Broken Silence

Chapter Ten

The growl echoes through the Vault, a deep, rumbling sound that shakes the very bones of the underground chamber. I turn to Kai, my heart pounding, my trident ready in my grip. He's already moving, silently, his body tense as he surveys the emerging figures.

The creatures are unlike anything I've ever seen—more monstrous than the ones in the Hollow, their forms hulking and twisted, their limbs long and spindly. They slither forward with an unsettling grace, their glowing eyes locked on us like prey.

Kai pulls me closer, his hand gripping my shoulder, his gaze scanning the room with a predator's precision. "We need to get out of here," he mutters, his voice low but urgent.

But I can't tear my eyes away from the figure on the platform—the creature that lies there, hooked up to the twisted machinery, its skin pulled taut and sickly. Its chest heaves, but its eyes are closed, as if unconscious—or worse, dead. It's a sight that makes my stomach turn.

"Who are they?" I ask, my voice barely above a whisper.

Kai's jaw tightens, but he doesn't answer. Instead, he glances around the Vault, as though searching for an exit. "They're... not supposed to be here," he says at last, his voice dark and strained. "They shouldn't exist."

Before I can ask more, the creatures in the shadows start moving faster, their forms shifting as they begin to emerge fully into the dim, sickly light of the Vault. There are at least a dozen of them, maybe more, and the way they move—it's as though they're testing the air, like predators closing in on their prey.

"We don't have time to talk," Kai says sharply, his voice laced with frustration. "Stay close."

He starts moving, keeping to the edge of the Vault, staying out of the creatures' line of sight as best as he can. I follow, my senses alert, my trident glowing faintly as I try to keep my footing in the uneven, slick stone floor.

The creatures—whatever they are—don't seem to be in any hurry. They move with a deliberate, disturbing grace, their eyes locked on us, their jaws snapping in anticipation. There's something almost... intelligent about them, something primal and calculating that sends a wave of unease through me.

"Did they... make these things with the serum?" I ask, trying to keep my voice steady as we edge toward the far side of the Vault.

Kai's gaze flickers toward me, his expression conflicted. "The serum... wasn't meant for this. But it's part of it. The Syndicate—they've been working on something far darker than just soldiers."

We're almost to the far wall of the Vault when a sharp hiss splits the air. One of the creatures, its blackened skin gleaming under the flickering lights, lunges forward with impossible speed. It moves too fast for me to react in time, and before I can react, Kai is already there, his knife slicing through the air with practiced precision.

But the creature is too quick. It dodges with a grace that doesn't belong to a monster of its size. Its jaws snap shut just inches from Kai's face, the stench of its rotten breath nearly overwhelming.

"Watch out!" I shout, rushing forward.

I thrust my trident, aiming for the creature's side, but the beast swats the weapon away with a savage swipe, sending me stumbling backward. My heart races as I scramble to regain my balance, my eyes darting around the Vault for any sign of escape.

"We need to move faster!" Kai snaps, shoving me toward the platform, his expression hard.

I nod, my mind reeling. The creature's appearance, the way it moved—it was almost... unnatural, as if the very laws of biology had been shattered by the Syndicate's experiments. These weren't just failed attempts at creating soldiers. These were abominations, something far more dangerous than we could've imagined.

The other creatures are starting to move now, too. They sense the fight, the scent of blood. More are coming from the shadows, crawling out of the darkness, their eyes glowing brighter, hungrier.

"Kai," I say, my voice tight with fear, "what are they? Where did they come from?"

He doesn't look at me as he parries another strike, his knife flashing in the dim light. "They're... a mistake," he grunts, his voice thick with frustration. "Something the Syndicate shouldn't have unleashed. They call them voidwalkers—a failed experiment to create creatures that could move between worlds. But something went wrong. The serum—it didn't just change them. It twisted them. They can't be controlled."

"Voidwalkers?" I repeat, the word tasting bitter on my tongue. "So they're—"

"Not human," Kai finishes for me, his knife flicking out in another lethal arc. "They're something worse. And they're not just here to kill us."

I glance toward the platform, where the creature is still lying motionless, connected to the machinery. "What are they doing with it?" I ask, my stomach turning.

Kai's face tightens with something I can't quite place—guilt, maybe, or fear. He looks back at me, his eyes dark and unreadable. "The serum... it's supposed to make them more. Stronger. More capable of walking between dimensions. But something went wrong—horribly wrong. They weren't just trying to create soldiers. They were trying to create an army of these things. And they're still experimenting."

Suddenly, the Vault seems much bigger, darker, and the air heavier, as though the very walls are closing in around us.

I pull my trident close, my heart hammering as the creatures draw nearer, their eyes burning with hunger. "How do we stop them?" I ask, my voice a low growl of determination.

Kai doesn't answer right away. Instead, he looks back toward the platform, where the creature lies still and hooked into the machinery. There's something in his expression—something I don't like.

"Do you see the control panel?" he asks, his voice clipped. "We need to shut it down."

I follow his gaze to the far end of the room, where a complex set of tubes and wires connects to the creature on the platform. At the center of it all, there's a control panel, buried under layers of grime and metal. It looks like the nerve center of the whole operation, the place where the Syndicate has been conducting its experiments.

But it's surrounded by the voidwalkers.

And they're closing in.

"We don't have much time," Kai says, his voice sharp. "We need to make a break for it. The panel's our only chance."

I glance back at him, my pulse quickening. "You've done this before, haven't you?" I say, suddenly piecing it together. "You've been here before. You know how to shut it down."

Kai's eyes meet mine, and for the first time since we entered the Vault, I see something—guilt, regret, maybe even fear. "I know enough," he says, his voice low. "But it's not going to be easy. We need to be fast, and we need to move together."

I nod, feeling the weight of the moment settle on my shoulders. This is it. The Syndicate's twisted experiments, the voidwalkers, the Vault—all of it leads here.

And now, it's up to us to stop it.

"Stay close," Kai mutters, his grip tightening on his knife. "We do this together or we don't do it at all."

The voidwalkers are almost on us now, their glowing eyes fixed on our every movement. There's no way out but through.

I glance at Kai, then at the control panel. And then, without another word, we charge.