Ethan Knox- July 2120
Ray, Daniel, and I move quietly through the forest, but even the crunch of leaves under my boots can't drown out the thoughts spinning in my head. We're supposed to be heading north to find Jack, but all I can think about is Kai.
I keep wishing I could've stayed with him longer. Just… sat with him, talked to him, made him feel safe. I really thought if I kept reassuring him, reminding him he isn't some monster. But of course the bell had to go off right then.
"Ethan… Earth to Ethan" Ray's suddenly right in front of me, and I freeze mid-step.
"Are you listening to me?"
"Oh, sorry!" I wince a little. "My mind kind of wandered."Understatement of the century.
Ray watches me for a moment, like he's trying to read what's going on in my head, then turns and keeps walking.
"I said Daniel and I are going to keep eyes on the intruder. If something happens, we intercept. You go find Jack."
"Yeah... sure" is all I can manage to say.
I try to focus on the task at hand, I really do, but my thoughts keep drifting back to Kai's face, to the way he looked when he said he wanted to go back to the facility.
After a few minutes of silence, Ray speaks again.
"Guess things aren't going as smoothly as you expected with the new guy."
"No." I rub the back of my neck. "I thought once he got here, and he felt safe and free, he'd want to stay. But… he says he needs to go back"
Daniel suddenly stops, and I almost smack into his back. I stumble a little, catching myself.
"If he goes back there, it could expose everything" Daniel says, voice sharp enough to make me flinch. "If he tries, I'll stop him. Even if I have to kill him."
My stomach drops straight to the forest floor.
Kill him?
The idea hits so hard my breath catches. Heat rushes up my neck and before I can even think, I step forward.
"If you hurt Kai, I swear-"
We're staring each other down, intensity humming between us, but Ray jumps in fast.
"Alright, enough" Ray says, forcing himself between us. "Daniel, don't be rude, Kai's our guest. And Ethan, Daniel's just worried about our family's safety."
I bite my lip, guilt and anger tangling in my chest. Ray's right, we can't risk the lifes of the people at Trinity. I love everyone here. They're my home, my people. I'd protect them with everything I have.
But I can't let anything happen to Kai either. I just… can't.
Once I'm back at the school, I'll talk to him again. Be clearer and try harder. Maybe if I'm patient enough, gentle enough, he'll understand and want to stay.
Daniel huffs, turning on his heel and walking off.
My face must still be twisted up because Ray suddenly places both his hands on my shoulders. His voice softens.
"Ethan, listen. I don't know exactly what you and Kai talked about, but remember, yes, you got him out. But his mind is still trapped. The only life he's ever known is a cage. So of course he keeps reaching for the chains he grew up with." He pauses for a brief second. "You can't blame him for wanting what's familiar, freedom's terrifying when you've never had it."
The words hit me right in the chest. Hard.
I don't want them to be true, but they make too much sense.I don't know a lot about Kai's past just that his own father sent him to that nightmare of a facility. Experimented on him, hurt him. Turned him into something he never asked to be.
Of course he's scared. Of course he wants to go back to what he understands.
My heart aches. All I want is to help him see he deserves better.
"Come on, we need to keep going." Ray gives me a quick, encouraging pat on the back before following after Daniel.
Right. Focus. Jack first, spiral about Kai later.
We push deeper into the woods, the shade getting thicker around us. Suddenly Daniel freezes, throwing his arm out to stop us. I practically skid to a halt behind him, heart jumping.
We duck behind trees, keeping low. My breath catches as a shape shuffles into view.
It's slow and hunched. Definitely a man, the one Jack reported, probably.
His hair is a mess, with whole chunks missing like he'd ripped them out himself. It hangs over his face, hiding it. His clothes are filthy, and his fingers…
God. They're bloody, raw, torn up like he'd been clawing at something for far too long.
Who is this guy?
Then movement flickers behind him. Small. Hiding in the shrubs.
Jack.
His face pops up from the leaves, and relief floods through me so fast it almost knocks me over. Daniel and Ray both glance at me and give a small, sharp nod.
Right. My turn, time to get Jack out, should be easy. Well… hopefully.
I'm just about to move when everything around me blurs and-
My eyes flash blue.
[A stick snaps near Jack.The man whips around unnaturally fast.Something thick and glowing drips from his hands and when he hurls it toward Jack, everything it touches melts. The ground. The shrubs, the trees, and- ]
The vision snaps and so do I.
"oh shit!" I shout before I even think, stumbling out of cover. "Daniel! His arms, he's got powers!"
Everything erupts at once.
The tree I was hiding behind practically dissolves in a sizzling mess as the man attacks, and I barely manage to roll out of the way, less graceful hero, more startled puppy. At the same time Daniel slams his hands down, and vines tear up from the forest floor, wrapping around the man's arms and chest before he can throw anything else.
My heart is hammering, adrenaline buzzing through every inch of me.
"Is everyone okay?" Ray calmly asks before standing out to confront the man.
"Yeah, that was close" I blurt, scrambling to my feet.
The vines tighten around the man's arms, pinning them to his sides. He thrashes wildly, a guttural sound tearing from his throat, low and animal-like.
The glowing liquid still drips from his fingers, thick and bright and horrifyin, and every droplet that hits the ground sizzles, eating straight through leaves and dirt.
Ray moving with far more calm than I can even pretend to have. "Ethan, get Jack!" he orders.
I nod before I sprint toward the shrubs where Jack was hiding. "Jack! Hey, buddy, time to go!" I whisper loudly, which is probably the opposite of sneaky, but quiet panic whispering is not my strong suit.
Jack's eyes widen when he sees me, and he pops out from the bushes.
"Ethan! That guy, he-"
"I know, I know, lava hands, very melty, let's move!" I grab his arm and pull him toward the trees.
Just then, behind us, Daniel growls, "Hold still!" as he forces more vines up around the man, trying to pin him completely.
But the man only gets angrier.
His body jerks forward, the vines starts to glow red and start tearing at them.
The glow spreading across his hands brightens, then flickers unstable, like he's building up to something worse.
Ray curses under his breath. "He's charging up. Daniel, restrain him!"
"I'm trying!" Daniel snaps. Sweat beads down his temple. The vines strain.
Jack tugs on my sleeve. "Ethan, we need to run."
My eyes flash blue again. Danger.
I turn towards him "Jack run back to the school right now!"
The man screams.
A sharp, broken, agonised sound that rips through the forest and chills me all the way down my spine. Then his whole body convulses, the glow flooding up his arms, his neck, under his skin.
"This is bad" I squeak. "He's- RUN!" I don't even finish. I just start running, dragging Jack with me. "Go go go GO go!"
Behind us Ray shouts, "Daniel, MOVE!"
Suddenly the vines burst apart, melting into nothing as lava gushes down from the man's arms. It splashes across the forest floor, trees hiss, leaves curl into ash, and a heavy fog boils up from the burning earth.
We dive behind a fallen log, this one thankfully not melting yet, and I wrap my arms around Jack, shielding him as best I can, heart pounding like insane inside my chest.
Then Ray coughs somewhere behind the smoke. "Everyone still alive?"
I pop my head over the log. "Present! Slightly traumatised but present!"
Jack wheezes beside me. "Same!"
Daniel shouts from somewhere nearby, his voice strained. "I can't restrain him with my vines, Ray, what do we do?!"
I turn, searching for him, but the rising smoke and heat warp everything. I can't even see where he is. This was supposed to go differently... Daniel holding the guy still, Ray closing in fast enough to knock him out. Clean and controlled.
But with lava melting the forest floor? No one can get close. Not without losing a leg.
My heart thunders. What do we do?
I force my eyes to burn blue, pushing my power to flood my thoughts with possibilities, any timeline where we stop him, trap him, survive this. But every future I grab melts apart.
And then, one flashes clearer than the rest.
[The man turns toward our hiding spot. His arm jerks back. Another ball of lava forms in his hand then he hurls it straight at me and Jack.]
I snap back to the present so fast it stings.
"Jack, move!" I grab his hand, yanking him away from the log, But it's too late.
We won't make it. We're not fast enough.
Everything slows.
The burning orb flying toward us. Jack's eyes, wide with terrified realisation. Ray lunging forward, desperately reaching for us. The heat curling through the air-
Then... Darkness.
It swallows everything in front of us like the world blinked.
I fall forward, dragging Jack down with me. The ground is suddenly cold beneath my hands. When I look up, confused, breathless, I see nothing where the man was. There is no fire or lava. Just a wall of dark, thick and impossible.
Then I hear footsteps. They're soft, steady and then they stop right beside me.
I twist my head and my breath catches.
Kai.
He stands between us and the danger, one hand raised, fingers wrapped in swirling shadows that pulse like living ink. Darkness curls off his palm in slow, dangerous tendrils.
And his face... He's angry.
Fierce in a way I've never seen before.
It's not aimed at me or Jack, but at the man who tried to kill us.
And for the first time since all this started…I'm not scared. I'm stunned.
How is he here?