Evo

Chapter Eleven: Let Me Out

Mika heard the voice again.

Let me out.

He stood completely still.

The creature was still climbing from the hole.

Mara shouted something.

Daniel fired.

The bullets hit the creature's shoulder and bounced away.

Mika barely noticed.

The voice inside his head was louder now.

Let me out.

Mika pressed a hand against his chest.

"Stop."

His mother looked at him.

"What?"

"Nothing."

The creature pulled itself onto the floor.

It was taller than any man Mika had ever seen.

Its skin looked almost human, except for the black lines running beneath it.

It stared at Mika.

"You can hear me."

Mika swallowed.

"Who are you?"

The creature tilted its head.

"Do you really not remember?"

"I've never seen you."

"Not with these eyes."

Mika felt a sudden pain behind his eyes.

Images flashed.

A dark laboratory.

A group of scientists standing around a machine.

A glass chamber.

The same creature inside it.

Then Mika saw himself.

A baby.

He was lying inside another chamber.

The creature was standing on the other side of the glass.

Watching him.

Mika gasped.

The vision disappeared.

"You were there," he whispered.

The creature smiled.

"I watched you grow."

Adrian stepped forward.

"Stay away from him."

The creature looked at him.

"Still pretending to be his father?"

Adrian raised his gun.

The creature laughed.

"You should have killed me when you had the chance."

Mika looked at Adrian.

"You know him?"

Adrian didn't answer.

"Father?"

Adrian lowered the gun.

"Yes."

The creature moved.

Adrian fired.

The bullets stopped before reaching it.

The creature waved its hand.

Adrian flew backward.

He hit the wall hard.

"Dad!"

Mika moved toward him.

The creature blocked his path.

"Don't."

Mika raised his hand.

The room shook.

The creature smiled.

"Good."

Mika pushed.

The creature didn't move.

Mika pushed harder.

The creature took one step.

Then another.

Mika's feet slid across the floor.

His power was stronger than before, but this thing was different.

It wasn't resisting him.

It was absorbing the force.

Mika stopped.

The creature stepped closer.

"You still don't understand."

"What?"

"You can't control everything."

Mika clenched his fists.

"I can control you."

The creature laughed.

"No."

It touched Mika's chest.

Mika screamed.

His body locked.

The room disappeared.

He was back inside the darkness.

The small boy was waiting.

Mika looked at him.

"What is happening?"

The boy looked worried.

"He's opening the door."

"Who?"

The boy pointed behind Mika.

Mika turned.

Something stood in the darkness.

It was huge.

He couldn't see its face.

But he could feel it.

The same thing outside.

Mika stepped backward.

"Is that inside me?"

The boy nodded.

"Part of it."

"What does that mean?"

"It was put inside you."

"By who?"

The boy looked down.

"Your father."

Mika's heart stopped.

"No."

"He did it because he was scared."

"Scared of what?"

"You."

The darkness shook.

The boy grabbed Mika's hand.

"You have to wake up."

"How?"

"Don't fight it."

Mika looked at him.

"Then what do I do?"

"Open your eyes."

Mika opened them.

He was back in the laboratory.

The creature's hand was still against his chest.

Mika looked at it.

Then he whispered,

"I know you."

The creature stopped.

Mika grabbed its wrist.

"You were in my dreams."

The creature's smile disappeared.

"You've been talking to me."

"Yes."

"Why?"

"Because you are mine."

Mika pushed it away.

This time, it moved.

The creature crashed through a metal door.

Everyone stared.

Mika stood there, breathing heavily.

Adrian slowly got up.

"What did you do?"

"I don't know."

Mara looked at him.

"Whatever you did, do it again."

The creature came through the broken doorway.

Mika raised his hand.

The creature stopped.

Mika could feel its body.

Its bones.

Its blood.

Its energy.

But there was something else.

A connection.

A thin thread between them.

Mika reached for it.

The creature suddenly screamed.

"No!"

Mika pulled.

The black veins on the creature's body began disappearing.

It dropped to one knee.

"What are you doing?"

Mika didn't answer.

He pulled harder.

The creature's body started breaking apart.

Adrian shouted,

"Mika, stop!"

Mika looked at him.

"Why?"

"Because you'll kill him."

"He deserves it."

"That's not the point."

Mika's hand shook.

The creature looked at him.

For the first time, there was fear in its eyes.

"Please."

Mika froze.

The creature was begging.

Mika released it.

The creature collapsed.

Silence filled the room.

Mika stared at his hand.

He had almost killed it.

And he had done it without losing control.

That scared him more than the creature.

Adrian walked toward him.

"You shouldn't be able to do that."

Mika looked at him.

"Then tell me why I can."

Adrian looked down.

"I don't know."

Mika laughed.

"Of course."

His mother stepped between them.

"Mika."

He looked at her.

"I need to tell you something."

Mika waited.

She looked at Adrian.

Then back at him.

"Your father didn't put that thing inside you."

Mika frowned.

"Then who did?"

She took a breath.

"I did."

Mika froze.

The room went silent.

"What?"

His mother started crying.

"I didn't know what it was."

"Mom."

"I thought it was part of the treatment."

"You knew about the core."

"I knew they put something inside you."

Mika stared at her.

"But I didn't know it was alive."

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"Because I was afraid."

"Of me?"

"No."

She shook her head.

"Of what they would do if they knew you knew."

Mika looked away.

His mother continued.

"When you were born, the doctors said you wouldn't survive."

Mika said nothing.

"Your heart stopped three times."

She wiped her tears.

"Then you opened your eyes."

Mika remembered the vision.

The white light.

The machines exploding.

His father holding him.

His mother screaming.

"What happened after?"

"Everyone in the room died."

Mika stared at her.

"What?"

"The power came from you."

Mara stepped forward.

"How many?"

"Twenty-three."

Mika felt sick.

"Twenty-three people?"

His mother nodded.

"You were a newborn."

Mika stepped backward.

"I killed them."

"No."

His mother grabbed his arm.

"You didn't know what you were doing."

"Doesn't change what happened."

"It wasn't your fault."

Mika pulled away.

"Then whose fault was it?"

Nobody answered.

The creature suddenly moved.

Mika turned.

It was trying to crawl toward the hole.

Mika watched it.

"Why did you call me the key?"

The creature looked at him.

"Because you are."

"To what?"

"The place where it came from."

Mika frowned.

"Where?"

The creature smiled.

"Below."

The ground shook again.

A deep rumble moved through the facility.

Adrian looked at the floor.

"No."

Mika looked at him.

"What?"

Adrian turned pale.

"It's waking."

"What is?"

"The source."

Mika waited.

Adrian looked toward the hole.

"The thing that gave us the Evo gene."

Mara's face tightened.

"You said you never found it."

"We didn't."

"Then how do you know?"

Adrian looked at Mika.

"Because it found us."

A voice came through the speakers.

Not Cain.

Not Elena.

Not Lyra.

Something older.

Something that did not sound human.

"SUBJECT ZERO."

Mika looked up.

The speakers crackled.

"RETURN."

His mother grabbed him.

"Mika, we have to go."

The voice came again.

"RETURN."

The entire building shook.

Walls began cracking.

People ran through the corridors.

Mara shouted,

"Everyone out!"

Daniel grabbed Noah.

Adrian pulled his weapon.

Mika stood still.

The voice was inside his head now.

Come home.

Mika closed his eyes.

He could see the darkness again.

The small boy.

The door.

And behind it, something waiting.

The boy looked at him.

"You have to choose."

Mika whispered,

"Choose what?"

"Whether you open it."

Mika opened his eyes.

He looked at his mother.

At Adrian.

At Mara.

At the people running around him.

Then he looked at the hole.

Something was moving below.

Mika stepped toward it.

His mother grabbed him.

"No."

"I need to know."

"Knowing will get you killed."

"Maybe."

Mika pulled away.

"But running hasn't helped."

Adrian stared at his son.

For once, he didn't stop him.

Mika stood at the edge of the hole.

A cold wind rose from below.

Then two white eyes appeared in the darkness.

Mika felt the core in his chest pulse.

The creature below whispered his name.

"Mika."

He looked down.

"Who are you?"

The answer came softly.

"I am what came before you."

Mika's blood ran cold.

The voice continued.

"And you are what comes after."

The ground broke.

Mika fell.