Chapter 4- Part 3
857 Words
Adrian stepped back first.
Distance.
Control.
Necessary.
He turned away from Alessia without a word and walked toward the far side of the training room where a row of reinforced doors lined the wall.
“Follow me.”
Alessia didn’t move immediately.
“Where are we going?”
Adrian didn’t look back.
“If you’re going to survive here, you need to understand where you are.”
A pause.
Then footsteps behind him.
Good.
She was learning already.
They reached the far end of the room where a keypad was mounted beside a thick steel door.
Alessia’s eyes narrowed slightly.
“That wasn’t part of the gym tour.”
“No.”
Adrian entered a code.
The lock clicked.
Heavy.
Final.
He pushed the door open.
Cold air spilled out.
Not just cold—
Sterile.
Controlled.
Wrong.
Alessia hesitated for the first time since entering the room.
Adrian noticed.
He didn’t comment.
“Inside.”
She stepped through.
The difference was immediate.
The space beyond wasn’t a training area.
It was quieter.
Too quiet.
A long corridor stretched ahead of them, lined with glass-fronted rooms instead of cells.
Each room was lit with bright white light.
Too bright.
Clinical.
Alessia slowed slightly as she looked inside the first one.
A man sat in a chair.
Completely still.
His wrists were restrained to the armrests.
A monitor was attached to his chest.
He didn’t look injured.
He looked…
Empty.
“What is this?” she asked quietly.
Adrian didn’t answer right away.
He walked forward.
She followed.
The next room.
Another man.
This one was awake.
His eyes moved.
Slowly.
Tracking them as they passed.
But there was no recognition in them.
No awareness.
Just movement.
“What did you do to them?”
Adrian’s voice was calm.
“Nothing.”
Alessia stopped walking.
“Don’t lie to me.”
Adrian turned slightly.
“I’m not.”
She gestured toward the rooms.
“Then what is this?”
“A different kind of prison.”
Her stomach tightened.
“This isn’t a prison.”
“No.”
Adrian met her gaze.
“It’s control.”
Alessia shook her head slowly.
“What did Marcus do to them?”
Adrian hesitated.
Just for a second.
But she saw it.
“Tell me.”
Silence.
Then—
“He removes resistance.”
The words were quiet.
Flat.
Alessia felt something cold settle in her chest.
“How?”
Adrian didn’t answer immediately.
Instead, he walked to one of the observation panels and tapped lightly against the glass.
The man inside didn’t react.
Didn’t blink.
Didn’t move.
Adrian looked back at her.
“They stop fighting.”
“That’s not an answer.”
“It’s the only one that matters.”
Alessia stepped closer to the glass.
“They’re not just prisoners.”
“No.”
“They’re experiments.”
Adrian didn’t correct her.
Which was answer enough.
Her voice dropped slightly.
“This is what happens to people who don’t cooperate.”
“Yes.”
“And you’re showing me this why?”
Adrian held her gaze.
“So you understand the rules.”
Silence stretched.
Alessia looked back at the man in the room.
Then at the others down the corridor.
“How many?”
“Enough.”
Her pulse quickened.
“And if I don’t cooperate?”
Adrian’s expression didn’t change.
“You’re too valuable for that.”
“That’s not comforting.”
“It’s not meant to be.”
Alessia turned to face him fully.
“You work for him.”
“Yes.”
“You help him do this.”
Adrian didn’t respond.
Her voice sharpened.
“You stand here like this is normal.”
“It is here.”
“That doesn’t make it right.”
Adrian’s gaze hardened slightly.
“Right and wrong don’t matter in this place.”
“Then what does?”
“Survival.”
The word landed between them.
Heavy.
Unavoidable.
Alessia held his gaze.
“And you’re helping me survive.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
Adrian didn’t answer.
Because there wasn’t an answer he could give that wouldn’t prove Marcus right.
And Alessia saw that.
She smiled slightly.
Not soft.
Not kind.
Knowing.
“You don’t even know why, do you?”
Adrian’s voice dropped.
“You’re reading too much into it.”
“Am I?”
She stepped closer.
“You brought me down here.”
“To show you reality.”
“No.”
Her voice lowered.
“To scare me.”
“That too.”
“But that’s not the only reason.”
Adrian didn’t move.
Alessia tilted her head slightly.
“You wanted me to see what happens if I don’t listen to you.”
“Yes.”
“And you don’t like the idea of me ending up like them.”
Silence.
There it was again.
That moment.
That hesitation.
That truth Marcus had already seen.
Alessia’s smile deepened slightly.
“Interesting.”
Adrian’s jaw tightened.
“We’re leaving.”
He turned toward the door.
Alessia followed.
But this time—
She wasn’t just observing.
She was understanding.
And that made her dangerous.
- Writer
