The fall

Chapter 45

Blake

The room was suffocatingly still, the tension crackling like a storm about to break. Gabriella stood firm in the doorway, her hand ready to shoot shadows if needed as her and Richard stared at each other in silence.

Richard's gun lay on the ground, kicked slightly to the side by the force of her shot. He didn't reach for it. Instead, he let out a quiet chuckle, shaking his head slightly.

"Gabriella," he murmured, like he was tasting the name on his tongue. Like he was relieved to see her.

She didn't lower her shadows. "Step away from him, Richard. I won't ask again."

He pressed his lips together, as if debating something. Then, finally, he raised his hands slightly and took a step back. "I don't want to hurt you."

Gabriella scoffed. "Right. Just like everyone else."

Richard's jaw tightened, but he didn't argue. Instead, he tilted his head toward me. "You should understand, Blake. More than anyone. A commander does what's necessary."

My fingers twitched against the cold cuffs binding my wrists. "Necessary?" I spat. "What part of this is necessary? You lied to us. You didn't hesitate to murder one of my men in cold blood."

Richard didn't even flinch. "I did what I had to do."

I know, I thought.

"You're a coward," I said.

"I'm a leader," He spoke calmly. "And so are you."

Gabriella stepped inside the room.
"Enough. We didn't come here to mass murder your people. We just want Penelope back. We'll take her home and leave."

The words hung in the air, thick with meaning.
Richard's gaze flickered. There was something unreadable in his expression—and I hated myself for not noticing who he was in the beginning. If only we weren't forced by duty.

After a moment, before he could respond, the sound of slow, deliberate footsteps echoed through the hall.

A voice followed. Cold. Amused.
"Well, isn't this a touching reunion?"

A man strolled into the room, his presence instantly making my skin crawl. He was older, dressed in a pristine white lab coat, his thinning silver hair combed neatly back. There was something sharp about him—his eyes, his smirk, the way he held himself like he owned everything in this room.

Richard's entire demeanor shifted. He went rigid, his expression darkening as he turned toward the newcomer. "Fray." He said tightly. "What are you doing here?"

So this was the motherfucker who hurt her, when I'm out of these cuffs; he's dead.

Doctor Finn smiled, a thin, almost reptilian thing. "Oh, come now, commander. You think I'd let you handle everything on your own, did you?"

Richard's hands curled into fists. "Go back to the lab, I can handle it."

Finn ignored him, his eyes sweeping across the scene infront of him—me on my knees bound; Gabriella still standing waiting for my signal; the dead body at my side. A quiet, pleased chuckle slipped from his lips.

Then his gaze landed on Gabriella, and something in his expression sharpened. "Ah. You must be the shadow girl, Penelope mumbles in her sleep about you."

Gabriella didn't say a word, but I saw the way her fingers twitched, how she fought the urge to shoot him on sight. But she knows she can't kill him before we know where the fuck he put Penelope.

Finn turned his attention back to me, tilting his head slightly. "And you—you the leader of this little rebellion, the boyfriend, am I correct?"

I gritted my teeth. "What did you do to her, you freak?"

A delighted gleam flickered in his eyes. "Oh, she's safe. More than safe, actually." His smile widened. "She's exactly where she belongs."

Richard stares at him in shock at that. "You took her back there?"

A cold, sick feeling curled in my stomach. "Where—What are you talking about?"

Finn took a slow step forward. "The lab, get it through your thick skull."

Gabriella inhaled sharply, stepping closer, her shadow aura intensifying. "You sick bastard, we're taking her home."

Finn let out a short, almost pitying laugh. "Oh, no, no, no. You don't understand. Penelope isn't going anywhere. She's my daughter. My creation. My subject."

Gabriella's entire frame startled shaking in anger and she glared at me, but something is stopping me for telling her to shoot him. The situation is too easy.

"She's not yours," I lifted my gaze to get a clearer look at the man.

Finn barely spared me a glance. "Oh, but she is. Every part of her—every cell, every ability, every thought she has—belongs to me. To this project." His eyes gleamed with something sickening. "She was born for this. Raised to be the executioner to all sylvanians."

"You're insane," Gabriella's breath came sharp.

Finn chuckled. "Am I? Or am I the only one willing to do what's necessary?" His gaze flickered to Richard. "Isn't that right, commander?"

Richard's face was unreadable, but I saw the tension on his shoulders. He didn't agree. But he also didn't say no.

Gabriella took another step, ready to snap his head off. "You let us take her, and we leave. No more bloodshed."

Finn just shook his head, sighing. "And let you take away my entire life's work? The Dorothea project is everything. I won't let you rip that away from me."

His hand slid into his coat pocket, and my instincts screamed at me.

He pulled out a small device—a controller, sleek and silver, a red button gleaming in the center. Finn smiled, a slow and twisted grin and no one dared to move. "You take her," he murmured, "and you take away my career. My purpose. My legacy." His voice turned almost giddy. "And I simply cannot allow that."

"Gabriella—!" I called out.

Gabriella rushed. "Don't—!"

Then before anyone could react—
He pressed the button.

A deafening explosion ripped through the building.

The world tilted violently as the shockwave slammed into me, sending my body flying. The ceiling cracked, metal and concrete collapsing from above.

I hit the ground hard, my breath knocked out of me. Flames erupted, consuming everything in sight. Smoke filled my lungs- The screams of my team, of the Valortorian soldiers. Richard and Gabriella trying to reach for each other, but only ended up in the chaos.

Penelope.

The entire building was coming down.

And then—

Everything went black.