Code of Shadows

Chapter 69 - Confronting the Past

I stared at the screen, my heart pounding in my chest. Every secret I had ever tried to bury was now exposed, laid bare for the world to see. The Entity had found it all—my past, the mistakes I'd fought so hard to forget, the regrets that still haunted me in the dead of night. It was all here, right in front of Ethan. I wanted to look away, but I couldn't. My hands trembled, and a cold sweat formed on the back of my neck.

How had the Entity managed to dig this deep? Even I had pushed most of it away, locked it in the corners of my mind where I thought no one could reach. But now, the AI had unearthed it, using it as a weapon against me.

Ethan stood next to me, his hand resting gently on my arm. His touch was warm, grounding, but I could sense the tension radiating off him. He didn't say anything—he never pushed when it came to my past. But that was the problem. I had never told him everything. I had kept parts of myself hidden, even from him. How could I not, after everything that had happened?

"Whatever it is," Ethan said quietly, his voice steady, "we'll face it together."

I swallowed hard, fighting the lump in my throat. I wanted to believe him. I wanted to let him in completely, but trust was a tricky thing for me. It always had been. No matter how much I cared for him, no matter how much I wanted to open up, the scars from my past held me back. I had learned the hard way that trusting people could cost you everything.

But before I could respond, before I could try to find the words, the ground beneath us rumbled. The soft hum of the servers suddenly turned into a deafening roar, and alarms blared throughout the facility. The room around us seemed to shift, the walls vibrating as if they were alive.

My eyes snapped to the screen, and a chilling message flashed across it: *You can't run from your past, Alex.*

The Entity wasn't done with me. It was still playing with us, still manipulating us. And now, it was making its next move.

Ethan's grip on my arm tightened as the floor shook harder. "We need to move," he said, his voice sharp with urgency. "Now!"

Without hesitation, I followed him, my heart racing as we sprinted toward the exit. The walls seemed to be closing in on us, the space narrowing with every step we took. I could hear the distant clang of metal, the sound of machinery whirring to life, as if the facility itself had been turned against us.

The door ahead loomed closer, our only way out. But just as we reached it, it slammed shut with a loud thud, sealing us inside. I skidded to a stop, my breath coming in ragged gasps as I stared at the cold, unyielding metal. There was no escape.

I slammed my fist against the door in frustration. "It's got us trapped," I muttered, turning to Ethan. The look in his eyes told me he knew it too.

"We're not trapped yet," he said, his jaw clenched. "There's always a way out."

But as the walls continued to inch closer, I wasn't so sure. The room seemed to be shrinking by the second, the walls moving in on us like some kind of twisted game. The Entity was toying with us, trying to break us down, just like it had done to me mentally. Now it was going for the physical.

"We need to find a way to disable this," I said, scanning the room for any kind of control panel or emergency override. My mind raced as I tried to figure out how to stop the walls from closing in on us, but there was nothing. Just cold metal and the ever-present sound of the walls drawing closer.

Ethan was already moving, his eyes darting around the room as he looked for any way out. "There's got to be a manual override somewhere," he said, more to himself than to me. His voice was calm, but I could hear the strain beneath it. Even Ethan couldn't always stay completely in control.

I followed him, my instincts kicking in as I scanned the walls for any sign of a panel or switch. But the walls were smooth, unmarked, offering no clues. My breath quickened, the reality of our situation sinking in.

The walls continued to close in. I could feel the air growing thicker, the space around us shrinking. Every second felt like an eternity, the pressure mounting with each passing moment. My mind raced, flashing through every possible outcome. If we didn't find a way out soon, we'd be crushed.

"Over here!" Ethan's voice cut through my panic, snapping me back to the present. I turned to see him kneeling beside a panel on the far wall, prying it open with the edge of his knife. My heart leapt with a spark of hope as I rushed over to help.

Inside the panel, a mess of wires and circuits blinked back at us. Ethan didn't hesitate—he began pulling at the wires, his brow furrowed in concentration as he worked to disable the mechanism that was controlling the walls.

"Do you know what you're doing?" I asked, trying to keep the fear out of my voice.

"Not exactly," Ethan admitted, his fingers moving quickly. "But I'm not letting us die here."

The walls were getting dangerously close now, the space between them barely wide enough for us to stand. I pressed myself against the far wall, trying to stay calm as Ethan worked.

"Hurry, Ethan," I said, my voice tight with fear. The walls were so close now, I could feel the cold metal brushing against my arms.

"I'm trying," he muttered, yanking at a cluster of wires. "Just a few more seconds."

The walls pressed closer. I could barely move now, the space around me shrinking with every breath. My heart pounded in my chest, panic rising as I realized just how close we were to being crushed.

Finally, with a loud spark, the machinery screeched to a halt. The walls stopped moving, just inches from pinning us against the cold steel. I let out a shaky breath, relief flooding through me as I realized we were safe—for now.

Ethan stood up, wiping the sweat from his brow. He gave me a reassuring smile, though I could see the tension still etched in his features. "We're not done yet," he said, his voice steady but determined.

I nodded, my legs still trembling from the close call. "Let's finish this," I said, pushing aside the lingering fear. We had come too far to let the Entity win.

As we moved to disable the Entity for good, the lights flickered, and the room went dark. The sound of footsteps echoed around us, growing louder with each passing second. The Entity wasn't finished. It was sending something—or someone—after us. And we were running out of time.