CHAPTER 26: THE VENOM
Ava's breath stuck in her throat.
"You weren't supposed to remember."
The voice—her father's—was colder than the air in the basement. Each syllable was cut with something she hadn't heard before. Something unfamiliar.
She backed up a step, flashlight shaking in her hand.
"Why are you here?" she whispered.
No answer.
Then the footsteps again. Coming down now.
Thud.
Thud.
She couldn't run — the staircase was the only exit.
She looked around. Her beam shone on metal file cabinets, dirty monitors, a medical cot with straps.
Her skin prickled.
Then she saw it.
An air vent — hardly wide enough, but open.
Thud.
Thud.
Closer.
She sprinted towards it, fingers struggling with rusty screws. They broke with a loud crack, and she pulled herself up, scraping her arms against the rough metal.
"Ava, come out," the voice from behind said.
No longer her father's.
Deeper. Distorted.
As a mimicry.
She crawled into the vent, disregarding the burning pain. The air was musty, suffocating. She could hear him now in the lab, pacing below.
"You have no idea what's at stake," the voice snarled. "You were safer without the truth. Safer as Subject Eleven."
She crawled quicker.
After what seemed like hours condensed into mere seconds, the vent deposited her behind a fallen wall in another part of the house. She shoved the cover off and tumbled into the dust.
Ava didn't glance back.
She ran out the shattered back door into the forest, heart pounding in her ears.
.........
An hour later, she arrived at a roadside motel, gasping, trembling. She kept her head down, paid with cash for a room, and locked herself in.
She fell on the bed.
Her father.
Her father was involved in this?
Or someone else? Acting?
Was it possible… Project ECHOES was not a memory test?
Her uncle's words rang in her head:
"They used your memory as a lock."
She had to know.
Her fingers shook as she took out Anish's notebook once more. Most of the pages were filled with formulas, theories, and sensor patterns. But there was one loose page that fluttered loose, triple-folded.
She unfolded it.
A map.
Of a facility.
Coordinates written under them.
She rapidly searched the coordinates on her phone — a countryside location well beyond city limits, deep in the wooded periphery. Close to the old research campus where Vikram worked.
A scribble was written underneath:
"Where it all began."
She ringed the spot.
Her uncle had left her a trail. Whatever this center was — it had answers.
........
𝐒𝐎𝐌𝐄𝐖𝐇𝐄𝐑𝐄 𝐄𝐋𝐒𝐄:
Rohit blinked awake in pitch blackness.
The air was damp and tasted of rust. A single bulb flickered above him. He tried to move, but his wrists were bound to a cold metal chair.
Footsteps echoed.
A figure stood before him.
Shadowed.
"You're persistent," the voice rasped. Male. Older. Familiar.
Rohit's voice was hoarse. "Where… where am I?"
The figure stepped forward slightly. A glint of a surgical mask. Gloves. No face visible.
"Somewhere no one will find you. Not until it's too late."
"What do you want?"
"You knew Vikram Joshi. You investigated his work too closely. It was only a question of time before you found yourself tripping over the truth."
Rohit's jaw hardened. "Vikram died protecting her."
"Did he?" the voice asked, with a sneer. "Or did he die because he unlocked her?"
The man stepped closer. "You have questions. So does Ava. But here's the actual one: what if unlocking her mind… dooms everyone else?"
A monitor flickered on the wall behind.
It displayed Ava — racing through the woods earlier this evening.
Live.
Someone was spying on her even now.
"Project ECHOES isn't about the past," the man announced. "It's about controlling the future."
And with that, the monitor shut off.
A high-pitched whine ripped through Rohit's ears.
He screamed.
Then passed out.
.........
𝐁𝐀𝐂𝐊 𝐓𝐎 𝐋𝐎𝐃𝐆𝐄:
Ava picked up supplies — a flashlight, a pocket knife, and Anish's notebook. She had only one destination: the spot on the map.
As she closed her bag, her phone vibrated.
Unknown number.
She paused.
Then picked up.
Static.
Then a whisper.
"Ava…"
Her blood froze. "Rohit?"
Silence.
Then—
"They know. Don't trust anyone. Not even—"
The line dropped.
She gazed at the phone.
Not even who?
The light flickered.
Her room door creaked.
She spun around sharply, heart pounding.
But there was no one there.
Only a paper.
Slid under the door.
She picked it up.
Five words in red ink:
"𝙃𝙚'𝙨 𝙬𝙖𝙩𝙘𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙧𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩 𝙣𝙤𝙬."
.............
"𝗦𝗼, 𝘄𝗵𝗼 𝗶𝘀 𝘃𝗶𝗹𝗹𝗮𝗶𝗻?" 𝗦𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝗮𝘀𝗸𝗲𝗱.
"𝗔𝘃𝗮'𝘀 𝗳𝗮𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿... 𝗢𝗿...?~~" 𝗔 𝘃𝗼𝗶𝗰𝗲, 𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝘄𝗵𝗶𝘀𝗽𝗲𝗿, 𝗳𝗼𝗹𝗹𝗼𝘄𝗲𝗱 𝗯𝗮𝗰𝗸.
...........
Tell me your thoughts.
Who do you think the villain is?
* Ava's father
* Rhohit
* Someone yet to introduced
OR
* Someone else...!
Comment me your answer. Lets see who guessed right.