropped, taking a little too long. Suddenly, it feels obvious, he's delaying. Avoiding the conversation we're meant to have.
"…Ethan," I finally say.
He doesn't turn. "Yeah?" he calls over his shoulder.
I get up, cross the room, and gently catch his wrist before he can grab another shirt. He stops and looks up at me.
"Ethan," I repeat, steadying my voice. "It's time to talk."
I need answers. I need to understand what's happening. I need the truth.
He glances away, inhaling slowly, then nods.
"Yeah," he says quietly. "Let's talk."