Jeric, who had been watching the exchange carefully, leaned toward Reynold as the girls disappeared into the cafeteria. "Do you know her?" he asked, curiosity plain in his voice.
Reynold’s eyes lingered on the closing doors before he gave a subtle nod. "Yes," he admitted quietly. Then his tone shifted, carrying a weight that Jeric could not miss. "But it seems they also forget. Just like you."
Jeric froze, his brows drawing together. "Huh? What are you talking about?"
Reynold gave him a short look, his expression unreadable. "Never mind," he muttered. "Just follow my lead."
Without another word, he turned back toward the car, his stride deliberate. Jeric hesitated for only a mont before he sighed and followed, still carrying the question in his mind but choosing not to press further. Reynold’s urgency was enough to tell him that answers would co, but not here, not yet.
---
Inside the car, the silence lingered as Reynold pulled onto the main road. His hands gripped the steering wheel firmly, his expression calm but tense.
Jeric sat in the passenger seat, glancing out the window before stealing a look at him, sensing that Reynold’s thoughts were far from where they were heading.
Without taking his eyes off the road, Reynold finally spoke. His voice was low and deliberate.
"Investigate Mrs. Christy Montclair. Find out everything about her. Especially her past job."
Jeric turned his head, a frown forming as he studied Reynold’s serious profile. "What about her?"
Reynold gave no explanation, only the weight of his tone filling the space. "Just investigate and find out everything about her. Be careful and make sure no one notices."
Jeric’s brows knit together, but he nodded slowly, knowing better than to push for details when Reynold spoke like this. "Okay," he said, his voice steady though laced with curiosity.
Minutes later, the car rolled to a stop near Diamond Public Hospital. Reynold pulled over to the side of the street, keeping his gaze forward.
Jeric opened the door, stepping out onto the pavent. The city air carried the faint hum of passing vehicles and the distant chatter of people. He adjusted his jacket, glanced back at Reynold, and gave a short nod before walking away.
Reynold lowered the window, calling after him in a firm but quiet voice. "Rember, be careful."
Jeric lifted a hand slightly in acknowledgnt and kept moving until he disappeared among the crowd heading toward the hospital.
Reynold waited until Jeric was gone, then exhaled, his eyes narrowing as he shifted the gear and pulled away from the curb.
Alone now, his voice dropped into a murmur, words ant only for himself.
"If they will no longer go back to the abandoned hospital, maybe they are still on that old facility. Hollowgate."
He drove with purpose, weaving through the streets until the city’s busyness faded behind him. Eventually, he slowed, guiding the car into a narrow, hidden alley not far from Hollowgate.
It was the sa place he and Jeric had used before when they found Ted Frin. Reynold cut the engine, the sound of ticking tal filling the silence as he stepped out. The air slled faintly of rust and damp concrete.
Instead of heading toward the sa entrance he and Jeric had used last ti, Reynold’s eyes scanned the decaying structures. He moved quietly, boots crunching against gravel, until he circled toward the back.
A smaller, crumbling building caught his attention. It leaned precariously but stood close enough that its rooftop seed to almost touch the side of the Hollowgate facility.
He studied it carefully before making his decision. With asured steps, Reynold climbed the short building, using broken ledges and exposed beams as footing.
Dust and debris fell with every movent, but his grip remained sure. Once on top, he steadied his breathing, eyes locked on the Hollowgate terrace just ahead.
It was a short gap, but the kind where a mistake could cost dearly. Reynold bent his knees, judged the distance, and leaped.
For a mont he was suspended mid-air, the wind brushing against his face, then his boots landed hard against the Hollowgate terrace.
He stumbled but quickly caught himself, crouching low as he listened for any sign that his presence had been noticed. The building remained still, its silence broken only by the faint groan of aged steel.
Straightening, Reynold moved carefully through the terrace and into the building. The air was colder inside, carrying the sll of mold and sothing tallic beneath it. His eyes swept across the shadows, mory tugging at him.
The last ti he was here, it was underground where Ted Frin had been held. If they were still using this place, it was likely the lower chambers were occupied again.
He descended the creaking stairs, each step slow and asured. His ears strained for sound, his gaze sharp on the walls and corners around him. The further he went down, the more he felt the weight of the silence pressing on him. Then it broke.
Voices. Movent. Muffled but clear enough to catch his attention. Reynold froze mid-step, pressing against the wall as he adjusted his angle.
Ahead of him, set into the concrete wall, was a narrow panel of reinforced glass, dusty yet intact.
Through it, he caught sight of the underground chamber. Figures moved inside, their shadows bending with the dim light.
The sound of footsteps echoed against the walls, accompanied by the murmur of conversation he couldn’t fully make out.
Reynold narrowed his eyes, every sense sharpening as he observed.
---
The dimly lit corridor seed to stretch on forever. The silence was heavy, pressed against the walls and creeping into every corner of the abandoned Hollowgate facility.
The air was thick with the sll of disinfectant, rust, and sothing else—sothing strange, sothing that seed to hang in the background like a lingering ghost.
Cassius walked quietly, his hands casually in his pocket, wearing his black trench and leather gloves. His face remained calm, a little tired, a little worn, but under it all there was a resolve.
His piercing blue eyes glimred under the sparse ceiling lamps. To his side were the Diamond siblings, Larman and Brent, two n who were hard to read.
Larman remained silent, his jaw tight, eyebrows knotted in deep thought. Brent, the more mischievous of the two, kept clicking his knuckles, a nervous habit when sothing was about to co to a head.
Behind them, a few mbers of their team fell into step, a small group of people Cassius trusted with his life. Scientists, soldiers, and doctors who believed in what they were trying to accomplish.
Whatever the world thought of them, whatever rumors were spreading, whatever lies were being spun, this team remained true to their mission.
And of course, there was also Sophia, his most trusted assistant.
Cassius raised a hand to halt everyone in their tracks. His piercing blue eyes fell upon a heavy tal door at the end of the corridor. A dim red light glowed above it.
Inside was the lab where Ted Frin was kept, the one who had fallen into the hands of people trying to recreate sothing they barely understood—the Helix Serum. His body hadn’t responded well to it. His physiology was tearing itself apart from the inside. That was what made him dangerous. That was what made people afraid.
Brent sighed quietly. "Are you sure we should be here in person this ti, Cassius?"
Cassius nodded without a word. His face remained calm and firm, a silent affirmation that this was sothing that needed his direct oversight.
Larman remained silent, not because he didn’t care, but because there were no words to say. Whatever doubts or worries remained in his mind were kept there, hidden, buried under years of discipline.
The team pressed forward. Cassius pressed his thumb against a small fingerprint pad. The tal locks clicked and opened. The heavy door slid aside with a deep, chanical rumble. Inside was a small, dimly lit chamber.
There were machines all around—a ss of monitors, tubes, and dication racks. There, on a hospital gurney in the center of the room, lay Ted Frin. His body was weak and shaky; his skin was a sickly color, nearly translucent. Black veins spidered across his arms and torso. His breath ca in short, painful bursts.
"It’s gotten worse."
The voice ca from a woman in a lab coat nad Dr. Farah.
From above, Reynold saw her and recognized her imdiately. She was the sa woman he had trusted with his investigation into the Helix Serum—in fact, she was the one who had first told him about it.
Not only that, she had been there when he and Jeric tried to rescue Ted Frin. She was the woman Cassius and Sophia had referred to when they tested him, the one who helped lure him deeper into the investigation.
Dr. Farah stepped forward from the corner of the room, her face hidden behind a mask. Her gloved hands trembled, though only slightly.
Cassius nodded quietly. "Increase the stabilizer dosage."
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