CHAPTER 2 — Echoes in the Hallway
The hospital lights were too bright.
White, sterile, humming faintly—like fluorescent insects trying to burrow into my skull. I hated it the moment I opened my eyes.
My body was restrained.
Leather straps around my wrists.
A monitor beeping beside me, tracking a heart that beat too fast to be normal.
Containment.
Whoever dragged me here wasn't a paramedic.
I tested the straps. Tight, reinforced. Not something a normal hospital would use.
A shadow moved behind the glass window of my room—tall, broad-shouldered, military posture.
Not police.
Not medical.
Something else.
A man stepped inside.
Black coat, tactical gloves, expression carved from stone. His Echoes flickered behind him:
—one version of him strangling me
—one shaking my hand
—one kneeling beside my corpse
His real self stared at me with unsettling calm.
"You woke up faster than expected," he said. "Good. Saves us time."
"So you're the one they send to kidnap teenagers?" I asked.
"No." His voice didn't waver. "I'm the one they send to stop disasters."
He pulled a chair and sat beside my bed like a detective in an interrogation room.
Calm. Controlled. Watching everything.
"My name is Cassian Rook. Veiled Network, Special Handler Division."
The name echoed—literally. His Echoes spoke the same words a second out of sync.
Annoying.
VL symbol on his coat. I'd seen it once—on a conspiracy forum buried under tin-foil paranoia.
"You're here because you awakened," Rook continued.
"Your power is unstable. You're a danger to others… and yourself."
I tilted my head.
"Funny. The only danger I remember is a spectral thing telling me I shouldn't exist."
That got a reaction—barely. A tiny shift in his posture.
"You saw an Entity?" he asked.
"Yes," I said. "Either that, or I have a very creative brain tumor."
Rook stood abruptly.
"That confirms the anomaly. I need to report this immediately—"
The lights flickered.
Not the room lights.
The lights from people.
Rook split into dozens of versions—
raising a gun
walking out
breaking my neck
cutting the straps
screaming at someone behind me
protecting me from something unseen
My power surged without warning, bleeding into the real world. My thoughts sharpened, vision overclocking.
A nurse entered the room carrying a syringe.
Her Echoes were louder than anyone else's:
—injecting me
—missing the vein
—poisoning me
—calling for help
—crying over my body
I inhaled sharply.
"That syringe," I said, "contains a sedative strong enough to put down an adult elephant."
She froze.
Rook turned toward her instantly.
"Who authorized that dosage?"
Her mouth trembled. "The… the Director said—"
Rook stepped between us, hand on his weapon.
Her Echoes glitched—screaming, attacking, running.
Something was wrong with her timeline.
It spiraled, collapsing into static.
Her form flickered.
Not normal.
"She's compromised," I said.
Rook reacted a second too late.
Her body convulsed—then jerked unnaturally as if yanked by invisible strings.
The syringe dropped.
Her eyes rolled back, replaced by swirling black void.
A voice—broken, distorted—poured out of her mouth:
"Hybrid. Release the anomaly."
Rook slammed her into the wall with superhuman force.
Veiled Network operatives weren't normal humans.
Her body twitched like a puppet.
"He does not belong to this timeline."
I tore at the restraints.
Leather burned against my wrists.
Rook shouted, "Stay down!"
The nurse-thing lunged, mouth distorting wider than human anatomy allowed.
Rook fired—
A silenced burst of three shots.
The creature's body spasmed, collapsing to the floor.
The lights steadied.
Rook turned to me, breath sharp.
"You. Need. Containment."
"Try," I said coldly. "See which Echo of yours succeeds."
He took a single step toward me—
The lights died.
Not flickered.
Died.
A cold ripple crawled down my spine.
Something was in the hallway.
Something that made the Echoes vanish completely.
Rook drew his weapon again.
"Stay behind me," he whispered.
The door slid open slowly.
And a silhouette stood on the other side—
a girl my age, long silver hair dripping with water, eyes glowing faint blue in the dark.
She tilted her head gently.
"Alexian Vale," she said.
"I've been looking for you."
Her Echoes were infinite—
millions of variants blooming like petals.
Too many to comprehend.
Too many futures for a single person.
Rook stepped forward.
"Identify yourself!"
She ignored him completely.
Her eyes stayed on me.
"My name is Lyra Kaine," she said softly.
"And if you want to live… you need to come with me."