Kai Langford - August 2120
"Why do I have to dress like this?" I mutter as Ray drives beside me.
He's got his elbow hanging out the open window, looking relaxed and carefree, while every second we get closer to the City twists my stomach tighter.
"Because we're going to a very posh club, and they don't just let anyone in" Ray says, smiling without taking his eyes off the road.
I feel ridiculous. I don't care about dressing up, I just want to find Ethan. If I had the choice, I'd just sneak my way inside. Instead, I'm stuck wearing a suit with no tie. It fits surprisingly well. Ray said it used to be his and that I can keep it, but I doubt I'll ever need it again. It feels uncomfortable… and completely impractical to fight in.
The last time I wore a suit I was fourteen, forced to attend my father's award ceremony with Noah. I was there to make him look like a "good father," while Noah was paraded around to mingle with GeneX staff. The whole thing made my skin crawl.
"Just think of this as an infiltration mission" Ray says.
"You do know I'm trained to stay in the shadows and out of sight" I remind him.
Ray chuckles and pats my shoulder."Well, let's get you out into the real world, shall we?"
The real world.
The words should excite me, but instead they sit heavy in my chest. I don't know how to act around people, never mind crowds. It's one of the reasons I kept shutting Ethan down whenever he suggested going into Eastbury.
I lean against the window, watching the neon lights slide past. They look different tonight. Usually they blur together, like I'm watching someone else's life on a screen whenever we drove through the City for missions. But now… everything feels sharper. So close I could reach out and touch it.
"There's Daniel's car" Ray says, pointing.
My stomach drops.
This must be the club. I look out the window and immediately wish I hadn't.
It's packed. People everywhere, drunk, shouting, singing, dancing. The club itself is loud and bright, lights flashing wildly across the crowd. It's two storeys high, though only the bottom floor has windows.
As Ray parks, sweat prickles along my forehead. I swallow hard and step out of the car.
Ray comes around to my side, slinging an arm around my shoulders and pulling me in playfully before letting go and giving me a firm pat on the back.
"Come on. Just stick with me."
I fall in step behind him, trying to stay close so I don't lose him in the noise and movement.
As we approach the entrance, I scan the area. There are multiple security guards, none armed, but my shadows twitch around my feet, alert and ready.
One of them steps toward us, and instinctively I tug at my power, shadows winding around my hand beneath my sleeve. But then the guard grins and pulls Ray into a hug.
"Ey! Long time. Where've you been?" he asks.
"You know me, busy as always," Ray laughs.
The guard turns to me, and I tense.
"This is my friend… Steven," Ray says, gesturing to me. "Just taking him out to see the city."
The guard extends a hand for me to shake."This one's trouble. You better watch out," he jokes, nudging Ray.
I have no idea what to say, but Ray jumps back into the conversation before I have the chance to embarrass myself.
While they talk, I glance around. Everyone here looks… happy. Laughing, stumbling around with drinks, completely carefree. It's strange. Unfamiliar.
"But you know what" the guard says suddenly, squinting at me. "Steven, you look kind of familiar. You been here before?"
I freeze. So does Ray.
Crap.
Of course someone might recognise my face. Or rather, Noah's face. He's the face of GeneX.
We used to look identical as kids, but life… changes you. Still, I should've thought this through.
Ray steps in quickly, throwing an arm around my shoulders again."He's just got one of those faces" he jokes. "Anyway, I need a drink. Catch you later."
He steers us past the entrance and into the club.
That was too close...
Inside, the noise swallows us immediately. Lights flash overhead. People blur together. And the further we walk, the more it feels like eyes are turning toward us.
The air feels too thick. Too loud. Too bright. It's hard to breathe.
As we weave our way through the crowd, a hand suddenly clamps around my arm, yanking me to a stop.
It's a girl. Her eyes are glazed with alcohol, her body swaying as she tries to focus on me.
"Youuu… you're a handsome guy, aren't youuu?" she slurs.
Her gaze flicks to my cheek, at my scar and I freeze. I have no idea what I'm supposed to do in this situation.
"Oww… that looks like it hurrrt" she says, reaching up toward my face.
Instinct takes over and I grab her wrist before she can touch me. She startles, eyes widening, and I release her immediately, turning away and pushing through the crowd to catch up with Ray.
I hate it here.
My heart hammers against my ribs, and my stomach twists unpleasantly.
But I need to find Ethan. Why would he be somewhere like this?
Ray stops ahead of me and turns, shouting over the music, "Isn't that Daniel?"
I follow his line of sight.
Across the club, on the opposite side of the dance floor, Daniel slips into an emergency stairwell.
We force our way through the crowd, painfully slow. Every shoulder that slams into me, every hand brushing against me, every accidental push sends my irritation climbing higher and higher. The noise, the lights, the bodies, it's all too much.
Finally, we reach the stairwell. There are two security guards that lie unconscious, bound tightly in vines. Daniel's work.
I sprint up the stairs without waiting for Ray, hearing him shout my name behind me. An emergency door at the top is propped open.
This is it. This is where they went.
I push through the doorway and the air hits me differently. Sharp. Charged. Heavy.
I look down the corridor just as Daniel slams into the floor, twitching violently, electricity crackling over his body and I break into a run.
A man steps out from around the corner, electricity forming in his hand, it's bright... dangerous and he aims it straight at Daniel.
Instinct takes over. Shadows surge from the ground and form a shield in front of us, absorbing the bolt of lightning with a crack.
I turn towards Daniel. He's gasping, struggling as the electricity runs through him.
"Where is Ethan?" I snap, panic spiking through me.
"Down there," Daniel coughs, pointing weakly further into the corridor. "You need to help him. He's in danger."
Ethan is in danger.
Something inside me breaks. Rage floods through me, tearing through any restraint I had left.
Everything else falls away. Only one thought remains...
Get to Ethan. And destroy anything in the way.
The lights overhead crackle as I step forward, shadows pooling beneath my shoes. The man is blocking the corridor. He's broad, armed with nothing but the electricity sparking over his hands, he tilts his head, sizing me up.
His hand snaps up, but I move first.
Shadows rush upward like a wave, rising between us as he unleashes a bolt of electricity. The impact is immediate, violent, electricity tearing into the shield I form, making the shadows sizzle and split apart like ash caught in fire.
He's strong.
I lash out. The shadows stretch forward, spear-like, aimed for his chest. He jumps aside with surprising agility, lightning trailing behind him in a whip of blue white light. It cracks against the wall, leaving a scorch mark inches from my face.
"You'll have to do better than that!" he shouts.
Fine.
I slam my hands down and shadows explode outward, crawling across the floor like a tidal surge. The guard leaps back, but the darkness grabs at his ankles, slowing him. He sends a shock into the tendrils, my shadows recoil, shrieking like burnt charcoal, but they hold him for a moment. Just long enough.
I close the distance quickly.
He thrusts his hand forward, lightning gathering into a violent orb and he's too close to miss.
I twist my body just as he fires at the last minute. It hits the wall behind me. My shadows coiling around my fist, sharpening it.
I punch him square in the chest.
Shadows erupt on impact, slamming him into the wall with a sickening thud. He gasps, electricity flickering weakly across his skin. I don't give him a chance to recover. Shadows surge up the wall, pinning his wrists, his legs, tightening until he's unable to move.
I take a step toward the guard, ready to finish it, when an open door catches the corner of my eye and I freeze.
Inside the room, a man is hunched over Ethan, pinning him to a sofa by the neck. Ethan's arms hang weakly at his sides, sliding off the man's scratched forearms as he tries to fight him off.
My heart stops, then everything inside me erupts.
My hand rises before I've even made the decision. Shadows whip across the room, seizing the man by the throat and hurling him into the far wall with a crack that echoes through me like thunder.
I'm already running towards Ethan.
He crumples forward, coughing violently, struggling to pull air into his bruised throat. Tears streak the sides of his face as he gasps.
"Hey, hey, I'm here." My voice comes out soft, too soft for the storm ripping through me. I place a steady hand on his back, feeling each shuddering breath. "I've got you. You're okay now. I'm here."
"Kai…" he wheezes between coughs, eyes squeezing shut as he tries to breathe. "What… what are you doing here?"
I swallow hard, my throat tightening.
"I…" The word falters, but the truth comes anyway. "I came for you."
His eyes snap open, wide, disbelieving, shining and I watch something inside him break open. Tears well instantly, spilling over as he surges forward and throws his arms around me.
He sobs against my shoulder, raw, relieved, terrified.
"I'm so happy you're here" he cries, voice cracking.
My chest aches so sharply it almost knocks the air out of me. I wrap both arms around him, pulling him close, holding him as if my body alone could protect him from the world.
In that moment every wall I've held up my entire life collapses. Every instinct, every lesson, every piece of discipline, gone. Replaced only by the need to keep Ethan safe and to never let go.
When he manages to calm enough to breathe, I ease him back, cupping his face gently so I can look him over. His hair is a mess, his eyes red, and a bruise is already forming along his cheekbone.
But then I see his neck.
The bruising is deep, ugly, blooming across his skin where fingers crushed into him.
My stomach drops and my blood turns cold. The world narrows into a single point of focus.
The fragile calm shatters. My breath goes silent. The shadows around my feet ripple, trembling, reacting to me.
I turn my head slowly toward the man lying across the room.
Christopher.
My vision tunnels until all I can see is him, the hands that were on Ethan, the bruises he left, the fear he caused.
A cold, lethal fury settles over me.
He touched Ethan.
He hurt him.
And for that he won't walk out of this room.