chapter 5:-Echoes of the Unseen

The darkness wasn't unfamiliar this time. It was cold, yes, and suffocating, but it carried a weight I'd come to recognize—like a shadow stitched to my soul, one I couldn't outrun no matter how hard I tried. My name is Thaddeus Veynir, and in that moment, sprawled on the warehouse floor with Captain Graves's shouts fading into a distant hum, I realized something terrible: the thing I'd become wasn't just a memory or a mistake. It was alive, and it was me.The shadowy figure loomed above, its form a silhouette of jagged edges and swirling mist, like smoke given shape by malice. Its glowing eyes—two pinpricks of pale light—locked onto mine, and I felt a jolt, not of fear, but of recognition. That voice, the one that had whispered in the portal, rumbled again, low and resonant, vibrating through my skull. "You can't fight me forever."I wanted to scream, to deny it, to claw my way back to the light of the warehouse, but my body wouldn't obey. My chest burned where the Centauris had stabbed me, a pulsing ache that spread like wildfire through my veins. The air grew thick, heavy with that same oppressive energy I'd felt at Gate 5845, and the rift behind the figure pulsed in time with my heartbeat. Was it feeding on me? Or was I feeding it?"Thaddeus!" Graves's voice cut through the haze, sharp and commanding. I blinked, forcing my vision to clear, and saw him scrambling for his gun, now halfway across the room. The figure didn't even glance at him—it didn't need to. With a flick of its wrist, the air shimmered, and Graves was flung backward, crashing into a stack of crates with a sickening crunch. He groaned, still alive, but out of the fight."Leave him alone," I growled, pushing myself to my knees. My voice sounded foreign—rougher, deeper, laced with something I couldn't name. The figure tilted its head, amused, and I hated how familiar that gesture felt, like looking into a twisted mirror."Leave him?" it said, its tone mocking. "You're the one who brought me here, Thaddeus. You opened the door. I'm merely walking through it.""What are you?" I demanded, staggering to my feet. My legs trembled, but I forced them steady, clenching my fists. That erratic power surged inside me, chaotic and untamed, begging for release. I didn't trust it—not after what Graves had shown me—but I couldn't just stand there and let this thing toy with us.It laughed, a sound like grinding stone. "I am what you refused to be. The strength you buried. The will you denied. You think the gods gave you power? No, Thaddeus. They abandoned you. I didn't."The words hit harder than they should have. I'd spent years believing I was a vessel, a chosen warrior blessed by divine fragments to fight the Centauris. But the doctor's words in the hospital—no divine core—echoed in my mind, and now this… thing claimed ownership of what I'd become. Was it lying? Or was it the truth I'd been too afraid to face?Before I could answer, the rift flared, and the warehouse shuddered. Dust rained from the rafters, and a low, guttural roar echoed from the portal—not the figure's voice, but something else, something older. The figure's smirk vanished, its gaze snapping to the rift. For the first time, it looked… uncertain."Seems we have company," it muttered, almost to itself. Then, to me: "This isn't over. You'll call me again—you won't have a choice."It stepped back into the rift, vanishing as the portal snapped shut with a thunderous crack. The pressure in the air lifted, but the silence that followed was worse. I stood there, panting, my mind reeling. Call it again? What did that mean? And what had that roar been?"Thaddeus…" Graves's voice was weaker now, strained. I turned to see him pulling himself upright, blood trickling from a gash on his forehead. His eyes were hard, but there was a flicker of fear in them—fear of me, I realized. "What the hell was that?""I don't know," I said, and it was the truth. But it didn't feel like enough. Not after the footage. Not after this.He limped toward me, retrieving his gun with a grimace. "You're coming with me. Now. We need answers, and you're not walking away until we get them."I wanted to argue, to tell him I was just as lost as he was, but the weight of his stare—and the memory of my team's blood on my hands—silenced me. I nodded, following him out of the warehouse into the cold night air. The city sprawled before us, its lights dim and flickering, a testament to a world still scarred by the Centauris invasion. I'd fought to protect it, but now I wasn't sure if I was its savior or its next threat.The ride to wherever Graves was taking me was silent, the hum of the armored transport the only sound between us. He sat across from me, his gun resting on his knee—not aimed, but a clear message. I didn't blame him. If I were him, I'd have shot me already.My thoughts drifted to Battle Group 530. Sara's quiet pragmatism, Johan's nervous energy, Michael's unshakable calm—they'd been my anchor in this war, the closest thing I had to family after my parents were taken. And I'd killed them. The footage didn't lie, no matter how much I wanted it to. But why? How? That black aura, that speed—it wasn't me. Or it hadn't been, not until the portal.I rubbed my chest, the scar throbbing faintly. The Centauris's blade had pierced me, and I'd felt death creeping in—cold, absolute. Then the darkness, the voice, and… nothing. Until now. Was that figure the source of my survival? A parasite clinging to my soul? Or something worse?The transport jolted to a stop, snapping me out of my spiral. Graves stood, motioning me out. "Move. We're here.""Here" was a nondescript building on the city's edge—a squat, concrete structure surrounded by razor wire and guarded by soldiers in UVC gear. It didn't scream "headquarters," which meant it was off the books, just like the warehouse. A black site, probably. My stomach twisted, but I followed Graves inside, the guards eyeing me like I was a bomb about to go off.The interior was stark—bare walls, fluorescent lights, and a single elevator at the end of a narrow hall. Graves punched in a code, and the doors slid open. We descended in silence, the air growing cooler with each floor we dropped. When the doors opened again, we stepped into a lab—sterile, high-tech, and buzzing with activity. Scientists in white coats darted between machines, their voices hushed but urgent. In the center of the room stood a cylindrical tank, glowing faintly with a soft, violet light. Inside floated a shard of something crystalline, pulsing like a heartbeat."What is this place?" I asked, my voice echoing despite the noise.Graves didn't answer right away. He led me to a glass-walled office overlooking the lab, where General Alden waited, his broad frame silhouetted against the glow of a holo-screen. He turned as we entered, his sharp eyes locking onto me. "Thaddeus," he said, his tone clipped. "Good to see you in one piece.""Wish I could say the same for my team," I shot back, unable to keep the bitterness out of my voice.Alden's jaw tightened, but he didn't rise to the bait. "Sit. We've got bigger problems than your guilt."I sat, grudgingly, while Graves took up a position by the door, his hand still on his gun. Alden tapped the holo-screen, pulling up a map of the continent. Red dots pulsed across it—hundreds of them, clustered around known gates. "This is the latest Centauris activity report," he said. "Incursions are up thirty percent since Gate 5845. And they're not normal. Something's stirring, and it started with you.""Me?" I frowned, leaning forward. "I didn't ask for this. I didn't ask to survive—or to…" I couldn't finish the sentence."We know," Alden said, his voice softening slightly. "But the data doesn't lie. That portal's energy signature spiked when you were inside, and it hasn't stopped spreading. Whatever happened to you, it's connected to this." He gestured to the tank outside. "That's a rift shard—a piece of a gate we recovered after the S-ranks took down your Centauris. It's reacting to you."I followed his gaze to the shard, its violet glow pulsing faster now, almost in sync with the ache in my chest. "Reacting how?""We don't know yet," Alden admitted. "But it's not divine energy, and it's not Centauris. It's something new. And you're the key."Before I could respond, the lab shook, a deep tremor rattling the walls. Alarms blared, and the scientists outside scrambled, shouting over the noise. The shard in the tank flared, its light turning a deep, angry crimson. I stood, my heart racing, that dark power surging again—stronger this time, clawing at my control."General!" a scientist burst into the office, her face pale. "The shard—it's opening a rift. Right here!"Alden cursed, drawing a blade from his belt—a sleek, rune-etched weapon that hummed with power. "Graves, get him out of here. Now."But it was too late. The tank shattered, glass exploding outward as a rift tore open in the lab's center. This one was different—smaller, jagged, leaking tendrils of black mist. And from it stepped not one figure, but three—humanoid, cloaked in shadow, their eyes glowing with that same pale light."Thaddeus Veynir," the lead figure said, its voice a chorus of overlapping tones. "You've awakened us."I froze, the air thickening around me. My power roared to life, unbidden, a black aura flickering at my fingertips. Alden and Graves shouted, weapons raised, but I barely heard them. The figures moved, and the lab erupted into chaos.The fight was a blur. Alden charged first, his blade slashing through the air with precision honed by years of war. The lead figure parried with a clawed hand, sparks flying as metal met shadow. Graves fired from the sidelines, his bullets swallowed by the mist surrounding the other two. I stood there, useless, my power raging inside me like a storm I couldn't harness."Thaddeus, do something!" Graves yelled, ducking as a tendril lashed out, narrowly missing his head.I tried—I swear I did. I reached for that chaotic energy, willing it to obey, but it slipped through my grasp, wild and defiant. The lead figure laughed, its gaze locked on me even as it fought Alden. "You're not ready," it said. "But you will be."A scientist screamed as the second figure tore through the lab, its claws rending metal like paper. The third advanced on me, slow and deliberate, its presence a weight that pressed me to my knees. I clenched my fists, fighting the dizziness, the pull of that darkness inside me. "Get… away…" I growled, and something snapped.The black aura exploded outward, uncontrolled, a wave of force that sent the third figure staggering back. The lab trembled, equipment toppling, and for a moment, I felt it—power, raw and limitless, coursing through me. But it wasn't mine. It was theirs.The lead figure smirked, deflecting Alden's strike with ease. "See? You're waking up.""Shut up!" I roared, lunging at it. My fist connected, and the impact rippled through the room, cracking the floor beneath us. The figure didn't flinch—it just laughed, vanishing into the rift with the others as it snapped shut, leaving silence in its wake.I collapsed, gasping, my hands trembling. Alden and Graves stared at me, weapons still drawn, the lab a wreckage around us. The shard lay inert on the floor, its glow extinguished."What… what am I?" I whispered, more to myself than to them.Alden sheathed his blade, his expression grim. "I don't know, kid. But we're going to find out. And you're not leaving this base until we do."