PART 5
Part 5
The stairwell went silent after the voice.
Not the kind of silence that meant peace.
The kind that meant preparation had already finished.
Dominic didn’t move.
Neither did Meline.
Because both of them understood the same thing at the same time:
This wasn’t an escape route anymore.
It was a trap that had already closed.
Below them, slow footsteps began to rise again.
Unhurried.
Confident.
The man from the Black Crown Syndicate wasn’t rushing.
He didn’t need to.
“Bring her down, Dominic,” the voice echoed up the stairwell again. “Or I come up and take her in pieces.”
Meline’s hand trembled.
Dominic covered it instantly—firm, grounding.
Not comfort.
Control.
“Stay behind me,” he said.
Meline shook her head slightly. “You can’t win this alone.”
A faint, humorless exhale escaped him.
“I’ve been winning wars alone my entire life.”
That was the problem.
He believed it.
Another step echoed below.
Closer.
Dominic shifted his stance slightly, positioning himself between Meline and the darkness.
But then—
Meline did something unexpected.
She stepped forward.
“Stop,” she said quietly.
Dominic turned sharply. “What are you doing?”
She didn’t look at him.
She looked down the stairwell.
Into the dark.
“I know you’re listening,” she said.
Silence.
Then the footsteps stopped.
Waiting.
Meline swallowed.
“You don’t want him,” she continued. “You want what he thinks he owns.”
A pause.
Her voice steadied.
“But I’m not an object.”
A slow clap echoed from below.
Once.
Then twice.
“Good,” the voice said.
“You’re learning again.”
Dominic’s expression changed instantly.
Again.
That word.
Meline noticed it too.
Her stomach tightened.
“You knew her before this,” Dominic said quietly, not a question anymore.
From below, the man finally stepped into partial light.
Not fully visible.
Just enough.
Black tactical coat.
No insignia.
And that same crescent scar on his wrist.
He looked up.
Directly at Meline.
“She was never supposed to leave,” he said calmly. “She was prototype Seven.”
Meline froze.
Dominic’s grip on his weapon tightened.
“Don’t,” he said low.
But the man continued.
“Six failed. Five died. Four broke. Three vanished.”
A pause.
“And Seven?” He smiled faintly. “Seven learned to love.”
Silence dropped like a blade.
Meline’s breath caught.
“That’s not true,” she whispered.
But something inside her reacted anyway.
A memory.
Not fully formed.
Flashes.
A room with white walls.
Hands holding hers.
A voice counting down.
“Control your breath.”
“Control your pain.”
“Control your attachment.”
Dominic saw it in her face immediately.
His voice lowered.
“Meline… look at me.”
But she couldn’t.
Because the past wasn’t below anymore.
It was inside her.
The man in black tilted his head.
“You were never meant to live as Clara Evans,” he said softly. “That was a kindness we didn’t authorize.”
Dominic stepped forward one inch.
“That’s enough.”
The man ignored him.
“Do you know why she left you?” he asked Dominic.
A pause.
Then:
“Because we let her.”
Silence snapped.
Dominic moved.
Fast.
He fired down the stairwell—
But the man was already gone from the line of sight.
The bullet hit concrete instead.
The sound exploded through the space.
And suddenly—
lights cut.
Total darkness.
Meline gasped.
Dominic grabbed her instantly, pulling her behind him again.
“Stay close,” he ordered.
But now even his voice sounded different.
Tighter.
Because in darkness like this—
you don’t see the enemy.
You remember them.
A soft voice whispered somewhere in the black.
Close.
Too close.
“Phase Three begins when Seven remembers her purpose.”
Meline’s breath shook.
“I don’t know what you want from me,” she said into the dark.
A pause.
Then the man replied:
“We want you to stop pretending you were ever just a woman in love.”
A sudden metallic click echoed behind Dominic.
He turned—
Too late.
A stun charge detonated.
White light swallowed everything.
Meline’s world collapsed into sound and brightness.
Dominic shouted her name—
But his voice was already fading.
And the last thing she felt before everything went weightless…
was someone catching her.
Not gently.
Professionally.
Like retrieving something that had finally been returned to its owner.
And the voice—right next to her ear—whispered:
“Welcome back, Seven.”
May you like
Everything went black.
— TO BE CONTINUED —
