Chapter Eight: Retrieval
The courtyard trembled as the last chime of the clock tower faded into silence.
Sameer's chest tightened, his breath caught halfway. He looked at Mira—her eyes wide, her body shaking. She wasn't lying. She'd heard it too.
And then—
Crack.
The ground near the fountain split open, jagged lines racing across the tiles. Dark liquid oozed upward like oil, spreading in unnatural patterns.
Sameer stumbled back. "What the hell—?!"
The liquid rose, forming into shapes—distorted, half-human silhouettes. Their limbs stretched too long, their faces blurred, eyes glowing faintly like dying embers.
Mira clutched his sleeve, voice trembling. "They're here. The Retrievals."
The creatures twitched, jerking like broken marionettes. One opened its mouth, but no sound came—only a static hum that made Sameer's teeth ache.
Then, in perfect synchronization, they all turned their blank faces toward him.
"…Candidate Nineteen."
Sameer's blood froze.
Mira grabbed his hand. "Run!"
They bolted toward the nearest corridor. The creatures moved instantly, their bodies flowing like liquid, reforming ahead of them, cutting off exits. Their movements weren't fast—but the way they appeared in places they shouldn't be made them impossible to predict.
Sameer yanked Mira toward a side hall. "This way!"
The corridor stretched longer than it should have, as though the building itself warped to trap them. The lights flickered overhead, buzzing with static.
The creatures followed. Their footsteps didn't sound like footsteps—more like wet slaps against stone.
Sameer's lungs burned, but he forced himself forward, dragging Mira with him.
They burst into a lecture hall, slamming the doors shut behind them. Sameer shoved a desk against the handles, his chest heaving.
For a moment, silence.
Then—BANG. The doors rattled violently. The wood splintered under invisible pressure.
Mira crouched against the wall, hugging her knees. "They won't stop. Once they mark us, they don't stop until—until—"
"Until what?!" Sameer snapped, panic in his voice.
Her lips trembled. "…Until they drag us back."
The banging grew louder, closer. The wood cracked. Sameer's pulse thundered in his ears.
And then, above the noise, the voice returned.
Cold. Mechanical. Inside his skull.
"…Return to the Core, Candidate Nineteen."
Sameer's vision blurred. For a second, he wasn't in the lecture hall—he was somewhere else. White walls. Surgical lights. Figures in lab coats watching from behind glass.
Needles. Machines. Wires running into his skin.
"Stop!" Sameer screamed, clutching his head.
The hallucination shattered. The lecture hall snapped back into view—just as the doors burst open.
The Retrievals poured in.