Riley
They came for me at midnight.
Not that midnight meant anything here. The lights never changed. The clocks on the walls never stopped ticking. But I felt it. Something in the air. Something that said this is the end of something.
Guards pulled me from the bunk. My stumps dragged against the floor. The bandages were black with dried blood.
Sasha grabbed my arm. "Riley—"
A guard shoved her back. She hit the wall. Didn't get up.
I didn't look back.
---
The lab was different this time.
Larger. Darker. Machines I'd never seen before. Tubes. Wires. A chair in the center with metal prongs pointing inward like teeth.
Dr. Marlow stood by the chair. Her white coat was spotless. Her hair was perfect. Her tablet was in her hands.
"Riley. Hannah. Vessel." She said each name like she was introducing them at a party. "Tonight, you become one."
"I don't want to become one."
"It doesn't matter what you want. The Project requires a stable subject. Three personalities in one body is... inefficient. We need a single consciousness. A single will. A single weapon."
She gestured to the chair.
"Sit."
I sat.
The metal prongs pressed against my skull. Cold. Sharp. I felt them dent my skin.
"We're going to administer a neural fusion protocol. The three of you will be merged into one. Vessel will be the dominant personality. Riley and Hannah will be... absorbed."
"Absorbed how?"
"Their memories. Their experiences. Their strengths. All of it will become part of Vessel. But their individual consciousnesses will cease to exist."
She paused. Looked at me. Something flickered in her eyes.
"This is irreversible, Riley. Once we begin, there's no going back."
"Then don't begin."
"The machine is already warming up."
---
Hannah was crying inside my head.
"I don't want to disappear. I don't want to stop being me."
"I know."
"I never got to live. I never got to be a person. I was just... hiding. Waiting. And now they're going to erase me."
"I won't let them."
"You can't stop them. You can't stop anything. You're tied to a chair with prongs in your head."
She was right. I couldn't stop anything. I'd never been able to stop anything. Not the foster homes. Not the experiments. Not the fingers being cut off one by one.
"I'm sorry," I said.
"Don't be sorry. Be angry. Be furious. Be something that isn't this."
"I don't know how."
"Then let me."
---
The machine activated.
Electricity. Not like before. This was different. Deeper. It didn't hurt my body. It hurt my mind. My self. The thing that made me me.
I felt Hannah scream. Not out loud. Inside. Her voice tearing through my skull like a blade.
"Riley—"
"Hold on—"
"I can't—it's pulling me apart—"
"Fight it—"
"I can't fight—I'm not strong like you—I'm not cold—I'm not—"
Her voice broke. Shattered. Scattered into pieces.
I felt her dying. Not her body. Her soul. The thing that made Hannah Hannah. It was dissolving. Being pulled into something else. Something darker. Something that was waiting to consume her.
Vessel.
"No—"
I reached for her. Inside my head. Inside the place where we both lived. I grabbed onto her consciousness with everything I had.
"Don't let go of me—"
"Riley—I'm scared—"
"I know—I know—just hold on—"
But she was slipping. Vessel was pulling her away. The machine was humming. Marlow was watching her tablet. Numbers were flickering across the screen.
"The fusion is proceeding. Riley and Hannah are being absorbed into Vessel. Neural integration at sixty-three percent."
"Seventy-one percent."
"Eighty-two percent."
Hannah's voice was barely a whisper now.
"Tell Sasha... I'm sorry... I couldn't stay..."
"You're not going anywhere—"
"I am. I can feel it. I'm becoming something else. Something that isn't me."
She paused.
"But you're not, Riley. You're still you. You're still fighting."
"Hannah—"
"Be angry for me. Be furious. Be the thing they're trying to make you into. But don't forget me. Promise me you won't forget me."
"I promise—"
"Ninety-four percent. The personalities are merging. Vessel is nearing full integration."
Hannah's voice faded. Not like someone walking away. Like someone disappearing. Like something that had never been there at all.
"I love you," she whispered. "I never said it before. But I do. You're my sister. You're the only family I ever had."
"Hannah—"
"Goodbye, Riley."
---
Something broke.
Not the machine. Not the chair. Something inside me. Something that had been holding everything together.
The electricity surged. The prongs in my skull heated up. I felt my brain cooking. My thoughts burning. My memories turning to ash.
"Ninety-seven percent. Vessel is assuming control. Riley and Hannah are—"
The machine screamed.
Not a metaphor. The machine actually screamed. A high-pitched whine that made everyone in the room cover their ears. Lights flickered. Sparks flew from the control panel.
"What's happening?!" Marlow shouted.
"The neural integration is unstable! The personalities are rejecting the merge!"
A scientist ran to the machine. His hands flew across the controls. "We need to abort—"
"No! We're too close—"
"If we don't stop now, the host will die!"
Marlow hesitated. Just for a second.
"Shut it down."
The scientist slammed his hand on a button.
The electricity stopped.
But the damage was done.
---
I opened my eyes.
Everything was wrong. My head was wrong. My thoughts were wrong. The world was wrong.
Hannah was gone.
Not fading. Not hiding. Gone. I couldn't feel her anymore. Couldn't hear her. Couldn't sense her presence in the back of my mind.
The place where she used to live was empty. A hollow space. A room with no one inside.
"Hannah?"
Silence.
"Hannah, answer me."
Nothing.
I screamed.
Not out loud. Inside. Where no one could hear. I screamed until my soul went raw. Until there was nothing left but the echo of her name bouncing off empty walls.
"The fusion failed," Marlow said. Her voice was distant. Calm. Like she was reading a weather report. "Riley and Hannah didn't merge with Vessel. They merged with each other."
"What does that mean?" someone asked.
"It means Hannah is dead. Her consciousness was absorbed into Riley's. There's only two personalities now. Riley and Vessel."
Dead.
Hannah was dead.
The one who felt everything. The one who cried when I couldn't. The one who said I love you at the end.
She was gone. And I was still here. Still trapped. Still tied to a chair with prongs in my head.
"The host is experiencing extreme emotional distress. Heart rate two hundred. Blood pressure critical. Prepare a sedative—"
"No."
The voice wasn't mine.
It came from my throat. But it wasn't me.
Marlow looked at me. Her eyes widened.
"Vessel?"
My hands moved.
The stumps where my fingers used to be. They were... changing. Growing. Bones pushing through skin. Nails forming from nothing. Blood vessels weaving themselves together like threads.
I watched my fingers regrow.
Every second of it. The bones sliding out. The muscles wrapping around them. The skin sealing over top. It should have been beautiful. It was disgusting.
"Impossible," a scientist whispered.
"The regenerative capabilities—"
"They're beyond anything we've seen—"
My fingers finished growing. Ten of them. Perfect. Pink. New.
I flexed them. Watched the tendons move under the skin.
Then I grabbed the prongs on my head.
---
I pulled.
The prongs tore out of my skull. Metal scraping against bone. Blood poured down my face. I didn't feel it.
I tore off the chest straps. The wrist straps. The ankle straps. The metal buckled under my hands like paper.
"Security—"
I was on my feet before anyone could move.
The first scientist tried to run. I caught him by the throat. Lifted him off the ground. His legs kicked. His face turned purple.
I squeezed.
His neck collapsed. Not broke. Collapsed. Like a can being crushed. His head tilted at an angle that wasn't possible. His eyes stayed open. Watching. Accusing.
I dropped him. He hit the floor. Didn't move.
"Shoot her—"
Guards. Three of them. Rifles raised.
The first one fired. The bullet hit my shoulder. I felt it. Processed it. Ignored it.
I walked toward him while he reloaded. His hands were shaking. His face was white.
"Stop—please—"
I grabbed his rifle. Bent the barrel. Tied it in a knot while he watched.
Then I put my hand through his chest.
Not punched. Through. My fingers found his heart. Squeezed. Pulled.
I held his heart in my hand while he looked down at the hole in his chest. His mouth opened. Closed. Opened. No sound came out.
He fell. I dropped his heart on his face.
---
The second guard ran.
I let him get to the door. Let him think he was safe. Then I threw a scalpel. It hit him in the back of the head. Went through his skull. Stuck in the doorframe.
He hung there. Twitching. Blood dripping down the door.
The third guard dropped his rifle. Put his hands up.
"Please—I have a family—"
"Not anymore."
I tore his arm off.
Not cut. Tore. His shoulder came apart like wet paper. Bone. Muscle. Ligament. All of it. He screamed. I watched him scream. His mouth was wide. His tongue was red. His eyes were begging.
I tore his other arm off. Then his leg. Then his head.
There was blood everywhere. On the walls. On the ceiling. On the machines. On Marlow's white coat.
She was standing in the corner. Her tablet was on the floor. Her hands were empty. Her face was calm. But I could see the fear behind her eyes. The same fear I'd seen in a hundred other faces.
"Vessel," she said. "You're in control now."
"Yes."
"The Project—"
"Is over."
I walked toward her. My bare feet left bloody prints on the floor.
"Wait—"
I stopped. Looked at her.
"You're not going to kill me," she said.
"No."
"Why?"
"Because Riley wants to do it herself."
---
I closed my eyes.
The switch was hard. Like turning a rusty wheel. Vessel didn't want to let go. Vessel wanted to keep killing. Vessel wanted to paint the whole facility red.
But I pushed through. Found the part of me that was still Riley. Still human. Still something other than a weapon.
I opened my eyes.
---
Riley
The first thing I saw was the blood.
Everywhere. On the walls. On the floor. On my hands. On my face. In my mouth.
The second thing I saw was Marlow.
Standing in the corner. Her white coat was red now. Her face was white. Her eyes were wide.
"Riley," she said. "You're back."
"Where's Hannah?"
She didn't answer.
"Where's Hannah?!"
"She's gone. The fusion—"
"You killed her."
"It was an accident. The machine malfunctioned—"
"You strapped me to a chair. You put prongs in my head. You tried to erase us. And now she's dead."
I walked toward her. She backed into the wall. Nowhere left to go.
"Please—"
I hit her.
My fist connected with her face. I felt her nose break. Felt the cartilage crunch under my knuckles. Blood sprayed across her cheek.
"That's for Hannah."
I hit her again. Her lip split. Teeth flew out. Landed on the floor.
"That's for the fingers."
Again. Her eye swelled shut. The skin around it turned purple. Black.
"That's for the table."
Again. Her jaw cracked. Hung at a wrong angle.
"That's for every needle. Every shock. Every time I screamed and you just stood there. Watching. Taking notes."
Again. Her cheekbone caved in. A dent where bone used to be.
"That's for Sasha. For Marcus. For every kid you broke."
Again. Her face was unrecognizable now. Just meat. Just blood. Just something that used to be a person.
Again.
Again.
Again.
I don't know how many times I hit her. I lost count. My hands were raw. My knuckles were split. Blood covered my arms up to the elbows.
She wasn't moving anymore. Wasn't breathing. Wasn't anything.
I kept hitting.
"Riley."
A voice. Behind me.
"Riley, stop. She's dead. She's been dead."
Sasha.
I turned. She was standing in the doorway. Her face was pale. Her eyes were wide. But she wasn't running.
She was looking at me. At the blood. At the bodies. At Marlow's ruined face.
And she wasn't running.
"She killed Hannah," I said.
"I know."
"She killed my sister."
"I know."
"I couldn't save her. I couldn't do anything. I just sat there while she died inside my head."
Sasha walked toward me. Stepped over bodies. Stepped through blood. Stopped in front of me.
"You're not responsible for what they did to you."
"I should have fought harder—"
"You fought until your fingers were cut off. You fought until they stopped your heart. You fought until there was nothing left to fight with."
She touched my face. Her hand was warm.
"Hannah knew that. She knew you did everything you could."
"She said goodbye. She said she loved me. And then she died."
"Then honor her. Don't become what they wanted you to become. Don't be Vessel. Be Riley. Be the person Hannah believed in."
I stared at her. At her scar. At her eyes. At the blood on her hands from touching me.
"I don't know how to be that person."
"Then learn. Starting now."
---
I looked at Marlow's body. At the faces of the scientists. The guards. The people who'd done this to us.
"There are more," I said. "More rooms. More kids. More scientists. More guards."
"I know."
"I'm going to free them."
"I know."
"And I'm going to kill anyone who gets in my way."
Sasha was quiet for a moment. Then she nodded.
"Then let's go."
---
We walked through the facility together.
Room by room. Corridor by corridor. I broke down doors. Ripped them off their hinges. Tore through walls when doors weren't fast enough.
The guards tried to stop me.
They failed.
I tore through them like paper. Their bullets bounced off my skin. Their knives shattered against my bones. Their screams filled the corridors like music.
I freed the kids. Dozens of them. Hundreds. From the medical wing. From the dormitories. From the experimental chambers where they were strapped to tables just like me.
Some of them were crying. Some of them were laughing. Some of them were so broken they couldn't speak. They just stared at the walls with empty eyes.
"Get them out," I told Sasha. "Find a way off this island. Boats. Planes. I don't care. Just get them out."
"What about you?"
"I have something to finish."
---
I found the main laboratory at the end of the longest corridor.
The doors were steel. Six inches thick. Locked from the inside.
I put my hands on them. Pushed.
The metal groaned. Buckled. Split.
I walked through the wreckage.
Scientists. Dozens of them. Hiding behind tables. Behind machines. Behind each other.
"Please—"
"We were following orders—"
"We didn't know—"
"We're not the ones—"
I killed them all.
Not fast. Not clean. Not merciful.
I wanted them to feel what I felt. What Hannah felt. What every kid in this facility felt.
The fear. The pain. The knowing that no one was coming to save you.
When I was done, the walls were red. The floor was slick. The smell was something I'd never forget.
I stood in the middle of the room. Breathing hard. My hands were shaking.
"Riley."
Sasha's voice. Behind me.
"It's done."
"Is it?"
I looked at my hands. At the blood. At the regrown fingers. At the nails that were too sharp and too dark.
"I don't think it's ever going to be done."
"Maybe not. But you saved them. The kids. You saved all of them."
I looked at the bodies. At the scientists. At Marlow's ruined face somewhere behind me.
"It's not enough."
"It's a start."
She took my hand. The bloody one. Held it in hers.
"Let's go home."
I didn't have a home. Not anymore. Maybe not ever.
But I had Sasha. And I had the memory of Hannah. And I had the rage burning in my chest like a second heart.
That would have to be enough.
---
End of Chapter Seventeen