Isla's scream tore the silence apart.
Her body convulsed, arching off the ground, as if invisible chains were yanking her from every angle. Her eyes snapped open—bright, violent, glowing with static.
Layla grabbed her shoulders. "Isla! Stay with me!"
But Isla wasn't here anymore.
Her gaze was fixed on something no one else could see. Her lips parted, whispering words that sent chills crawling down Layla's spine.
"They're still here. Inside me."
Cole's fists were balled so tightly that blood dripped from his palms. "What the hell does that mean?"
"It means," Rhea said, her tone maddeningly calm, "that while her body is free, her mind isn't. They've planted themselves in her head like roots in soil. Which makes her both the lock—" she smirked "—and the key."
Layla snapped her head toward her. "Then get them out!"
"I can't." Rhea crouched by Isla, studying the faint static crawling under her skin. "Not alone. Not like this."
"Then tell me how."
Rhea's smirk faltered. For the first time, a flicker of unease crossed her face. "If you go in after her… you might not come back."
Layla didn't even hesitate. "Then I'll go."
Cole barked, "The hell you will!"
"Cole—"
"No!" His voice cracked with fury and fear. "You've been carrying this whole damn war on your shoulders already. If you go into that nightmare and don't return—what do you think happens to the rest of us?"
Layla looked down at Isla. Her friend's lips twitched, whispering words too soft to hear. A plea. A prayer.
"I'm not leaving her," Layla said, steady as stone.
Cole's jaw tightened, but his eyes betrayed him. He wanted to argue—needed to—but he couldn't.
Because he knew she was right.
Rhea produced a small injector, the liquid inside swirling like liquid light.
"This will sync your neural pathways with hers. It'll let you enter her consciousness."
Cole stepped forward, eyes blazing. "Then give it to me."
Rhea's lips curved. "You'd burn out in seconds. You're too… blunt. This requires finesse. Control." Her gaze slid to Layla. "She's the only one who has a chance."
Cole cursed under his breath, slamming his fist against the wall hard enough to dent the metal.
Layla extended her arm. "Do it."
Rhea arched a brow. "You're remarkably eager to risk your mind."
"Because Isla risked hers."
Without further hesitation, Rhea plunged the injector into Layla's vein. A burning cold raced up her arm, across her chest, into her skull. The world tilted, colors bending and shattering.
Cole's voice was the last thing she heard.
"Come back to me, Layla!"
Then the world snapped apart.
Layla fell.
Not through air, but through static. Endless white noise that pressed against her ears, clawed at her skin, flooded her lungs. She crashed onto something solid—though it wasn't ground, not really. It was glass. Beneath it flickered distorted images: Isla laughing, Isla crying, Isla screaming.
"Layla?"
The voice was fragile. Small.
Layla spun. There, huddled on the glass floor, was Isla. Her clothes were torn, her body shaking. Her eyes—normal, human—filled with tears when she saw her.
"You came."
Layla rushed forward, pulling her into her arms. "Of course I did."
For a moment, Isla clung to her, trembling like a child. But then her body jerked violently, her nails digging into Layla's skin.
"They're here," she whispered, voice breaking. "They never leave."
The static around them deepened into a chorus of whispers.
She's ours.She belongs to us.You cannot take her.
From the static, shapes began to crawl out. Figures made of white noise, faceless and shifting, hundreds of them, surrounding Layla and Isla.
Layla stood, pulling Isla behind her. Her fists clenched. "If you want her, you'll have to go through me."
The static figures convulsed, merging into one towering form. A grotesque mimicry of Isla herself, but twisted—her face stretched into a grin too wide, her body flickering in and out of shape.
It spoke in a thousand voices. "She is the door. Through her, we walk into your world."
Layla's blood ran cold. That was their plan. To use Isla as a living bridge.
"Not if I burn the door shut," Layla growled.
The monster lunged.
Layla moved on instinct. Every punch, every kick crackled with light, her will shaping the static into weapons. She drove her fist into the monster's chest, shattering it into shards of white noise—only for it to reform instantly.
Isla screamed behind her. The whispers rose, clawing at her ears.
"You can't fight them!" Isla sobbed. "They're endless!"
Layla gritted her teeth. "Then I'll fight endless."
The monster's arm morphed into a blade of static, slashing toward her. She dodged, barely, the glass floor beneath her feet cracking under the force.
But no matter how many times she struck, it reformed.
The whispers grew louder. She is ours. She chose us. You are nothing.
For the first time, Layla faltered. Doubt gnawed at her edges.
And that's when the monster struck, its blade slicing across her side. Pain exploded, hot and blinding. Layla collapsed to one knee, blood staining the glass.
"Layla!" Isla's scream pierced the static.
The monster loomed over them.
Isla's body shook violently, tears streaming. She could feel them inside her, pulling at her thoughts, wrapping her mind in chains.
But then she saw Layla, bleeding, still trying to stand. Still fighting.
For her.
"No more," Isla whispered.
The static surged violently through her, voices screaming. Obey. Submit.
Isla screamed back, forcing the sound from her chest. "I belong to me!"
The chains around her shattered.
Light burst from her body, searing the static shadows. The monster shrieked, its form unraveling.
Layla staggered to her feet, her eyes locking with Isla's. Hope flared in her chest.
Together, they raised their fists.
They struck as one.
Layla's fist blazed with white fire. Isla's palm pulsed with pure light. Their combined strike slammed into the monster's chest, ripping through it.
The static shrieked, fracturing, collapsing in on itself.
"No—!"
The voices shattered into silence.
The world of static cracked like glass, light flooding through the fractures. The floor gave way, and everything dissolved.
Layla gasped awake, air rushing into her lungs. Her body jolted on the cold metal floor of the facility. Cole's face was inches from hers, pale with fear.
"Layla! Talk to me!"
She coughed, grabbing his arm. "I'm here."
He exhaled, relief breaking through his fury. "Don't ever do that again."
But Layla's eyes darted past him. "Isla?"
Cole moved aside.
Isla lay still. Then, slowly, her chest rose. Her eyes fluttered open.
For the first time in what felt like forever, they were clear.
"Layla?"
Tears blurred Layla's vision. She pulled Isla into her arms, holding her tight. "I've got you. You're safe now."
But Rhea's voice cut through the reunion, sharp and cold.
"Touching," she said, arms crossed. "But don't celebrate yet."
Layla glared up at her. "Why not?"
Rhea's lips curved into a smile far too calm for the moment.
"Because if they were able to anchor themselves inside her once… it means they can do it again. To anyone."
The words hit like a blade to the gut.
Cole swore under his breath. Layla's grip on Isla tightened.
Because she knew Rhea was right.
This wasn't victory.
It was only the beginning.