The rain was steady by the time Ryan and Kate reached the safehouse.
It wasn't much ,just an old apartment above an abandoned noodle shop but it had one important thing: no cameras, no trackers, no connection to the city's network. In a world where every step could be watched, this place didn't exist.
Ryan shut the heavy door, locked it, and leaned against it for a second. Kate stood near the wall, wet hair sticking to her face, her eyes full of questions.
"Alright," she said firmly. "I just saw someone smash through your window, call you by name, and try to kill us. You're going to explain right now, or I'm gone."
Ryan tossed his jacket on a chair. The diary slid onto the table with a dull sound. "That man's name is Lucien. I've known him for a very long time."
Kate raised an eyebrow. "You say that like you're old friends."
Ryan gave a short laugh, without humor. "Not friends. He's been hunting me for… many lives."
Kate frowned. "What does that even mean?"
Ryan looked down at the diary. "I don't die like other people. When I die, I come back in a new body, in a new time. But I remember everything I've lived through."
Kate stared at him. "You expect me to believe that?"
"I'm not asking you to believe," Ryan said. "But those pages you've been finding? They're mine. They're parts of my past lives. Lucien is like me, but he uses his lives to gain more power."
Kate glanced at the diary. "And the 'Archivist'? What is that?"
Ryan's expression changed instantly. "Where did you hear that name?"
"One of the pages," Kate replied, pulling a sheet from her bag. On it, in Ryan's handwriting, were the words: Find the Archivist before he does.
Ryan's jaw tightened. "That means he's already searching."
A heavy thud echoed from the floor below them.
Ryan's eyes narrowed. "We're not alone."