CHAPTER 12
Shadows at the Power Station
The invitation replayed in Adanna's mind like a ticking clock. "If you want the truth, go to the old power station by midnight. Come alone."
She hadn't slept since dawn. Tara was still in the other room, talking quietly on the phone, her back turned. Adanna watched her from the cracked doorway, her body language was too sharp, her tone too low. Nothing about it felt casual. Every word seemed measured, guarded.
Adanna's instinct screamed that Kene's warning hadn't been a lie.
She slipped back into her room and sat on the mattress, staring at the wall. She needed to decide; trust Tara and stay, or take the risk and go. Either choice could kill her, but doing nothing wasn't an option.
The clock on her phone read 11:22 p.m.
Outside, the sky was a bruise, dark and restless. The air smelled of dust and faint rain.
Adanna changed into dark jeans and a hoodie, tucking her phone and the flash drive she had copied from Tara's files into her pocket. She glanced at the sleeping bag in the corner, pretending someone was in it, then slipped quietly out the back door.
The dirt road behind the compound stretched into silence. Her heart pounded as she walked. A few stray dogs barked in the distance, but the night swallowed their sounds quickly. She flagged a passing bike, offering double the fare to get her to the old power station, a forgotten landmark on the outskirts of Abuja.
The rider said nothing, only nodded. His face was half-hidden behind a mask and helmet.
Every bump on the road rattled through her bones.
When they reached the gate, the rider stopped. "Here," he said flatly.
Adanna climbed down and handed him the cash. Before she could ask if he'd wait, he was already gone, his taillight vanishing into the dark.
The power station stood like a skeleton of metal and rust. Tall, lifeless towers stretched into the night sky, their wires dangling like black veins. The only light came from the moon, spilling over broken concrete and puddles of rainwater.
She took a deep breath and stepped inside through a hole in the fence.
Her footsteps echoed softly as she moved between the empty structures. A cold wind whistled through the broken windows, making the whole place hum with an eerie sound.
Then, from somewhere deeper inside, she heard a faint click. Metal against metal.
Her pulse quickened. She crouched behind an old generator, scanning the shadows.
"Adanna," a voice called quietly.
She froze.
"Kene?"
He stepped out from behind a pillar, his clothes damp, his eyes hollow but alert. He looked thinner, haunted. "You came."
Her relief was mixed with anger. "You disappeared, Kene. You left me when everything was falling apart."
"I didn't leave," he said, his voice low. "They tried to make me disappear. You think I wanted to vanish? Project Void isn't what we thought. It's not just government corruption, it's a control system. People, data, memories… they're rewriting records, changing who existed."
Adanna frowned. "That sounds insane."
Kene reached into his jacket and pulled out a flash drive. "This has proof. I stole it before they came for me. But it's incomplete, Tara has the missing piece."
"Tara?"
He nodded. "She's not who she says she is. She's deep in it. Her job was to watch you, guide you where they wanted. You were supposed to lead them to me."
The ground beneath Adanna seemed to tilt. "No. She saved my life."
Kene stepped closer. "And yet every place you've hidden, they've found. Every contact you've met, gone silent. Don't you see it?"
She wanted to deny it, to cling to the small comfort Tara had given her. The only thing that had felt safe in weeks, but pieces were falling together too neatly.
Before she could answer, a flash of light cut through the darkness.
"Don't move!"
Voices. Multiple.
Adanna turned and saw soldiers, or something close to them, in dark tactical gear. Their flashlights burned through the shadows.
Kene grabbed her hand. "Run!"
They sprinted through the maze of broken machinery, ducking under pipes and jumping over cables. Gunfire cracked through the air, muffled but deadly. Metal shards flew past her face.
They burst through a side door into open ground. Kene pulled her toward an old maintenance truck. "Get in!"
The engine coughed, then roared to life. They sped off, tires screeching over gravel. Bullets hit the side of the truck, sparks flying.
Adanna held on, heart slamming. "Where are we going?"
Out of the city. There's someone who can decrypt this," he said, gripping the wheel. "But we have to disappear first."
They drove in silence for a while, the night wind whipping against their faces. The highway stretched ahead, empty except for the faint glow of the moon.
Adanna stared at him. "Kene… if Tara really is one of them, then what happens when she realizes I'm gone?"
He looked at her briefly, eyes dark. "She'll come for you."
The words hit her like ice.
Then, in the distance, blue lights flared. A checkpoint.
Kene swore under his breath. "Hold on."
He veered off the main road onto a dirt path leading into thick bush. The truck jolted violently, branches scraping the windows. Adanna clutched the door handle, praying it wouldn't flip.
When they finally stopped, the silence returned, heavy and alive.
Kene turned off the engine. "We stay here till dawn."
Adanna nodded weakly. Her hands still trembling. She looked at him again, the same man who once laughed easily, who used to tease her about overworking. Now he looked like a ghost, worn by secrets.
"Why me?" she whispered. "Why pull me into this?"
"Because you were the only one who still believed in truth," he said quietly. "And because… they were already watching you before we met."
Her chest tightened. "What do you mean?"
But before he could answer, his phone buzzed. He glanced at the screen, his face draining of color.
Adanna leaned closer. "Who is it?"
He swallowed hard. "Tara."
The phone kept ringing, its glow casting a pale light across the dark cabin. Neither of them moved to answer.
Finally, the call ended, but a message followed.
Kene opened it. One line of text.
"You shouldn't have gone there."
A chill ran through them both.
The forest outside seemed to whisper, alive with unseen movement.
Adanna looked at him. "She found us, didn't she?"
He nodded slowly. "She always does."
The night pressed in tighter, the air too still, too quiet. Somewhere, far off, an engine rumbled.
And for the first time, Adanna realized, they weren't running from the story anymore. They were part of it.