Kai Langford- July 2120
"Ethan, I'm not worth saving. Not like everyone else here."
The moment the words left my mouth, something inside me splintered, quietly, and cleanly. A break I'd felt coming for years.
I am a monster.
I know that. No amount of comforting lies will change the truth of what I've done. The terrible things I'm responsible for didn't begin at the facility, they started long before.
If it weren't for me, my uncle would still be alive. Noah wouldn't have been hurt, wouldn't have nearly died.
My father was right. Everything I touch either breaks… or gets destroyed. I can't risk that happening to these people. Not after everything they've already been through.
It's better if I leave. Go back to the facility or...
Maybe this is finally my chance to finish what I couldn't years ago. To end all of it. No one would be able to stop me this time. I'd make sure the knife found a vital spot and plunge it deeper in this time.
Lost in that spiral, I didn't even notice Ethan step closer until his hand closed around mine.
I flinched back instinctively, genuinely afraid that even his touch was something I could break. The shadows at my feet stirred in warning, shifting with my panic. But Ethan's grip only tightened.
"Listen to me."His voice wasn't its usual warm, bright thing. It was steady, stern, even. "You may think you're a monster, that you don't deserve saving… but I will not let you go."
He lifted his gaze to mine, and all I could see there was determination. His eyes always did that, pulled at me, dragged me toward a light I didn't believe belonged to me.
But I couldn't. Ethan is kind, too kind. He seems to have forgave me for killing someone faster than I ever could. And I can't risk him being hurt because of me. Not again.
If anything happened to him… I don't know what would be left of me.
"I have to, Ethan," I said quietly. "Even if I could stay, GeneX won't stop until they find me. I'm either captured or dead to them."
GeneX wouldn't allow a failed subject to walk free, especially not one who knew the truth about their facility and everything they hid from the public.
I tried pulling my hand away again, stepping back, but Ethan moved with me, quick and certain. In less than a heartbeat, his hands were on my face, warm palms cradling my cheeks.
His thumbs brushed across my skin, tracing along the scar, and the storm inside me eased. Not completely. But enough to breathe.
"No," he said, soft but sharp as a blade's edge. "I will not let them take you. I will not let them hurt you ever again."
His eyes shimmered, tears gathering at the corners, and something in my chest cracked open in a way that terrified me.
Why would someone care about me like this?
Why would someone like Ethan care at all?
I grew up learning how to disappear, how to make myself small, silent, unseen. Yet Ethan always looked at me like I was something that mattered. Like he could hear me even when I couldn't speak.
I leaned into his touch, hungry for the warmth, for the grounding. As I did, he stepped even closer.
We were so close now, our bodies nearly touching, breath mixing in the space between us. But neither of us moved that final inch.
We just stay there. His hands on my face. My heart in my throat. The ocean crashing below us as we stared into each other's eyes.
Frozen in a moment that felt both impossibly fragile and impossibly right.
But the moment shattered far too quickly.
A sharp, metallic ringing echoed across the grounds, it sounds like the school bell. Both of us turned instinctively toward the building.
When I face Ethan again, his expression has dropped, the warmth from seconds ago gone. His hands slip from my face, leaving my skin cold where his touch used to be.
"What is it?" I asked, dread curling low in my stomach.
Before he could answer, I saw the children in the distance. A minute ago they'd been laughing, chasing each other across the yard. Now, they freeze.
All of them.
Then they bolt toward the doors, Miriam is shouting for them to move quickly.
Something is wrong.
"Crap," Ethan muttered under his breath. "Someone's breached the perimeter."
The words land like ice in my chest. The shadows at my feet twitched, as if sensing the danger before I could voice it.
"How close?" I asked.
Ethan doesn't answer immediately. His gaze flicks toward the edge of the trees, then back to me, fear and determination tangled in his eyes.
"Kai, listen to me." His voice was low, urgent. "You need to go back into the school. Right now."
My heart lurches."What? No, if it's GeneX, they're here for me."
"I know," he says sharply. Then softer "I know. Which is exactly why you're going inside."
I shake my head, taking a step toward him as if proximity alone can change his mind. "You can't go out there alone. If they find you-"
"Stop." His voice cut through mine, firm and trembling at the edges. He grabbed my arm, not rough, but with a desperation that made my chest ache. "I can't risk it. I won't risk it. Plus I won't be alone"
Just then, the back door of the school swings open and Ray steps out, with Daniel right behind him. Ray lifts a hand, motioning for us to come over.
Ethan glances at me one more time before we move.
"We'll continue our conversation when I get back," he said, and this time a small smile pulled at his lips, a real one, soft and reassuring.
It shouldn't have steadied me as much as it did.
He turns toward the building and I follow close behind, the unease in my chest ebbing only slightly.
As soon as we reach Ray and Daniel, they shift instantly into work mode. Their light expressions dropped, replaced with alert focus.
"What's happened?" Ethan asks.
"Jack radioed in," Ray said, his tone clipped. "He spotted a man walking near the edge of the woods."
"And apparently there's something… off about him," Daniel adds, crossing his arms. " He said he doesn't look or move right."
I stay a half-step behind Ethan, listening, watching their expressions, feeling the tension threading through all of them.
"Where's Jack now?" Ethan asks.
Ray and Daniel exchang a look, one of those silent conversations only people who've worked together too long can have, before shaking their heads.
"He's still out there," Ray says with a sigh. "We told him to return immediately, but he was adamant about staying put and watching the guy."
Ray pinches the bridge of his nose in frustration. "Stubborn brat."
Ethan puts his hands on his hips and let out a long breath. "I swear… that boy."
Daniel cuts in quickly. "We don't have time to wait. Let's go."Then he glances Ethan up and down, taking in his appearance. "But maybe you should change first."
It was then I finally noticed Ethan's hair was slightly mussed, his shirt wrinkled, and he still looked half caught between sleep and adrenaline.
He really did come straight from bed.
A quiet warmth stirred in my chest. Was he worried I'd run off?
Had he woken up and panicked when I wasn't there?
I hadn't meant to cause that. I just… needed air. When I woke up and saw him sleeping beside me, the sudden rush of heat in my chest sent me straight outside. My thoughts were too loud and my heartbeat too fast.
Ray gives me a quick nod, acknowledging me standing there, but Daniel only glances past me like I wasn't there. Then the two of them turn and head back inside, urgency written in every step.
Ethan quickly turns towards me and my breath catches.
He steps closer, lowering his voice so only I could hear.
"Kai… please. Go inside. Stay with the others. Stay where it's safe."
Safe. The word felt foreign on my skin.
"Let me help" I say, too fast.
For a moment, something flickers in his expression, a softness, a warmth that makes my heart stutter but he pushes it down.
"No." he says, forcing a steadiness he didn't feel. "you have had to fight so many people, but this time you don't need to."
Ethan reaches up, just for a second, his fingers brush my scar on my cheek, like he wanted to hold me again but couldn't allow himself to.
The shadows at my feet curl inward, confused. It feels like they want to reach out and hold on to Ethan so he can't leave.
"They'll hurt you," I whisper.
He gives a small, shaky smile. "Then they'll have to catch me first. Plus i'll see it coming first"
Ethan presses a hand to my shoulder, firm and final.
"Go," he says. "get to the canteen with the others."
Before I can get a word out, Ethan catches my hand again and pulls me into the building with him. His grip is warm, firm and impossible to ignore. The moment we step inside, the corridor is packed with movement. Miriam is standing midway down, guiding people toward the canteen at the far end.
As soon as she spots us, she hurries over.
"Ethan, are you heading out?" she asks, concern flickering across her face.
"Yeah," he says, calm and friendly as ever. "Me, Ray, and Daniel are going to check it out. I'm sure it's nothing, but better safe than sorry."
He gives her one of his easy smiles.
Miriam exhales, some of the tension easing from her shoulders. But the knot in my own chest only tightens.
Ethan tugs me forward a little, then looks back at her. "Can you take care of this one for me?" He pats my back lightly.
"Ethan, please let me-" I start, but he cuts me off immediately.
"Eh-eh, no. And that's final." His smile shifts, playful, teasing, the kind he uses when he's trying to soften a blow. "Now be a good lad while you're in there."
Before I can push back, or reach for him, or say anything more, he's already turned and sprinting down the corridor, halfway gone before the reality even hits me.
I stand there, staring after him. Part of me wants to run after him, to refuse to let him go.
But the other part, the part that was trained to follow orders, keeps my feet rooted to the floor.
Conflict twists in my stomach.
Miriam touches my arm gently "Come on," she says with a reassuring smile. "They'll be fine. They've done this a dozen times."
I look once more at the empty corridor Ethan disappeared down, the faint echo of his footsteps already fading.
Then, swallowing the unease and the urge to chase after him, I turn and follow Miriam toward the canteen.