CHAPTER 7 – A Past Buried in Ashes
Cold air scraped Jenna's lungs as she and Aaron sprinted deeper into the abandoned subway tunnels. The world above faded into distant echoes—gunfire, tires screeching, orders barked through radios—until only their ragged breathing filled the dark.
Water dripped steadily from rusted pipes overhead, the sound rhythmic and hollow. Their footsteps splashed through puddles as they ducked into a broken maintenance corridor, shadows wrapping around them.
Aaron pressed his back to the wall, gun drawn, eyes sharp and alert. Jenna leaned against the opposite wall, trying to calm the storm inside her.
Her voice came out raw.
"You faked your death. You left me alone. Why?"
Aaron didn't look at her. His jaw tightened. "Because you were safer thinking I was gone."
Jenna let out a bitter laugh. "Safe? You call this safe?"
He finally met her eyes—haunted, bruised by guilt.
"Jenna… if they had known you were my sister, you wouldn't have survived that year. They killed everyone tied to me."
The words hit like a punch. Jenna felt the world tilt, memories flashing: burned homes, missing people, unexplained accidents… tragedies she had assumed were random.
They weren't.
She swallowed. "Who are they?"
Aaron hesitated—long enough to make the silence feel colder.
"Vale is just one piece," he said softly. "There's a council behind him. They operate in the shadows, pulling strings across governments, corporations… and crime syndicates."
Jenna stared, pulse quickening. "And you were involved?"
"I infiltrated them. Years undercover. I got too close—learned things I wasn't supposed to know." His voice dropped. "The deal that started all this… wasn't about money. It was about control."
Jenna's eyes narrowed. "Control of what?"
Aaron stepped closer, lowering his voice to a whisper.
"Mind-control technology. Behavioural manipulation. The data you stole—it's the final key. Whoever holds it can control millions without them knowing."
Jenna felt her blood run cold.
"How am I connected to this?" she whispered. "What did I do?"
Aaron's expression shifted—from guilt to fear.
"You didn't do anything. You are the key."
Jenna froze.
"What?"
Footsteps echoed from deeper in the tunnel—quick, precise, trained.
Aaron pulled her into a dark alcove, pressing a finger to his lips.
Jenna whispered, voice shaking, "What do you mean I'm the key?"
Aaron's breathing slowed, becoming almost silent. "The files you're trying to decode… they're tied to biometric signatures. Your DNA unlocks them. Someone engineered it that way."
Jenna's breath hitched.
"My DNA? Why me?"
He looked away—pained.
"Because you weren't adopted by accident, Jenna. They chose you."
Her chest tightened. The world spun.
Chosen?
For this?
Her life—every piece of it—manipulated?
She took a step back, voice cracking. "So I was just some… project?"
Aaron grabbed her shoulders, firm.
"No. You were family. I fought to keep you alive. And I'll do it again."
Tears burned Jenna's vision—but before she could speak, a red laser dot appeared on the wall beside Aaron's head.
Sniper.
Jenna grabbed him and shoved him down just as a bullet cracked through the darkness, ricocheting off concrete. The shot echoed like thunder.
Voices erupted.
"They're in the west tunnel! Move!"
Jenna's pulse surged.
"We need a way out!" she hissed.
Aaron nodded, grabbing her hand and pulling her toward a locked metal hatch.
"It leads to an old emergency line," he said. "We can lose them underground."
He slammed the hatch open, but just as they slipped inside—
A figure stepped out of the shadows behind them.
Tall. Silent. Dressed in black.
A mask covering half his face.
His voice was calm, chillingly controlled.
"Jenna. Come with me now, and no one else has to die."
Jenna's blood ran cold.
Aaron raised his gun, positioning himself in front of her.
"Stay back," he warned.
The masked man tilted his head slightly.
"You don't recognize me yet… but you will."
Jenna's heart dropped.
The voice.
The stance.
The quiet calculation.
Something about him felt familiar—terrifyingly familiar.
Aaron's trigger finger tightened. "Who the hell are you?"
The masked man paused, then slowly lifted his hand to remove the mask.
Jenna held her breath, the world narrowing to a single heartbeat.
When the mask dropped, her knees nearly gave out.
It was Nathan Vale.
But not the Nathan she had seen on screens.
Younger. Colder. Eyes burning with something twisted.
Aaron cursed under his breath. "No. That's impossible."
Jenna whispered, trembling, "You're… Vale's son?"
His lips curved in a slow, dangerous smile.
"No. I'm his successor."
He stepped closer, eyes locked on Jenna.
"And you, Jenna… belong to me."