Chapter 9: What They Made Me
307 Words
The lights didn’t come back on.
Only a dim red glow replaced the white overhead beam.
Aria’s breathing slowed.
Not from calm.
From control.
Her father.
The program.
An access code.
Something cold began forming in her chest — not fear.
Memory.
Fragmented images flickered behind her eyes.
A white room.
A man shouting.
Her father’s voice: “Don’t respond. No matter what they say.”
Marcus re-entered with two men in tactical gear.
“Let’s begin,” he said.
One of the men stepped forward.
He grabbed her jaw roughly—
And Aria moved.
Fast.
Too fast.
She twisted her wrists sharply inward.
The cuff on her right hand snapped open.
Marcus froze.
The guard barely had time to react before she drove the metal restraint into his throat.
He collapsed instantly.
Silence.
The second guard raised his weapon—
A gunshot exploded from the doorway.
The man dropped.
Marcus slowly turned.
Damian stood there.
Bleeding.
Gun steady.
Eyes darker than she’d ever seen.
“I told you,” Damian said quietly.
Marcus smirked. “You always come back.”
Aria stood slowly from the chair, the broken cuff hanging from her wrist.
Her heartbeat felt different now.
Stronger.
Steadier.
Marcus’s eyes shifted from Damian…
To her.
And for the first time—
He looked uncertain.
“You activated her,” he whispered.
Damian’s jaw tightened.
“No,” he said.
“She remembered.”
Aria stepped forward.
Her voice calm.
Deadly.
“What did you do to me?”
Marcus smiled faintly.
“We perfected you.”
The building alarms suddenly began blaring.
Reinforcements were coming.
Damian grabbed her hand.
“We don’t have time.”
Aria didn’t look away from Marcus.
“Run,” she said softly.
Because for the first time…
She wasn’t afraid.
Now she’s no longer just prey.
She’s something else.
- Writer
