Chapter 11 — The Voice of the Dead
The voicemail ended.
Victor remained completely still.
The phone was still pressed against his ear.
The corridor around him had gone strangely quiet.
Ward stood several meters away.
For once, the man seemed to have no immediate answer.
Victor lowered the phone.
"Elena."
Ward didn't respond.
Victor looked at him.
"She's alive."
It wasn't a question.
Ward's expression remained unreadable.
"We don't know that."
Victor held up the phone.
"That was her voice."
"I heard it."
"Then you know."
"I know someone using her voice left a message."
Victor stared at him.
"You really believe that?"
Ward's eyes hardened.
"I believe in evidence."
Victor stepped closer.
"Then let's gather some."
Ward didn't move.
"How?"
"The number."
Victor held up the phone.
"You said it was disconnected nine years ago."
"It was."
"Then somebody reactivated it."
"Or something spoofed it."
Victor frowned.
"Something?"
Ward hesitated.
"After what we've seen today, I'm not ruling anything out."
That answer bothered Victor.
Not because it was unreasonable.
Because Ward sounded genuinely afraid.
Victor looked at the phone again.
"Can we trace the call?"
"We're already trying."
"Where did it come from?"
"We don't know yet."
"Then find out."
Ward nodded toward the technician.
"Take the phone to communications."
The technician stepped forward.
Victor didn't immediately hand it over.
He looked at Ward.
"I want a copy of the voicemail."
"You'll get one."
"Now."
Ward nodded.
The technician carefully took the phone.
Victor watched him leave.
Then he looked at Ward.
"Who is Elena?"
Ward's expression changed.
"You know who she is."
"No."
Victor's voice became quieter.
"I know her face."
He touched his temple.
"I know her voice."
He looked directly at Ward.
"But I don't remember her."
Ward said nothing.
Victor continued.
"Tell me."
Ward looked toward the corridor.
Then back at him.
"Elena Mercer was your research partner."
Victor's breathing slowed.
"Research partner."
"At Project Eclipse."
"Was she your employee?"
"No."
"Government?"
"No."
"Then what?"
Ward paused.
"She was one of the people who worked closest with you."
Victor stared at him.
"How close?"
Ward didn't answer immediately.
That hesitation was enough.
Victor understood.
"You don't want to tell me."
"It's complicated."
"Everything with you is complicated."
Ward ignored the remark.
"You two were involved."
Victor froze.
"Involved how?"
Ward looked at him.
"You were together."
Victor's chest tightened.
A memory flashed.
A woman's hand in his.
A quiet laugh.
Someone resting their head against his shoulder.
Victor closed his eyes.
For a moment, he could almost feel it.
Warmth.
Then it vanished.
He opened his eyes.
"Why don't I remember loving her?"
Ward's face softened slightly.
"Because something happened to you."
"That's not an answer."
"It's the only one I have."
Victor looked away.
"Did she disappear?"
"Yes."
"When?"
"The same night you disappeared."
Victor turned back.
"You never found her?"
"No."
"Then how did she leave that message?"
"We don't know."
Victor's eyes narrowed.
"Did you ever find her body?"
"No."
"Did you find blood?"
Ward was silent.
Victor understood.
"How much?"
"Enough."
Victor's stomach tightened.
"So you thought she was dead."
"We had no evidence that she survived."
"But you never found her."
"No."
Victor stared at the floor.
Two people.
Two disappearances.
One night.
One Gate.
And nine years later—
both were somehow speaking to him again.
A security alarm sounded.
Victor and Ward both turned.
The red lights along the corridor began flashing.
A voice came over the intercom.
"Containment Level Four reporting abnormal activity."
Ward immediately reached for his radio.
"What kind?"
Static.
Then:
"Specimen Seven is agitated."
Ward's expression changed.
"Any breach?"
"Negative."
"Keep the containment doors sealed."
"Understood."
Victor looked at him.
"Specimen Seven."
Ward nodded.
"The creature you saw earlier?"
"No."
Victor frowned.
"No?"
"That was Specimen Twelve."
Victor stared at him.
"You have more than one."
"Yes."
The alarm continued.
Victor felt the strange pressure in his chest again.
The System appeared.
[MEMORY RESONANCE DETECTED.]
Victor froze.
The percentage changed.
[0.06% → 0.07%]
His eyes widened.
He looked toward the floor.
The feeling was coming from below.
From the containment levels.
"Which specimen is Seven?"
Ward noticed his expression.
"Victor?"
Victor looked at him.
"Take me there."
"No."
"You don't understand."
"I understand perfectly."
Victor pointed downward.
"It's reacting to me."
Ward's face hardened.
"You don't know that."
"I can feel it."
"That's not evidence."
Victor looked at the System.
Then back at Ward.
"Neither was the Gate."
Ward stared at him.
The alarm continued.
Then a technician's voice came over the intercom.
"Director!"
Ward touched his radio.
"Report."
"Specimen Seven has stopped moving."
Ward frowned.
"Sedated?"
"Negative."
"Then what?"
The technician's voice trembled.
"It's looking toward the observation door."
Ward's expression changed.
"At what?"
A pause.
Then:
"At nothing."
Victor felt cold spread through his body.
He knew.
Whatever was inside that containment room—
was looking at him.
Even through several levels of reinforced concrete.
The System appeared.
[ENTITY RESPONSE DETECTED.]
[MEMORY RESONANCE: 12%]
Victor stared.
Twelve percent.
The highest resonance he had seen from anything other than the Gate.
Ward noticed the change in his face.
"What?"
Victor looked toward the elevator.
"Your specimen knows me."
Ward's expression hardened.
"How?"
"I don't know."
Victor started walking.
Ward caught his arm.
"You're not going down there."
Victor stopped.
"Then tell me why."
Ward's grip tightened.
"Because I don't know what will happen if it sees you."
Victor looked at his hand.
Then at Ward.
"Neither do I."
Ward released him.
For several seconds, neither moved.
Finally Ward said:
"Fine."
Victor looked up.
"But you stay behind the security glass."
Victor nodded.
"Agreed."
The elevator descended.
Victor stood between Ward and two armed guards.
Lyra wasn't there.
She was still being treated for her wound.
Victor stared at the floor indicator.
Level One.
Level Two.
Level Three.
The number changed.
Level Four.
The elevator stopped.
The doors opened.
A cold corridor waited beyond.
The lights were dim.
Security personnel stood behind reinforced checkpoints.
Nobody spoke.
Victor followed Ward.
As they approached the observation chamber, he heard something.
A faint scratching sound.
Scratch.
Silence.
Scratch.
Again.
Victor stopped.
"That's it."
Ward looked at him.
"What?"
"Listen."
Everyone became quiet.
Scratch.
The sound came from behind the reinforced door.
Victor approached the glass.
Specimen Seven stood in the center of the chamber.
It was unlike the creature from the Gate.
This one was smaller.
Humanoid.
Its body was covered in dark gray skin.
Its hands were pressed against the floor.
Its head was lowered.
It didn't move.
Victor stared at it.
Then the creature slowly lifted its head.
Its eyes met his.
The System appeared.
[ENTITY IDENTIFIED.]
[SPECIES: UNKNOWN]
[MEMORY RESONANCE: 12.3%]
The creature opened its mouth.
No sound came out.
It simply stared.
Victor stepped closer to the glass.
The creature raised one hand.
And touched the same place on the glass where Victor's hand rested.
Victor froze.
A memory struck him.
Not a laboratory.
A forest.
Night.
Victor was running.
Someone was chasing him.
He turned.
The creature behind him wasn't attacking.
It was following.
Protecting him.
Victor heard his own voice:
"If they find you, they'll kill you."
The creature answered:
"Then don't let them find me."
The memory vanished.
Victor stumbled backward.
Ward caught him.
"What did you see?"
Victor stared through the glass.
The creature was still touching it.
He whispered:
"I knew it."
Ward frowned.
"Knew what?"
Victor looked at him.
"These things weren't all hunting me."
Ward said nothing.
Victor's voice dropped.
"Some of them were protecting me."
The creature suddenly moved.
It slammed both hands against the glass.
BOOM.
The guards raised their weapons.
Ward shouted:
"Hold!"
The creature didn't attack.
It simply stared at Victor.
Then, slowly, it opened its mouth.
This time—
words came out.
The voice was broken.
Almost human.
"Where..."
It struggled.
"...is..."
Its eyes remained fixed on Victor.
"...she?"
Victor's heart stopped.
"Who?"
The creature pressed its forehead against the glass.
Its voice became weaker.
"Your..."
It struggled to breathe.
"...queen."
Silence filled the chamber.
Victor stared.
Ward's face had gone pale.
Victor turned toward him.
"What's a queen?"
Ward didn't answer.
Victor's eyes narrowed.
"Who is the queen?"
Still nothing.
Then the creature whispered one final word.
"Vampire."
Victor's blood ran cold.
The System appeared.
For the first time, the panel contained something different.
[FACTION IDENTIFIED]
[VAMPIRE]
[MEMORY RESONANCE: UNKNOWN]
Victor stared at the word.
Something deep inside his mind stirred.
A woman's pale face.
Long dark hair.
Red eyes.
A hand against his cheek.
A voice whispering:
"Come back to me."
Victor's breath caught.
He didn't know her.
But some forgotten part of him—
loved her.
The System flashed.
[MEMORY CORE INSTABILITY DETECTED.]
[WARNING.]
[MEMORY SOURCE: SERAPHINA VALE]
Victor's eyes widened.
The name meant nothing to his conscious mind.
Yet his heart reacted as if it had been waiting nine years to hear it.
And somewhere far beyond the walls of the facility—
something opened its eyes.