The Lie I Built
996 Words
I didn’t sleep that night.
How could I?
My mind was flooded with lies, half-truths, and memories that weren’t supposed to exist. My mother—once just a figure in family photos—was now the ghost of something darker. A chemist. A creator of the very compound I was now being forced to replicate.
And she died trying to escape it.
What did that make me?
A legacy?
A replacement?
Or just a pawn in someone else’s unfinished game?
---
At dawn, I requested access to the full lab.
It surprised them, but Raffael allowed it—on one condition.
“You work under watch,” he said. “No locked drawers. No solo time.”
Fine.
I didn’t need privacy.
I needed precision.
Because if I was going to survive this, I had to play along. Convince them I was cooperating. Let them think I was building the serum they wanted.
But I wasn’t.
I was building a lie.
---
By midday, I had already recreated the shell of my original trauma-serum. It was functional—enough to fool basic scans—but harmless. It did nothing to memory or fear.
But they didn’t know that.
I added two drops of a harmless enzyme to mimic brain response.
Then I changed the label.
“Batch Alpha-K1.”
They’d eat it up.
Dominic entered with his usual smug walk. “Making progress?”
I turned to him with a tired smile. “More than you think.”
He walked over to inspect the vials. “We’ll need to run tests. On a live subject.”
My stomach dropped.
“What kind of subject?”
“Volunteer,” he said casually. “Someone from our ranks.”
He tapped his earpiece. “Bring in Carter.”
A few minutes later, a young man entered. Barely older than me. Clean-shaven, quiet. His eyes darted around nervously.
“Sit,” Dominic said. “Miss Evelyn’s going to make history today.”
I watched as Carter rolled up his sleeve. My fake serum already sat in a syringe on the table.
This wasn’t part of the plan.
If he died—if something went wrong—I was done.
Hands shaking, I picked up the syringe and gently inserted the needle. Carter didn’t flinch. Brave… or numb.
I injected the solution.
Now I had to act.
“Give it twenty minutes,” I said. “Then test memory retention and emotional response.”
Dominic nodded.
As they led Carter out of the lab, I nearly collapsed.
One mistake, and the whole thing would come crashing down.
But I wasn’t done yet.
---
That night, Raffael came to my quarters.
Unannounced, as always.
“You did well today,” he said.
“I wasn’t trying to impress you.”
He smirked. “Then I’m even more impressed.”
I turned away, pretending to organize lab notes.
“Why are you here?” I asked. “Really.”
He was quiet for a moment.
Then, softly, he said, “Because I don’t know what side I’m on anymore.”
I froze.
That wasn’t the answer I expected.
“What are you talking about?”
He stepped closer. “You think this world is black and white—victims and monsters. But it’s not. It’s people like me. People who were born into fire and never taught how to feel cold again.”
“You could still walk away.”
“I can’t.”
“Why not?”
“Because walking away won’t undo what I’ve done. Or what I’ve lost.”
He looked at me then, eyes darker than I’d ever seen.
“My mother died because of this organization. But instead of running, I rose through it. I became what I hated.”
For a moment, I saw the cracks.
Not the leader. Not the criminal.
Just the broken son of a broken empire.
“I’m sorry,” I whispered, unsure why.
He nodded once, then left.
No orders. No threats.
Just silence.
---
Two days later, Carter collapsed.
In the middle of training, he fainted. His pulse spiked. He muttered gibberish before passing out.
I was called in immediately.
Dominic was furious. “What did you give him?!”
“Exactly what I said,” I snapped. “A base formula. It shouldn’t have had that effect.”
“You expect me to believe that?!”
“I told you we needed more trials!”
While Dominic shouted, I checked Carter’s vitals.
There was no reaction to the serum.
No damage to the brain.
Which meant…
Someone tampered with it.
I turned to the storage cabinet—and found an empty vial lying behind the shelf.
X-31.
The memory enhancer.
Someone had dosed him with it.
Not me.
Not Carter.
Someone else.
---
That night, I found Ella waiting in my room.
Her face was pale.
“I need to tell you something,” she said quickly, closing the door.
“What now?”
“There’s a mole inside Umbra.”
I stared. “A mole?”
She nodded. “Someone’s leaking your work to another syndicate. A rival group.”
“Why?”
“To steal your formula before you finish it.”
My breath caught. “Do you know who it is?”
She hesitated.
“No,” she said. But her eyes said otherwise.
“Ella—”
Before she could answer, the lights went out.
Total darkness.
Then alarms blared through the compound.
Red lights flashed. Sirens screamed.
Ella grabbed my wrist. “Stay close!”
We ran into the hallway. Guards shouted. Doors slammed.
A voice echoed through the speakers:
“Containment breach in the West Lab. Unauthorized access. Lockdown initiated.”
“What’s happening?” I yelled over the noise.
“Someone triggered the emergency release. The lab’s on fire!”
Fire.
Again.
Like the night I lost everything.
This time—I wasn’t hiding.
This time—I was ready to fight.
- Writer
