I turned. The laboratory was empty. Stainless steel tables gleamed coldly under the overhead lights. Glass equipment stood in neat rows, catching reflections like frozen stars. White walls stretched back into shadow. Nothing moved.
My eyes swept the room again, slower this time. Still nothing.
"What is it?" Emily asked, voice tight with confusion. I didn't answer.
The note stayed in her hand.
Nadez. Look behind you.
The message was still there, ink sharp against the old paper. Slowly, I turned back toward her. And then I saw it.
Her shadow on the floor began to stretch and thicken, pulling away from her feet like smoke rising from water. It rose, took shape, and everything around me went still.
The air dropped like a blade, temperature plunging in a single mechanical cut, freezing against my skin, turning every breath into something solid and painful.
