John woke up screaming.
Or at least—he thought he did.
No sound left his throat.
His eyes snapped open to darkness so complete it felt solid. Cold pressed against his skin. His wrists burned.
Chains.
Real ones.
Metal cuffs locked his hands behind his back, bolted to a chair that seemed fused to the floor.
His head throbbed violently.
"What… where am I?" he croaked.
His voice echoed once—then died.
A dim light flickered on.
The room revealed itself slowly.
Concrete walls.
No windows.
No doors.
Just a single camera lens embedded in the wall.
Red light blinking.
John's breath turned shallow.
"Hello?" he shouted.
Nothing.
Minutes passed.
Or hours.
Time didn't exist here.
Then a voice spoke—not from the walls, not from the camera, but from everywhere.
"You have arrived at a location that does not exist."
John froze.
"You will not be charged."
"You will not be tried."
"You will not be remembered."
His chest tightened.
"Please," John said, panic breaking through. "There's been a mistake. I can pay. I know people—"
"You already did," the voice replied calmly.
John's mind raced.
Bitcoin.
The email.
Leena.
Her face flashed in his memory.
The shy girl.
The helpless one.
"No," he whispered. "It wasn't her…"
The voice continued, indifferent.
"This facility is informally known as the Ghost Prison."
John's blood ran cold.
"Those who enter do not leave," the voice said.
"Those who speak are not heard."
The light went out.
The chains tightened.
And John disappeared from the world.
Across the city, in a glass-walled office high above the streets, Ryan sat alone.
Night stretched endlessly outside the windows.
On his desk—
three screens glowed.
Leena's name sat at the center of them all.
He leaned back, fingers steepled.
"Too clean," he murmured.
A broke college student.
Suddenly moving large sums.
Bitcoin conversion without a single trace.
Hospital bills paid in full.
High-end devices purchased anonymously.
No panic.
No mistakes.
Ryan replayed the café meeting in his mind.
Her eyes.
Her voice.
The way she didn't explain herself.
That wasn't desperation.
That was control.
He typed commands.
Cross-referenced hospital logs.
Financial movements.
Courier records.
IP shadows.
Nothing.
Leena existed—
but only on paper.
Ryan smiled faintly.
"Either you're very lucky," he said quietly,
"or someone taught you how to disappear."
He pulled up a childhood photo.
Leena.
Standing behind Riya.
Head down.
Hands clasped.
Introverted.
Shy.
Invisible.
Ryan's gaze hardened.
People don't change like that overnight.
Unless—
They're pushed.
Or given power.
His phone buzzed.
A message from one of his contacts.
John missing.
Officially unreported.
Unofficial channels—classified.
Ryan's eyes narrowed.
Timing.
Too perfect.
He leaned forward.
"Leena," he said softly, as if she could hear him,
"what did you wake up?"
In the hospital, Leena sat beside her mother.
Her mother's fingers twitched.
Just slightly.
Leena noticed.
Her breath caught.
Twenty percent.
It was working.
The system interface shimmered faintly.
No mission.
No reward.
Only one line appeared.
Ghosts do not speak.
Leena stared at it.
Then closed her eyes.
She didn't smile.
She didn't feel joy.
Only certainty.
The world had rules.
She was learning how to break them.
The change was small.
Almost invisible.
But Leena saw it.
Her mother's fingers moved again.
Not a reflex.
Not imagination.
A real movement.
Leena leaned forward slowly, afraid to breathe.
"Maa?" she whispered.
Lussy's eyes shifted.
Just slightly.
But this time, they focused.
Tears filled Leena's eyes instantly.
Twenty percent.
It sounded insignificant to the world.
But to Leena, it was everything.
The nurse noticed moments later.
Called the doctor.
Ran tests.
Checked reflex responses.
The ward grew tense.
Doctors whispered.
Nurses exchanged looks.
"This shouldn't be happening," one of them said quietly.
Spinal damage didn't improve overnight.
Miracles weren't part of hospital protocol.
Yet the data was clear.
"There's partial neural response," the senior doctor finally said."Minimal—but real."
Hope spread like fire.
But hope also attracts attention.
Leena felt it again.
That pressure.
That invisible gaze.
She stood by the window as doctors spoke to her in cautious optimism.
Something was changing.
Not just her mother.
The world around her.
That night, Leena opened her laptop.
John.
She needed to confirm it.
She accessed police records.
Missing persons.
Financial trails.
Communication logs.
Nothing.
No reports.
No complaints.
No investigations.
It was as if John had never existed.
Her fingers slowed.
That wasn't normal.
She went deeper.
Dark web channels.
Restricted databases.
Encrypted intelligence leaks.
Finally—
A name appeared.
James.
Designation: Intelligence Bureau.Access level: Classified.
And one phrase, repeated across sealed files—
Ghost Prison.
No coordinates.
No oversight.
No jurisdiction.
A black hole.
Leena leaned back.
So this is how it ended, she thought.
John wasn't arrested.
He wasn't killed.
He was erased.
Leena closed her eyes.
She felt no satisfaction.
Only certainty.
John was finished.
Whatever awaited him—
It was worse than death.
She exhaled slowly.
At that moment—
Ding.
The sound echoed softly inside her mind.
"Mission accomplished."
Leena opened her eyes.
System text appeared.
Target neutralized.
Threat removed.
Then another line followed.
Reward: D-level reward box.
Do you wish to open it?
Leena stared at the words.
Once, rewards excited her.
Now—
She had learned that every gift came with consequences.
She looked at her mother, resting peacefully.
At the doctors whispering outside.
At the fragile future she was trying to protect.
"Yes," she said quietly.
"Open it."
The system interface shimmered.
The D-level reward box opened silently.
Inside—
Another pill.
But this one was different.
Dark silver in color.
Smooth.
Almost metallic.
Text appeared beside it.
Item: Marrow Cleansing PillFunction: Purifies bone marrow, removes accumulated impurities, and enhances physical potential.Effect: Permanent.
Leena stared.
Her eyes slowly widened.
Bone marrow.
The source of strength.
Endurance.
Regeneration.
This wasn't healing.
This was transformation.
Her first instinct was her mother.
But the system responded before she could ask.
"This item is not suitable for your mother at her current condition."
Leena's gaze dimmed slightly.
Then—
Ding.
Another line appeared.
System Recommendation:Host should consume this pill.
Leena frowned.
"Me?" she whispered.
She had never thought of herself as someone who needed power.
She needed protection.
Stability.
Control.
But power was the foundation of all three.
She looked down at her hands.
These hands had shaken when her world collapsed.
These hands had learned to type commands that erased a man's existence.
These hands would have to carry everything that came next.
"If I take this," she asked silently,"what changes?"
"Your physical limits will rise," the system replied."Your body will become a suitable vessel for future upgrades."
Leena understood immediately.
This wasn't a reward.
It was preparation.
She glanced at her mother once more.
Lussy slept peacefully, breathing evenly.
Alive.
Recovering.
Leena turned back inward.
"Will it hurt?" she asked.
A brief pause.
"Yes."
She smiled faintly.
"That's fine."
The pill appeared in her palm.
Cold.
Heavy.
Real.
Leena hesitated only for a second—
Then swallowed it.
The effect was instant.
Fire exploded through her bones.
Not burning flesh—
but deeper.
Inside.
Her spine arched.
Her breath caught.
Her vision blurred as pressure surged through her body.
It felt like her skeleton was being crushed—
then rebuilt.
She bit her lip to stop herself from screaming.
Her blood roared in her ears.
Images flashed—
cells dividing,
impurities burning away,
structures strengthening.
Minutes felt like hours.
Then—
It stopped.
Leena collapsed back against the chair, drenched in sweat.
Her heartbeat slowed.
Her breathing steadied.
The pain faded—
leaving behind something unfamiliar.
Lightness.
Strength.
She clenched her fist.
It felt… different.
Not bulky.
Not obvious.
But solid.
Grounded.
The system spoke once more.
"Marrow cleansing complete.""Host physical potential increased.""Future compatibility improved."
Leena wiped her forehead and stood slowly.
There was no dizziness.No weakness.
Only clarity.
She looked at her reflection in the window—
And froze.
A dark, sticky substance was seeping from her skin.
Black.
Thick.
Foul-smelling.
Impurities.
Her stomach tightened.
She moved quickly to the bathroom and turned on the shower. Warm water washed over her as the black residue dissolved and flowed down the drain. She scrubbed until her skin felt clean, until the last trace vanished.
When she finally stepped out, steam filled the room.
Leena stood in front of the mirror.
And stared.
Her skin looked clearer.
Healthier.
There was a subtle glow to her complexion, her features sharper—more refined. Her posture felt natural, balanced, as if her body finally knew how to hold itself.
She flexed her fingers.
Strength surged effortlessly through her muscles.
Controlled.
Dense.
She placed her palm against the sink and leaned slightly—
The porcelain creaked.
Leena pulled back at once.
Her eyes narrowed, then softened.
Her heartbeat was steady.
Her breathing calm.
She felt grounded.
Alive.
Not invincible.
But ready.
Leena dried her hair, changed her clothes, and returned quietly to her mother's bedside. Lussy slept on, unaware that the girl who had entered the hospital that day no longer existed.
Leena sat down, opened her laptop, and stared at the dark screen.