Cain woke to the sound of machines beeping. Each pulse echoed through his skull like a heartbeat not his own. The pain was back, sharp, electric, but underneath it, something new stirred. It wasn't warmth. It wasn't comfort. It was power. Raw and alien, coiled in his chest like a sleeping serpent.
His eyelids fluttered open. White light flooded his vision. He was lying on a hospital bed, wires and tubes snaking from his arms to humming monitors that blinked in rhythm with his pulse. His body was wrapped in fresh bandages, layer after layer, tight enough that he could feel every heartbeat against the cloth.
He tried moving.
A sharp sting lanced through his ribs, forcing a low groan from his throat. His muscles screamed in protest, yet beneath the pain… there was something else. Strength. The kind that didn't belong to him, or at least, not before.
Cain exhaled slowly, his breath shaky. "I'm… still alive."
The room was dim, the curtains drawn, a faint green hue from the monitors casting ghostly shadows across the walls. The faint scent of antiseptic and iron hung in the air. He pushed himself up slightly, his mind racing.
Did that really happen? Ares. The Archive. The deal...
He glanced at his hands. They looked the same, but when he focused, his veins pulsed with a faint black shimmer, like liquid ink beneath the skin. It flickered once, then vanished.
A voice drifted from the corner of the room.
"You shouldn't be awake yet."
Cain froze.
A man leaned against the wall, half-shrouded in shadow. He wore a dark coat, one hand in his pocket, the other holding a tablet that displayed a flickering heartbeat monitor. His tone was calm, almost casual, but his eyes were anything but.
"You're tougher than I expected," the man continued, stepping closer. "Most who get torn through by an angel don't even leave a corpse behind."
Cain's pulse quickened. "Who are you?"
The man smiled faintly. "Doctor Arden. I'm the one who patched you up. You've been out for three days." He tapped the screen idly. "Though to be honest, your vitals don't make sense. No heartbeat for half an hour, then, bam, everything just starts up again. You care to explain that?"
Cain hesitated, his gaze lowering. "No."
Arden chuckled. "Didn't think so." He turned to leave, stopping briefly by the door. "For what it's worth, kid… whatever brought you back, it's not human. Be careful with it."
The door clicked shut behind him.
Cain sat in silence, the steady beeping filling the void. He stared at the faint pulse under his skin again, watching it shimmer for a heartbeat.
Then a whisper echoed in the back of his mind.
"I'm still here."
Cain's breath caught. The voice was unmistakable: smooth, confident, dripping with quiet amusement.
"Ares…" he muttered.
"Good morning, Cain. How's the mortal shell holding up?"
Cain clenched his fists. "It's... better."
"I gave you what you wanted," Ares replied, his tone almost playful. "Power. You just need to learn how to use it."
Cain's jaw tightened. "And what happens if I don't?"
"Then the world will teach you instead."
The voice faded, leaving behind a low hum that vibrated somewhere deep within his chest.
Cain looked down at his bandaged hands again. The faint shimmer returned, stronger this time, and with it came a single, terrifying thought.
He wasn't the same man who had entered that Domain.
And whatever he had become… he loved it.
It wasn't long before the door opened again. Cain tensed, half expecting Arden's dry voice to return with more questions. But instead, two figures stepped through. Familiar ones.
Michael entered first. His eyes carried something Cain had never seen before: uncertainty. Behind him followed Charlotte, her head bowed low, silver hair falling like a curtain over her face.
The moment Cain saw her, the machines beside his bed began to shriek, alarms blaring as his heart rate spiked.
Michael raised a hand, silencing the nurse who tried to rush in. "Leave us."
The door closed softly, leaving only the harsh rhythm of Cain's pulse on the monitors.
Cain's breath hitched. He couldn't look away from Charlotte. She hadn't said a word. Her presence, once light, precise, almost ethereal, felt muted, dimmed. She stood behind Michael like a shadow that didn't know where it belonged.
Michael stopped a few feet from the bed, his gaze sweeping over Cain.
"You're alive," he said finally. His tone was a strange mix of relief and confusion. "That shouldn't be possible."
Cain forced himself upright despite the stabbing ache in his ribs. "Guess I didn't feel like dying."
Michael's lips twitched. "Funny guy."
Cain exhaled slowly, his eyes shifting toward the figure standing a little behind him. "You brought her?"
Michael hesitated. "She asked to come."
Charlotte stepped out from the shadow of the doorway. Her silver hair looked dimmer under the fluorescent light, her once radiant eyes carrying a dull glistening. Clear, but fractured.
"I wanted to see you," she said softly.
Cain's stare was cold. "Why?"
She swallowed, taking a tentative step forward. "To say I'm sorry."
He blinked once, expression unmoving. "You're sorry."
Charlotte nodded, her hands trembling slightly. "I didn't mean to hurt you. I didn't mean to hurt anyone. That thing, the parasite, it took control. I tried to fight it, but it just-"
"Don't," Cain snapped, his voice sharp enough to cut through the air. The heart monitor beside him began to quicken. "Don't you dare say it wasn't you."
Charlotte froze, her breath catching. "It wasn't like that-"
"It was like that," he interrupted, his voice rising. "I saw your face. You looked me in the eye when you drove your arm through my chest!"
Charlotte's voice broke. "Because I couldn't stop it! You think I wanted that? You think I wanted to watch anyone die? I remember everything, the sound, the smell of blood, every scream!"
Cain's knuckles whitened around the edge of the bed. "Then maybe you should've died with them."
Michael's voice cut in, calm but firm. "Cain. Enough."
Cain turned to him, eyes burning. "Enough? You saw what she did. She slaughtered everyone."
Michael's jaw tightened. "And I also saw what she's become because of it. You're not the only one who died that day."
Cain glared, his voice low. "Don't talk to me about dying. You have no idea what it felt like."
Michael's tone softened, though his eyes remained sharp. "Maybe not. But I know what it's like to live with guilt."
Charlotte's voice trembled again. "Cain, please." She stepped closer, almost reaching for him before stopping herself. "You don't have to forgive me now. Or ever. But don't let it eat you alive. I came here because I needed you to know that I'd trade places if I could. I'd undo it all."
He stared at her, unmoving.
She continued, her voice cracking. "Every night, I see it again. Your face. The others. The look in your eyes when you realized it was me. It doesn't stop. It never stops."
Her eyes glistened. "I'm not asking you to forgive me. I'm asking you to understand that I'm sorry. That I would do anything to make it right."
Cain's breath trembled. The room felt heavier, like the air itself recoiled from the tension.
You could join them. That would make everything right at least in my eyes.
After a long silence, he spoke. His voice was quiet but laced with venom."You want me to understand?" He leaned forward slightly, his eyes shadowed. "You killed them, Charlotte. And then you killed me. Tell me, how am I supposed to understand that?"
Charlotte's lower lip quivered, tears finally spilling down her cheeks. "Because I didn't choose it!"
Cain tilted his head. "And that makes it better?"
She shook her head weakly. "No. But... but it's the truth... I never kill..."
The heart monitor quickened again. Cain's hands clenched the sheets, the faint black shimmer under his skin pulsing faintly with his heartbeat.
Michael placed a hand on her shoulder. "That's enough for now."
Charlotte turned to him, voice shaking. "Please, just another minute."
Michael hesitated, then slowly lowered his hand.
Charlotte looked back at Cain, her face streaked with tears. "I don't expect forgiveness. I don't even expect you to speak to me again. But I needed to see you alive. To know that I didn't take everything."
Cain stared at her for what felt like an eternity. His expression softened for a fraction of a second, but then hardened again.
"You're pathetic," he said quietly.
Charlotte froze, eyes wide, mouth slightly open. The words hit harder than any blow.
Michael stepped between them, his voice low. "That's enough for today." He guided her gently toward the door.
Charlotte lingered for a moment, her gaze locked on Cain. Her voice broke one last time. "You don't have to believe me… but I'll find a way to make it right."
Cain didn't answer.
The door closed behind them, the silence that followed heavier than any scream. He stared at the ceiling, breath steady but shallow. The faint shimmer beneath his skin pulsed again, darker this time, alive.
And from somewhere deep within the echoing halls of his mind, Ares' voice emerged, smooth and satisfied.
"Good. Anger suits you. It feeds us both."
Cain didn't respond. He just lay still, eyes fixed on the light above him until even that began to fade into black.