Chapter 15 – The Third Shadow
The lantern shook in Damian's hand. Its flame thinned to a trembling line, barely enough to hold back the dark. Amara turned toward the stairs, where the crash had come from. The boards above them groaned again—slow, deliberate.
Kerrin didn't move. "She found us," he said.
Damian stepped between Amara and the doctor. "Stay behind me."
But the cellar door creaked open before he reached it. A gust of cold air spilled down the steps, carrying the scent of rain and roses.
Lydia appeared at the top landing, a silhouette against the gray light. Water dripped from her coat. Her voice was calm, almost gentle. "You still trust him, Damian?"
Damian raised the lantern. "What have you done?"
"I ended what he started," she said. "You just never noticed."
Kerrin laughed softly. "You always were dramatic, my dear. Still fighting a war that's already lost."
Amara watched the two of them—the scientist who made them and the woman who wouldn't die. Something in her chest ached, an echo she couldn't name.
Lydia's eyes flicked toward her. "You feel it too, don't you? The pull. The truth waking up inside you."
The lantern's light faltered again. For a moment all three of them stood in darkness. Then a low hum filled the air, rising from the floorboards beneath their feet. Machines, hidden deep under the house, coming alive.
Damian whispered, "He activated it."
Kerrin smiled. "No. She did."
The hum swelled into a roar. The floor shuddered, splitting along the center. Cold blue light burst through the cracks, and the cellar filled with the sound of metal shifting—like the house itself was waking.
And for the first time, none of them knew who would survive the night.