Nobody moved.
For several seconds, the underground chamber was completely silent.
Kian stood in the middle of the room.
His eyes were black.
Not dark green.
Not shadowed by the poor lighting.
Black.
Kane stared at his little brother, his face tightening.
"Kian?"
Kian slowly turned his head toward him.
He smiled.
It wasn't a cruel smile.
It wasn't even an evil one.
That somehow made it worse.
Kade took one step backward.
"Uh…"
His voice came out quieter than he intended.
"Kian?"
Kian looked at him.
Then at Kane.
Then at Mara.
Finally, his eyes settled on Elias.
The smile disappeared.
"Dad."
Elias froze.
The word hit him harder than anything else in the room.
He took a slow step forward.
"Kian…"
Kian tilted his head.
"You knew."
Elias stopped.
"Knew what?"
"You knew this was inside me."
Elias's face changed.
Adrian noticed it immediately.
"You knew?"
Elias didn't answer.
Kane stepped between them.
"What did you know?"
Elias looked at Kane.
"I wasn't sure."
"That isn't an answer."
"I said I wasn't sure."
Kane's fists tightened.
"You've been hiding things from us since we found you."
"I was trying to protect you."
"Everybody keeps saying that."
Kade looked between them.
"Can we maybe save the family argument for after we figure out why Kian suddenly looks like he's been possessed by a shadow?"
Kian glanced at him.
Kade swallowed.
"Okay. Bad joke."
Kian suddenly laughed.
It was a small laugh.
His normal laugh.
Kade's expression changed.
"That was you."
Kian looked confused.
"What?"
Kade pointed at him.
"You just laughed like yourself."
Kian frowned.
"I am myself."
The room fell silent again.
Elias slowly approached.
"Kian, look at me."
Kian did.
"Do you feel different?"
Kian thought about it.
"A little."
"How?"
Kian looked around the room.
"I can see things."
"What things?"
Kian pointed toward the wall.
"There."
Everyone turned.
There was nothing there.
Just concrete.
Kade frowned.
"There's literally a wall."
Kian shook his head.
"No."
He walked toward it.
Kane grabbed his arm.
"Kian, wait."
Kian looked down at Kane's hand.
Then the wall.
"There's something behind it."
Elias's face went pale.
"What do you see?"
Kian didn't answer.
He placed his palm against the concrete.
For a moment, nothing happened.
Then the lights flickered.
Once.
Twice.
The black device in Elias's hand suddenly began glowing.
The four lights appeared again.
Red.
Blue.
Green.
Black.
But this time, the black light wasn't on the device.
It was moving.
A thin black line traveled from the device across the floor.
Everyone watched as it crawled toward Kian's feet.
Kade backed away.
"Nope."
The line reached Kian.
It disappeared into his shadow.
Kian's body went completely still.
Then he whispered:
"I remember."
Elias stepped forward.
"Remember what?"
Kian's eyes remained black.
"The room."
Elias's breathing stopped.
"What room?"
Kian looked at him.
"The one you never showed them."
Kane stared at Elias.
"What is he talking about?"
Elias couldn't answer.
Kian closed his eyes.
And suddenly—
he was somewhere else.
A white room.
Cold.
Bright.
Silent.
Kian looked around.
He was standing behind glass.
His hands were smaller.
His body was smaller.
He was a child again.
Across the room were three beds.
Three little boys.
One with red eyes.
One with blue eyes.
One with green.
Kian's breath caught.
Kane.
Kade.
Himself.
But something was wrong.
There was another bed.
A fourth one.
Empty.
Kian stepped closer.
A name was written on the glass.
Not Four.
Not Subject 04.
Something else.
A real name.
Kian reached toward it.
Before his fingers touched the glass—
someone appeared behind him.
A young man.
Elias.
Younger.
Much younger.
He was standing outside the room.
His face was wet with tears.
Kian stared at him.
"Dad?"
The younger Elias looked directly at him.
Then he whispered something.
Kian couldn't hear it.
The memory began to shake.
The lights above them flashed red.
A voice came over the speakers.
"Original sequence unstable."
Another voice answered.
"The fourth has transferred."
Elias looked toward the other room.
His face filled with terror.
Then he looked back at the children.
And for the first time, Kian saw something he had never understood.
Elias wasn't looking at them like a scientist.
He was looking at them like a father.
He slammed his hand against the glass.
"Take me instead!"
The memory shattered.
Kian opened his eyes.
He was back in the underground chamber.
Mara was holding his shoulders.
"Kian!"
He looked at her.
For a moment, his eyes remained black.
Then the green slowly returned.
Mara pulled him into her arms.
Kian buried his face against her.
"I saw Dad."
Mara looked toward Elias.
"What happened?"
Elias looked broken.
"I remembered."
Kian's voice was muffled against Mara's shoulder.
"There was another room."
Elias closed his eyes.
"I know."
Kane stared at him.
"You knew about it."
"Yes."
"And you never told us."
"I didn't remember everything."
Kane stepped closer.
"You keep saying that."
Elias looked at him.
"Because it's true."
Kane's expression hardened.
"Then tell us what you do remember."
Elias hesitated.
Adrian spoke quietly.
"Elias."
Elias looked at him.
"You don't have much time."
Elias knew what he meant.
The facility.
The soldiers.
The creature.
The fourth child.
Whatever was happening inside Kian.
All of it was getting worse.
Elias looked at his sons.
"When you were born, I thought there were only three of you."
Mara stared at him.
"You thought?"
"I didn't know what they'd done."
Kian slowly lifted his head.
"What did they do?"
Elias swallowed.
"They didn't put something inside you."
Kade frowned.
"Then what's inside him?"
Elias looked at Kian.
"The fourth light isn't a person."
Nobody spoke.
Elias continued.
"It is a connection."
Kane's eyes narrowed.
"A connection to what?"
Elias looked toward the black device.
"To the original subject."
The facility suddenly shook.
Dust fell from the ceiling.
Adrian turned toward the corridor.
"That wasn't the creature."
Another tremor came.
Then every screen in the facility turned on at once.
Hundreds of monitors.
All showing the same image.
Kian.
But not the Kian standing in the room.
The Kian on the screens was older.
Much older.
He was standing in a city that none of them recognized.
Behind him was a burning skyline.
His eyes were black.
And beside him stood three figures.
Kane.
Kade.
And a fourth person.
The image flickered.
Then a message appeared across every screen.
ORIGINAL SUBJECT: AWAKENING
Kian stared at it.
His face slowly went pale.
Then one final line appeared.
SUBJECT THREE WILL OPEN THE DOOR.
Kian whispered:
"Subject three…"
He looked at Kane.
Then Kade.
Then himself.
His eyes began turning black again.
And somewhere deep beneath the facility—
something knocked three times.
Knock.
Knock.
Knock.
Then a voice came through the speakers.
Kian's voice.
But it wasn't coming from Kian.