Chapter 4: Shattered Sanctuary

The gun's muzzle gleamed like a malevolent eye in the dim light. Dr. Elara Voss stood framed by the doorway, rain slashing the windows behind her, her cobalt irises cutting through the shadows. Kai's hands trembled against his mother's cold fingers, the scent of jasmine tea and blood clotting the air.

"You," Kai snarled, the word raw. "You killed her."

"A necessary sacrifice," Voss replied, her voice smooth as polished steel. "Blackthorn prefers clean operations. Loose ends… complicate things."

Alice edged toward the fireplace, her switchblade hidden in her sleeve. "You're insane."

Voss smiled, a flicker of something almost human in her gaze. "Insanity is a luxury, Miss Carter. I assure you, this is all very calculated."

Kai's vision blurred, the veins beneath his skin writhing like live wires. The Core's energy surged, volatile and hungry. Focus. Breathe. But the room spun—his mother's vacant stare, the shattered photo of a father he no longer recognized, the hum of the storm outside.

"Why her?" he demanded, rising slowly. "She wasn't part of this!"

"Wasn't she?" Voss tilted her head. "Lin Xu stole classified files weeks ago. Files your father would have died to protect. Did you think she gave you that key out of motherly love?"

The lie curdled in Kai's chest. Lin had known. She'd always known.

Alice lunged.

The switchblade flashed. Voss sidestepped, fluid as smoke, and fired.

Bang.

The bullet grazed Alice's shoulder, spraying blood across the wallpaper. She crumpled with a gasp.

"Alice!" Kai roared. The room erupted in a maelstrom of energy—bookshelves splintered, lamps shattered, and the floor cracked beneath his feet.

Voss staggered, her composure fracturing. "Fascinating. The Core's corruption is… accelerating."

"Shut up!" Kai hurled a wave of force.

Voss slammed into the wall, her gun skidding away. She coughed blood but laughed—a wet, guttural sound. "You think you're saving her? The girl dies in every timeline, Kai. Crushed. Burned. Erased. It's written in your DNA."

He froze.

Alice clutched her shoulder, her face pale. "Don't… listen to her…"

Voss dragged herself upright, her lab coat stained crimson. "Ask the Core. It's shown you, hasn't it? The other yous. The other hers."

The visions surged unbidden—Alice falling into a singularity, Alice screaming as flames consumed her, Alice lifeless in his arms. Every path. Every end.

"No," he whispered.

"The Convergence doesn't just collapse timelines," Voss hissed. "It reveals them. And in all of them, you fail."

A flash of lightning illuminated the room. In that instant, Kai saw it—the faintest tremor in her hand, the way her gaze flicked to the grandfather clock. Stalling.

"Alice," he said quietly. "The clock."

She followed his gaze. A red light blinked behind the pendulum.

Bomb.

They ran.

The explosion tore the house apart, flames clawing at the rain. Kai shielded Alice with his body, debris slicing his back. The street blurred—sirens wailed, neighbors screamed, and Voss's laughter echoed from a departing black sedan.

"She's gone," Alice choked, her breath ragged.

Kai pressed a hand to her bleeding shoulder. The Core's energy prickled beneath his palm, and against his will, the wound began to stitch itself.

Alice gasped. "What the hell are you—?"

"Don't ask." He hauled her upright. "We need to move."

The old observatory loomed at the edge of town, its dome rusted shut. Kai kicked the door open, the scent of mildew and forgotten stargazing nights wrapping around them.

Alice collapsed onto a moth-eaten couch. "Explain. Now."

He paced, the storm rattling the roof. "The Core… it's not just power. It's alive. And it's using me to fix its mistakes."

"Mistakes?"

"The timelines. They're unstable. Every time someone uses the serum, it fractures reality further. Voss and Blackthorn—they're not just accelerating the Awakening. They're weaponizing the fractures."

Alice paled. "How do you stop it?"

"By destroying the Core."

"But you need it to survive!"

He stared at his hands—the veins now inky black. "I'm not surviving. I'm borrowing time."

Silence fell, heavy and thick.

"There's another way," Alice said finally. "There has to be."

A knock shattered the tension.

Three short raps. A code from the old timeline.

Kai's breath caught. "Stay behind me."

The door creaked open. A figure stepped inside, dripping wet, his face obscured by a hood.

"Took you long enough," the man said, lowering his hood.

Kai's heart stopped.

Liang Xu.