Secrets

Chapter 12 - Trouble

Mia's breath was still uneven as she clutched the subway pole for support, her gaze darting around the car. Her heart sank as a new thought struck her.

"Why... why does this feel so wrong?" she murmured, her voice trembling. "Why is it so quiet? Where is everyone? It's like the world just... stopped."

Alex's jaw clenched, his eyes briefly meeting hers before flicking to the windows. The dark tunnels outside seemed to stretch endlessly, no stations, no signs, no life.

"It's not real," he said quietly, his voice carrying a weight she hadn't heard before.

Mia's eyes widened. "What do you mean it's not real? Alex, what's going on?"

Alex hesitated, his fingers tightening around the edge of the seat he'd perched on. He looked as though he was calculating how much to say, how much to reveal.

"This isn't how the subway's supposed to feel, is it?" Mia pressed, her voice rising slightly. "Why is it so empty? Why does it feel like we're the only ones left in the world?"

Alex let out a slow breath, his face unreadable but his tone calm. "Because that's exactly what they want you to feel."

Mia froze, her blood running cold. "Who? What are you talking about?"

"The people who were on the platform," Alex said, his voice steady but tense. "The ones with the shadows. This is what they do, Mia. It's how they operate."

Her heart pounded in her chest, the suffocating quiet of the subway car pressing in on her. "What do you mean? How could they—"

"They manipulate perception," Alex interrupted, his tone growing firmer. "They call it 'veiling.' They bend reality just enough to keep people—mundane people—from seeing what they shouldn't. To everyone else, this train doesn't exist. The station doesn't exist. We don't exist."

Mia's stomach churned, a fresh wave of nausea washing over her. "That's impossible. You're saying they can... what? Rewrite the world around them?"

Alex's eyes darkened. "Not rewrite. Mask. Obscure. It's subtle but effective. You've felt it before, haven't you? The way things seem off? Like the air feels heavier or the light doesn't quite look right?"

Mia nodded slowly, memories of similar sensations creeping into her mind—the strange heaviness at the park, the eerie quiet in the hospital, the flickering shadows on her balcony.

"That's how they work," Alex continued, his voice low but urgent. "It's how they enforce their rules. When someone—like me, like Matt—breaks them, they hunt. And they make damn sure no one outside their world knows about it."

Mia's grip on the pole tightened. "So, this... this is all because of you? Because you broke their rules?"

Alex flinched, guilt flickering across his face. "Yes. But it's not just about me. It's about you too, Mia. The moment you were dragged into this—by Brianna, by us—you became part of this world. And now they're coming to clean it up."

Her knees buckled, and she slumped into the nearest seat. "Clean it up? What does that mean? What are they going to do?"

Alex crouched in front of her, his voice softer but no less urgent. "It means they won't stop until the threat is neutralized. And right now, they think that's us. But I won't let them get to you. I swear."

Mia stared at him, her fear warring with disbelief. The weight of his words was too much, too fast, yet her gut told her he was telling the truth. Or at least some of it.

"How do we stop them?" she whispered, her voice cracking.

Alex's lips pressed into a grim line. "We don't. We survive. That's all we can do."