Silence has a sound.
Teresa heard it now.
It roared in her ears, drowning out everything—Marcus's voice, the distant hum of the crumbling facility, even her own heartbeat.
Because there was only one thing that mattered.
Lester wasn't moving.
Her fingers trembled against his chest.
"Wake up…" she whispered, softer this time. Like if she said it gently enough, reality might listen.
It didn't.
Marcus grabbed her shoulder. "Teresa—listen to me—we need to move—now—"
"Don't touch me."
The words came out flat.
Empty.
Wrong.
Marcus froze.
Teresa slowly lifted her head.
Her eyes—
They weren't just glowing anymore.
They were burning.
Not gold.
Not blue.
Something deeper.
Something that didn't belong in this world.
"You said I could fix him," she said quietly.
Marcus swallowed. "I—I thought—"
"You were wrong."
The air dropped ten degrees.
The walls groaned.
Hairline cracks snaked across the floor, spreading outward from where she knelt.
Marcus stepped back instinctively. "Teresa… you need to calm down."
A mistake.
Her gaze snapped to him.
"Calm down?"
The words echoed unnaturally, overlapping with something darker beneath.
"Tell me… Marcus—"
She rose slowly, Lester still in her arms.
"—if it was you… would you be calm?"
He didn't answer.
Because there was no right answer.
The lights above flickered violently.
Teresa looked back down at Lester.
Something inside her shifted.
Not grief.
Not anymore.
Something colder.
"If I can break reality…" she murmured, voice distant, "then I can fix it."
Marcus's eyes widened. "Teresa—don't—"
Too late.
The power surged.
Not like before.
Before had been wild.
Uncontrolled.
This—
This was focused.
Terrifyingly precise.
The air around her warped, folding in on itself like space was being forced to obey her will.
Time… stuttered.
Marcus felt it.
A distortion.
Like the world skipped a beat.
"No…" he whispered. "She's not just manipulating energy…"
Teresa closed her eyes.
"I'm not losing you."
The world cracked.
Not physically.
Fundamentally.
And for a single, horrifying moment—
everything rewound.
---
Lester gasped.
Air slammed back into his lungs as his body jerked violently.
Teresa's eyes snapped open.
He was alive.
Alive.
Her breath hitched.
"Lester…?"
He coughed, disoriented, clutching his chest. "W-what… happened…?"
Relief flooded her so fast it hurt.
She pulled him into her arms.
"You died," she whispered.
His body went still.
"…what?"
Marcus staggered back, staring at both of them like he was seeing ghosts.
"You didn't heal him," he said hoarsely.
"You reversedit."
Teresa didn't respond.
She just held Lester tighter.
Like if she let go, he might disappear again.
But something was wrong.
Lester stiffened slightly in her arms.
"Teresa…"
There was hesitation in his voice.
Fear.
She pulled back just enough to look at him.
"What?"
His expression shifted.
Confused.
Pained.
"…why do I remember it?"
Her heart skipped.
"Remember what?"
He swallowed hard.
"Dying."
The word hit like a gunshot.
Marcus cursed under his breath. "That's not possible. If she rewound—"
"I felt it," Lester insisted, his voice shaking. "I felt everything."
Teresa's stomach dropped.
She hadn't undone it.
Not completely.
She'd broken something.
Again.
A slow clap echoed from the darkness.
"Well… that's new."
All three of them froze.
She stepped out of the shadows.
The girl.
Unchanged.
Unbothered.
Watching them like this was all just… interesting.
Teresa's expression hardened instantly.
"You."
The temperature plummeted again.
The girl smiled faintly. "You're learning."
Lester tried to stand, wincing slightly, but Teresa stopped him.
"Don't."
Her voice was gentle.
But her eyes—
They never left the girl.
"You don't get to touch him again."
The girl tilted her head. "You say that like you have control."
Teresa stepped forward.
The ground cracked beneath her feet.
"Try me."
For the first time—
the girl's smile faded slightly.
Good.
Teresa raised her hand.
The air distorted violently.
This wasn't a fight anymore.
This was annihilation.
But before she could strike—
"TERESA!"
Lester's voice cut through her like a blade.
She froze.
Just for a second.
"That's not you," he said, stepping closer despite the danger. "This isn't what you do."
Her jaw tightened.
"You died."
"I'm still here."
"Because I broke the world to bring you back!"
The words exploded out of her.
Raw.
Unfiltered.
The room shook.
Lester didn't flinch.
He just looked at her.
Soft.
Steady.
"Then don't lose yourself trying to keep me."
The silence that followed was fragile.
Dangerous.
Teresa's hand trembled.
The power flickered.
For a moment—
just a moment—
she looked like herself again.
The girl in the shadows watched carefully.
Analyzing.
Calculating.
"Fascinating," she murmured. "Emotional instability tied to output fluctuation…"
Marcus snapped. "You talk like you're not the same thing!"
The girl's gaze flicked to him.
Cold.
"I'm not."
Then—
she moved again.
But this time—
Teresa was ready.
The moment the girl vanished—
Teresa twisted her hand.
Reality bent sharply—
—and the girl reappeared mid-motion, slammed violently into the ground like space itself rejected her.
A crack split the floor beneath her.
For the first time—
the girl looked surprised.
Teresa walked toward her slowly.
Each step heavy with power.
With fury.
"With every second you breathe," Teresa said quietly, "you prove I was a mistake."
The girl pushed herself up slightly, blood at the corner of her mouth—but she smiled anyway.
"No," she said.
"You're proof they failed."
Teresa stopped.
"…what?"
The girl's smile widened just a little.
"You think there's only two of us?"
Marcus's face went pale.
"No…"
The girl laughed softly.
"There were dozens."
Teresa's pulse spiked.
"Were?"
"Most didn't survive," she said casually. "Some went insane. Some… worse."
She locked eyes with Teresa.
"But a few of us?"
Her voice dropped.
"We'restilloutthere."
The ground seemed to tilt beneath Teresa.
More like her.
More like this.
Unstable.
Powerful.
Broken.
Lester stepped closer again, his voice low. "Teresa… whatever this turns into—we face it together."
For a moment—
she believed him.
She wanted to believe him.
But then—
the girl said the one thing that shattered everything again.
"They sent me here for a reason."
Teresa's gaze sharpened. "What reason?"
The girl's eyes gleamed.
"To bring you back."
Silence.
Cold.
Absolute.
"…back?" Teresa repeated.
The girl nodded slightly.
"To finish what your father started."
Teresa's world stopped.
Her father.
"No," she said immediately. "You're lying."
But the girl only watched her.
Patient.
Certain.
"You really don't know, do you?"
Marcus looked at Teresa slowly.
"…know what?"
The girl's smile turned cruel.
"Your father didn't try to stop the experiments."
Teresa's breath caught.
"He led them."
Everything inside her shattered—
again.
"That's not true—"
"Isn't it?" the girl cut in. "Ask yourself, Teresa… why you survived when so many others didn't."
Her heart pounded violently.
Her mind racing.
"No…"
But doubt had already taken root.
Deep.
Dangerous.
The girl took a step back.
The shadows began to swallow her again.
"This isn't over," she said softly.
"It's just beginning."
Teresa's power surged instinctively. "You're not leaving—"
But she was already gone.
Vanished.
Like she'd never been there at all.
Silence returned.
Heavy.
Suffocating.
Teresa stood frozen.
Lester reached for her.
"Teresa…"
She didn't respond.
Her thoughts spiraled.
Her chest tightened.
Her father…
"No…" she whispered.
But the doubt wouldn't go away.
Marcus looked toward the dark hallway where the girl had disappeared.
"We have a bigger problem now," he said quietly.
Teresa didn't move.
Didn't speak.
Didn't breathe.
Because deep down—
she felt it.
Something shifting.
Something aligning.
Something terrible.
And then—
the lights above them all went out at once.
Total darkness.
A low mechanical voice echoed through the facility.
Cold.
Inhuman.
"Subject A-17 confirmed active."
A pause.
Then—
"Initiatingretrievalprotocol."
Teresa's eyes snapped open in the dark—
glowing brighter than ever.
And from every direction—
they heard it.
Footsteps.
Not one.
Not two.
Dozens.
Getting closer.
---
END OF CHAPTER 15…