Something In The Way-SYLUS X MC X ZAYNE

Chapter 33 "Breaking Point"

                    I sat with my knees tucked tightly against my chest, trembling. My heart was pounding so loudly I was sure it would burst. Caleb was alive. Caleb, who I had mourned, cried over, missed so deeply it physically hurt. But this wasn't a joyous reunion. No. He wasn't the same Caleb I once knew. This Caleb—this man—had killed my grandmother.

I felt sick, bile rising in my throat as the weight of his revelation crushed me. Immortal? The word felt like acid, burning a hole in my mind. The aether core in my heart? That... that couldn't be true. Could it? Every dream, every impossible vision that had haunted me for years—they weren't just figments of my imagination?

I pressed my palms into my temples, trying to push the thoughts away, but the pieces wouldn't stop clicking together. If Caleb was telling the truth, then my entire life—my identity—was a lie. It changed everything.

And then the question that chilled me more than any other: who else knew?

Did Zayne know? My stomach clenched painfully at the thought. He'd always kept me at a distance, his walls impenetrable no matter how hard I tried to break through. Was that why? Did he know what I was—what I carried inside me? My throat tightened. No. Zayne wouldn't do that to me. He couldn't.

But Sylus... My mind hesitated, a creeping doubt slithering in. Sylus, the one I trusted most, the one who had seen me at my most vulnerable, kissed away my fears, and held me when I thought the world would swallow me whole. Could he have known?

I buried my face in my hands, shaking my head violently. "No," I whispered to myself, the word trembling. "Sylus wouldn't lie to me. He wouldn't..." But even as I tried to convince myself, doubt prickled at the edges of my resolve. What if he did?

And then another question, sharper, colder: Where is he? Did he even realize I was gone? Did he notice when I called for him? My chest tightened as memories of our fights, our stolen kisses, and the nights we'd shared flooded me. He'd always been there when I needed him, but this time? This time he wasn't. Why wasn't he here?

Could Caleb have done something to him? The thought rooted itself deep in my chest. Sylus was strong—he could handle himself—but Caleb had killed my grandmother. The man I thought I knew was capable of horrors I couldn't fathom.

The walls of the enclosure felt smaller, suffocating me. The technology surrounding me was far beyond anything I understood, cold and sterile. There was no way out. My pulse quickened as panic threatened to drown me. I forced myself to breathe, to think.

I remembered the power. That surge of raw, uncontrollable energy that had burst from me when the nurses tried to inject me. It had been wild, unrestrained—but it had been mine. If I could summon it again, maybe—maybe—I could escape.

I closed my eyes and inhaled deeply, trying to center myself. Focus. Focus on the power. On the aether core.

Nothing.

Frustration clawed at me, my breathing ragged. "Come on," I hissed through gritted teeth, trying again. I thought of everything I'd lost, everything I'd been told, and the desperate need to see Sylus again. My mind replayed every moment with him—his touch, his voice, his warmth.

The memories sent my pulse racing, and for a moment, I felt the faintest ripple of energy stir inside me. I reached for it, begged for it, but it flickered out as quickly as it had come. I was too weak.

My hands balled into fists as I let out a choked cry of frustration. My body slumped against the glass, exhaustion sinking its claws into me. This enclosure—it wasn't just keeping me here. It was keeping me weak.

The sudden hum of machinery drew my attention, and I saw a metal tube slide into the room, carrying a tray of food. My stomach turned at the sight of it. How many times had I refused to eat now? It didn't matter. I wouldn't eat. Not if it meant giving Caleb the satisfaction.