Abigail’s eyes widened at the sight before her. Lucian’s blood-soaked body slumped against the tall, dark-haired stranger who had an air of mystery around him. His sharp eyes held no warmth, only urgency.
Abigail had a lot of questions to ask, but she could already see that Lucian was hanging by a thread. She would wait.
"Inside. Now," Abigail ordered, stepping aside. Her usual sarcastic tone was replaced with sharp control.
The stranger didn’t waste ti. He carried Lucian in, his jaw clenched. Olivia trailed closely behind, her hands clenched, mind racing.
Abigail cleared the table in one swipe, gesturing for him to lay Lucian down. The mont he did, she crouched beside him.
Abigail’s brows furrowed deeply as she peeled Lucian’s blood-stained shirt off. Her hands moved fast but precise, her voice low with tension as she examined the wound. The thick scent of tallic blood hung heavily in the room, mixing with the sharp sll of antiseptics.
"This is bad," she muttered, more to herself than to Olivia. Her expression darkened as her fingers hovered over the blackened edges of the wound. "Really bad."
Her hand glowed faintly with green energy as she checked the wound.
Olivia stood still, watching from the corner, her heart pounding louder than ever. "What do you an?" she asked, her voice barely audible.
Abigail glanced up, her eyes filled with urgency. "He was poisoned. And not with just anything... this is Veinrot. A rare type. It spreads fast, and shuts down the nervous system before the heart even realizes sothing’s wrong."
Olivia paced behind her, barely breathing. " But he was stabbed with a blade," she whispered.
"A poisoned one," the stranger cut in, his voice low and cold. "We barely got here in ti."
"Can you treat it?" Olivia stepped forward.
"I need a Gland of a Shadowbeast to neutralize this specific toxin," Abigail said, standing. "One harvested freshly, within the week or as soon as possible."
Olivia’s eyes widened. Her heart thudded hard against her ribs, before relief washed over her "I harvested one... during anatomy class." Her words ca in a rush. "It should still be in the lab’s storage."
She turned toward the door without another word.
"Wait," the stranger said, eyes narrowing. "Are you sure you can get it?"
"I have to," Olivia whispered, her fists tightening. "If I don’t... he dies."
Abigail placed a hand over Lucian’s chest. "Twenty hours. That’s how long he has left before it will be too late to save him."
Olivia’s System popped out of the middle of nowhere, blaring red in front of her.
[Ti remaining: 24 hours and 01 minutes]
Olivia bit her lips, why is it that trouble seems to be piling up for her. She really doesn’t care about the mission now. The Alexa secret was a secret for a good reason. It’s better to stay buried.
Olivia clenched her fist. She turned to look at Lucian one more ti. Her heart had never arche for anyone like this, she won’t let him die in her place.
Without another word, Olivia bolted out of the house, the stranger silently following.
Olivia ran through the night. Her legs matching the sound of her heartbeat. Although the wind was cold, sweat dripped down her face.
The moon shone brightly in the sky, illuminating her path.
She stopped at the front of her anatomy class. She reached for the door, and strangely it clicked open. Although she found it strange, she has no ti to think about it now.
She swallowed before entering the laboratory room. The stench of rotten flesh and chemicals invaded her nostrils. It was so pungent that she almost puked.
Her hand flew to her nose, as she made her way towards the storage jars. Her jar must be here. Things took a bad turn the other day in class. So she had no idea where it was as she had passed out.
Olivia’s hands trembled as she rummaged through the sealed compartnt, her breath caught between panic and disbelief. The gland—it was gone. The very one she had harvested in class, was nowhere to be found.
"No... no, no, no," she muttered, backing away from the storage box like it had burned her. Her heartbeat thundered in her ears. She searched again. Then again. Pulled every tray, every drawer, even checked the disposal unit.
Nothing.
Lucian’s face flashed in her mind—pale, drenched in sweat, barely clinging to life. Twenty hours. That’s all he had left. He wouldn’t be in this situation if not because of her.
Her legs gave out, and she sank to the floor of the lab, the sterile white tiles suddenly suffocating. "Who the hell took it?" she whispered. Her thoughts ran wild. ’Is it Verax? He was the only one who was suspicious about it. But.. I can’t ask him about that.’
She shook her head. No ti for suspicion. No ti at all.
"I’ll just... I’ll just get another," she breathed out, forcing herself to her feet. "Harvest it again. I’ll get it done." She encouraged herself.
But the thought made her stomach twist.
She rembered the lecture: One wrong cut, and a gland could explode—releasing toxic gas, lting organs, sotis even causing instant death. Even the Wailroot incident was a strong reminder for her. And if the school caught her harvesting without permission?
Expulsion. Maybe worse.
Still... Lucian was dying. And she wasn’t about to let him go, she would try everything in her power to save him.
She grabbed a blade and a specin kit, ignored the warning flashing on the control panel, making her way through to the inner room.
She had no ID with her to stop it from blaring, but she just needed to be fast enough before the teachers would get here.
As she stepped into the storage room where preserved corpses were kept, the cold hit her like a slap. The silence inside was thick. The hum of life support systems around her sounded like distant growls.
But she wasn’t alone.
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