Escaping Evil Through Time

Chapter 26: The First Move

They found the pattern.

Then they found the carrier.

Then—

They found the target.

Syndicate didn’t rush.

They calculated.

REPEATING TIME SIGNATURE CONFIRMED

CARRIER: NIKKI TATE (ALIAS: ZELLA)

ATTACHED ANOMALY: UNREGISTERED CHILD ENTITY

A pause.

CLASSIFICATION: PRIORITY ACQUISITION

“Deploy retrieval.”

Across timelines—

Across fractures in space and time—

Something answered.

Not through doors.

Not through portals.

Through weak points.

In 2024—

The air shifted.

Subtle.

Wrong.

At the station—

Rylan looked up first.

“…You feel that?” he asked.

Julien didn’t answer.

He already knew.

“It’s here,” Julien said quietly.

Cole straightened. “What is?”

Julien’s voice dropped.

“Syndicate.”

The room went still.

Across the bullpen—

Aaron Evans paused mid-motion.

Eric Tate looked up at the same time.

Instinct.

Experience.

They had handled strange before.

Time slips.

Disappearances.

Cases that never made sense on paper.

But this—

This felt like something stepping into their world.

Not passing through.

Arriving.

From his office, Perry Walker stepped out, already reading the tension in the room.

“What’s going on?”

Julien didn’t hesitate.

“We’re not the only ones looking for the child anymore.”

Silence.

Then—

The lights flickered.

Once.

Twice.

And in the reflection of the glass—

For just a second—

Something stood where nothing should have been.

Watching.

Final Beat

Far from the station—

Zella held the baby close.

Unaware—

That the hunt had officially begun.