The impact hit like lightning.
A deafening crash, metal twisting, glass shattering, tires screaming against asphalt.
Luca's car spun sideways, slammed off the road, and came to rest against a bent guardrail just inches from the drop. Smoke hissed from the engine, the air thick with the stench of gasoline and burnt rubber.
For a second, there was only silence.
Then, a moan.
Clara.
Her face was streaked with blood, a deep gash above her eyebrow leaking crimson down to her lips.
Adrian turned toward her, panic flashing through his eyes. "Clara! Can you hear me?"
She blinked, dazed, her voice trembling. "Yes… I'm here."
Luca shoved his door open with his shoulder, his left hand bleeding heavily, a shard of glass had torn into his palm.
"Out. Now!" he barked.
The night air hit them like ice. Cold. Metallic.
Gasoline fumes burned their throats.
Behind them, the black car that had rammed them came to a halt across the road.
Two figures stepped out, dressed head to toe in black, their faces hidden by masks. They moved with perfect precision, silent, methodical.
"Guys," Luca said, his voice low and tense, "it's time to use your powers. If we don't, we'll never reach Aurora."
That name hit Clara like a spark to dry wood.
Aurora.
The daughter they had taken from her, the child she could feel but not touch.
A tremor started in her chest, spreading like fire through her veins.
Her heartbeat thundered in her ears.
She didn't touch Adrian, she didn't have to.
The bond between them pulsed to life on its own, invisible but alive.
Suddenly, the two masked men dropped to their knees, clutching their heads.
Their screams tore through the night as if their skulls were being split open from within.
Clara's eyes burned. She could feel the link forming, and on the other side of it, Aurora.
"Mom?"
The voice was small. Fragile. But real.
Clara gasped, tears spilling as she thought with every ounce of her strength: "Sweetheart, help Mommy find you. Think about the road you took in the car. Think!"
Images exploded in her mind, disjointed flashes, quick and chaotic. The white beam of headlights. Tall trees. A rusty sign half hidden in weeds:
SANCTUARY – RESTRICTED AREA.
And the same two men. Driving her baby.
Clara's rage erupted.
She took a step forward, her eyes glowing like molten gold.
"Tell me who you are!" she shouted.
"Tell me what you want, or I won't stop!"
The air trembled around her. The two men screamed louder, their bodies convulsing as the psychic pressure crushed their minds.
Adrian saw blood running from Clara's nose, bright, heavy streaks across her lips.
"Clara! Stop! You're hurting yourself!"
But she couldn't stop.
The world around her blurred, her power spiraling out of control. The headlights flickered; the wind itself seemed to shiver.
Meanwhile, Luca rushed to the black car.
He tore open the driver's door, searching the dashboard, the glove compartment, everywhere.
Then his hand froze on a metal tag wedged near the gearshift.
Property of: Sanctuary Zero – East Division.
His blood ran cold. They weren't government agents. They were from the Sanctuary.
"Adrian!" he shouted. "They're not government, they're Sanctuary operatives!"
Adrian's head snapped toward him. "What?"
Before Luca could answer, a crackling sound cut through the air.
From inside the black car, a handheld radio sputtered to life.
Static hissed. Then a distorted voice spoke:
"Sanctuary Zero, respond. Have you captured subjects M and V? Repeat: have you captured subjects M and V?"
The three of them froze.
Clara, trembling, lifted her gaze, her skin pale, her lips stained with blood.
"They were after us," she whispered.
The voice came again, louder, urgent:
"Confirm capture, or we move to Omega protocol."
Adrian stepped toward the car, his jaw tight, fists clenched. But before he could touch the radio, it screeched, a piercing whine, and died in a burst of smoke.
Silence fell. Heavy. Inevitable.
Luca stared at the smoking radio, his voice barely more than a breath.
"If the Sanctuary sent them… they're not just holding Aurora."
He looked up at Adrian and Clara, at the blood, the fear, the fire still burning in their eyes.
"They're using her."