⚫ Chapter 4 : Blood Runs Deep
⚫ Chapter 4 : Blood Runs Deep
🕯️ Verdale City – Old Metro Tunnels, 3:47 AM
Silence.
Not the peaceful kind. The suffocating, unnatural kind—the kind that presses against your ribs, makes your skin crawl, and convinces you that something is watching... always watching.
The air inside the abandoned metro tunnels was damp, laced with mold, rust, and the iron scent of old blood. Somewhere far above, the city lived its oblivious life. But down here... down here, ghosts moved.
Liana gripped the USB Daniel had handed her hours ago, now plugged into her encrypted tablet. Streams of data flooded the screen: documents, photos, maps, classified communications—evidence of corruption so deep it made everything she'd known feel like a polite lie.
Her fingers trembled. Not from fear. From the realization of just how big this was.
This wasn't about Andre Crawford.
This wasn't even about Daniel's betrayal.
This... was about the Syndicate.
The Zero Syndicate.
A global machine of power and control. Arms dealing. Assassinations. Human trafficking. Political manipulation. Blackmail. Nations didn't move unless the Syndicate whispered.
And now... they were hunting her.
---
🔥 Encrypted File – "Operative Blacklist"
> Target Status: ACTIVE TERMINATION
Subject: Morgan, Liana – Ex-Asset – Codename: Echo
Priority: HIGH. Execute on sight.
Special Order: "No body left. No traces."
Her name was the first on the list. Daniel's was second. A dozen others followed—ghosts, old operatives, burn victims of a machine that never forgives loose ends.
Her jaw clenched.
"Bastards..." she muttered.
A second folder caught her attention. Labeled:
"Classified Threat Protocols – Level Red."
Scrolling quickly, her eyes paused. A name. No photo. No face. Just a code:
> "Codename: Specter – Status: Dormant – Threat Class: Omega – Authorized for FailSafe Activation Only."
Her eyebrows pulled together.
"Specter...?" she whispered, but had no time to dig deeper.
---
Behind her, footsteps echoed—soft, deliberate. She didn't flinch. She already knew the rhythm.
— "You always did like hiding underground," Daniel's voice called, casual but tight. "You know... rats and all."
She didn't turn.
— "Careful, Daniel. You're the one standing next to a rat with a gun."
He chuckled, stepping beside her, scanning the data. But the humor didn't reach his eyes. He was pale. No mask this time. Just exhaustion... and fear.
— "This... is bigger than I thought," he muttered.
— "Yeah," she shot back. "Turns out the monster we thought we were fighting... it has bigger teeth."
Daniel scrolled through the files, then froze.
— "No... no. This... this can't be right."
Her head snapped toward him.
— "What?"
He tapped one file repeatedly, hands shaking. A dossier. A face appeared on screen. Male. Mid-50s. Sharp jawline. Eyes as cold as Arctic ice. A scar cutting through his left brow.
Her breath hitched. Her fingers went numb. The world tilted sideways.
No. No... not him.
The file header read:
> "Codename: Revenant. Real Name: Morgan, Elias."
Status: High Command. Founder. Zero Syndicate.
Silence stretched between them—so thick it felt suffocating.
Her lips parted but no sound came. The tablet trembled in her grip.
Daniel spoke first, voice hollow.
— "Liana... tell me this is a mistake."
A thousand memories flooded her head—her father's laughter, the smell of his cologne, bedtime stories about wolves and ghosts... the night of fire.
Her knees buckled. She caught herself against the wall. Breathing shallow. Shaking.
— "No... I... I thought he was dead. I buried him. I stood... I stood over his grave."
Daniel backed away a step, hands up.
— "Okay. Okay. Breathe. We can figure this out. But this changes everything. This... this is war on a different scale."
Her fists clenched, nails digging into her palms so hard they drew blood.
Her father...
The betrayals...
Her own blood ran through the veins of the devil she was hunting.
— "You okay?" Daniel asked cautiously.
She shot him a look sharp enough to cut steel.
— "No. But that doesn't matter. I'm finishing this. With or without you."
Daniel nodded slowly.
— "For what it's worth... I'm in."
Before she could answer—
CRACK.
A gunshot.
The tablet sparked, screen shattering. Sparks flew.
— "SNIPER!" Daniel roared, tackling Liana behind a concrete pillar.
Bullets rained down from above—silent rounds designed not to echo, suppressed but deadly.
Daniel peeked around.
— "Thermal scope. Smart bastards."
Liana pulled a smoke grenade from her belt, yanked the pin.
— "Not smart enough."
THUD—FSSSH.
Smoke flooded the tunnel.
She sprinted low, Daniel close behind. More shots. Concrete exploded beside them.
From the shadows—three armed figures emerged, infrared goggles glowing red.
— "Push right!" Daniel barked.
Liana slid under a broken rail, came up firing—two rounds center mass, another in the head. One down.
Daniel disarmed the second, snapping his elbow, then drove a knife under the chin—instant kill.
The third raised his rifle—too late. Liana's boot smashed into his knee, snapping it sideways. Her blade followed, slashing his throat.
Silence.
The smoke cleared. Bodies lay scattered.
Daniel wiped blood from his cheek, panting.
— "Remind me... why do I always end up bleeding when I'm with you?"
Liana sheathed her blade, face like stone.
— "Because you're slow."
He laughed, despite everything.
---
💀 The Revelation
She crouched over one of the bodies, searching the gear. A phone. Locked. But not for long. She plugged a bypass device in. Within seconds—access.
A text thread popped up.
"Target Morgan located. Confirm kill. Extraction in 20 minutes."
But the most recent message made her blood run colder than anything.
> "Phase Two authorized. Activate the sleeper. Codename: Specter."
Her lips barely moved.
— "Specter..."
Daniel's face paled.
— "Oh no... No no no... not him."
She turned slowly.
— "Who the hell is Specter?"
Daniel swallowed, visibly shaken.
— "Specter... was our failsafe. The last resort. A ghost. The perfect weapon. No emotion. No mercy. No humanity. He was trained to kill anything... even us... if we ever went rogue."
Her heart thudded.
— "And now... he's coming for us."
---
🔥 Final Scene – Unknown Location
A dark chamber. Monitors lined every wall. Surveillance feeds. Photos of Liana. Daniel. Red markers flashing.
Pulsing alarms glowed red, casting the room in a hellish light. Thick steel doors slid open with a low, mechanical growl.
In the center stood a figure.
Face hidden behind a skull mask. Breathing slow. Steady. Inhuman.
A handler's voice echoed over speakers:
— "Specter... awaken. Targets are live. Hunt them down. Terminate with extreme prejudice. Leave no trace."
The figure nodded once. No words.
No hesitation.
Metal arms descended from the ceiling—clamping, locking, strapping armor plates onto him. A rifle slid into his hand. A combat knife strapped to his thigh. Grenades. C4.
As he walked toward the exit, every step echoed like a funeral drum.
The monitors flickered. Faces turned red. Crosshairs locked.
A whisper followed him—mechanical, cold, death itself:
— "Liana Morgan... Daniel... I'm coming."
---
✔️ End of Chapter 4
🩸 Next Chapter Preview:
With the world's deadliest assassin on their trail, Liana and Daniel must uncover the truth about Specter, the Zero Syndicate, and the dark past Liana never knew existed. But when an old friend returns with their own secrets... everything changes.