The tunnel grew colder the deeper they walked. The air carried the scent of wet earth and old metal, as if the place had been sealed for decades. A dying emergency lamp flickered above them… its weak yellow glow pulsing like the last breath of a worn machine. Darkness pressed against the walls, swallowing every trace of the world above.
Aaron led the way with steady, deliberate steps. The ground was slick, but his balance never wavered. His messy black hair fell slightly over his eyes, shadowing the quiet sharpness of his expression. He looked emotionless… unreadable… a boy shaped more by experiments than by childhood. To Lyra Veridine, his coldness only made him feel more like a mystery crafted with perfect precision.
Lyra followed behind, her steps growing slower with each stretch of tunnel. She kept her head low, biting her lip whenever pain struck through her leg. She did not want Aaron to notice. She did not want to be useless. Every few seconds her breath hitched softly, a sound she tried to hide beneath the echoes of dripping water.
Aaron stopped without warning. Lyra gasped and nearly bumped into him. He did not turn. His gaze shifted slightly, as if he could hear something inside her body that even she didn't understand. His voice was quiet when he finally spoke. "...your step is uneven."
Lyra stiffened and clutched her coat. "I'm fine. It's just slippery."
"You are wrong." His tone held no judgment. Only observation. And that was what made her heart drop. Aaron did not guess. He noticed. He always noticed. The truth made her voice shrink. "I… I can still walk."
Aaron turned to face her and the world seemed to pause. His stare was dark, flat, and sharp enough to slip past every mask she wore. There was no anger in it. No impatience. Only detail… calculation… and something that felt almost like concern hidden deep beneath the surface.
He knelt without asking. "Sit."
Lyra's face burned at the sudden command. "W–why are you..."
"Sit." No emotion. No room to argue. Only quiet certainty. She obeyed and lowered herself to the cold stone floor. Aaron's eyes swept over her leg and immediately found the thin red cut she had tried to hide. It was small… but deep enough to worsen with every step.
He touched her ankle and Lyra jolted. "Ah...!"
"Calm down." His voice was gentle in its coldness. He pressed near the wound with surgical precision. Each touch sent heat rushing to Lyra's cheeks. "Does this hurt?" "A little…" Her breath shook.
He shifted his touch. "And here?" Lyra gasped softly. "More…" He studied her with patient exactness, unaware of how close his face had come to hers… unaware of the way her heartbeat thudded like a frantic drum. For him, this was analysis. For her, it was something far more dangerous.
Aaron rose. "If you keep walking, the wound will deepen." Lyra hurried to stand. "I can..." But Aaron moved faster. One arm behind her back. The other beneath her knees. With silent certainty… he lifted her into his arms.
Lyra froze, her face erupting in heat. "A... AARON!!" "You cannot walk," he said, already moving. "If you do, the injury will worsen." He carried her as if the act required no thought. As if holding her was simply an extension of logic.
Lyra's pulse fluttered wildly. She had never allowed anyone this close. Yet now she was held by the most dangerous boy ever created… his arms steady beneath her… his warmth melting every wall she had built around her heart. She clutched his collar instinctively. Aaron glanced down. "You might fall if you do not hold tighter."
Her grip tightened instantly. Embarrassment nearly suffocated her.
Aaron slowed his pace for her sake. Her face rested near his chest, close enough for her to hear his heartbeat… steady… controlled… calming. It felt like a sound she had always searched for. "Aaron…" she whispered. "Yes?" "Do you… mind carrying me?"
"You are injured," he replied. "This is the logical choice." The blunt sincerity made her chest warm. He wasn't doing this to comfort her. Not to fluster her. He did it because that was how he protected someone. His indifference made her heart soften even more.
"If you feel embarrassed," he added quietly, "you do not need to. I am simply preventing you from dying." Lyra nearly choked on her breath. She looked at him from the corner of her eye… at his sharp jawline, the unruly black hair brushing his skin, the dark eyes that rarely saw anything… yet when they looked at her, something subtle shifted.
A softness so small Aaron himself did not notice it.
"Am I… too heavy?" she whispered. He answered without hesitation. "No. You are light." And after a heartbeat… "And I am strong." Lyra pressed her forehead against his shoulder, hiding her flustered expression.
A distant rumble rolled through the city above. Dust drifted from the tunnel ceiling. Cold wind slid through vents like a warning. The storm was descending. Aaron glanced forward, eyes narrowing at the faint shift of light ahead. "We need shelter…"
Lyra held onto his coat tighter. Aaron adjusted his hold without thinking, carrying her with a grip firm enough to promise safety. In that moment she felt something she had never felt before.
When I am with him… nothing can harm me.
Thunder groaned in the distance. Two teenagers… one with a heart of steel and one with a heart too soft… stepped into the deeper dark. Neither aware that tonight… they took a step that would change them forever.
*-*-*-*-*
Above the city, Blackthorn forces formed a perimeter as the storm rolled in. Their scanners detected two signs of life beneath the streets. And one of them… belonged to something not human.