The Trigger in My Veins
843 Words
I didn’t run.
I carried him.
Damien’s blood soaked into my clothes as I dragged him through the underworld of Shanghai—alleys stinking of rot and gasoline, neon lights flickering like dying stars.
His body was burning up.
Veins blackened.
Eyes twitching under half-lidded lashes.
Whatever they’d done to him—it was spreading.
And fast.
---
Underground Clinic – 3:17 a.m.
“I need him alive,” I snarled, slamming a fistful of credits onto the counter.
The underground doctor didn’t flinch. “No promises.”
“You make one,” I said, raising my blade, “or I take something you can’t sew back.”
He swallowed hard and waved me through.
---
30 Minutes Later
“He’s stable,” the doc muttered. “But…”
“But what?”
The man hesitated. “There’s something inside him.”
He held up the x-rays.
Metal. Wires. Nanotech snaked through Damien’s spine, branching toward his brain.
“Like a trigger,” the doc whispered.
My blood ran cold.
Just like mine.
---
Flashback – Age Ten
A scream.
My scream.
Metal needles digging into the back of my neck.
Voices arguing—scientists, soldiers.
One voice clearer than the rest:
“Her heartbeat is synced to his. They die together.”
---
Present
“Can you remove it?” I asked.
The doctor shook his head. “Not without killing both of you.”
“Then do something,” I growled.
He injected Damien with a stabilizer.
The man stirred.
Eyes fluttered open.
And the first thing he said shattered me.
“You kissed him.”
“What?”
“Subject 03. My brother.”
He sat up slowly, wincing. “I saw it.”
“I didn’t kiss him,” I snapped. “He tried to kiss me. I nearly put a bullet through his throat.”
Damien’s jaw clenched.
His hand reached up—cupped my cheek. “He’s going to take everything from me, Aria. Including you.”
I didn’t look away.
“Then fight harder.”
---
Meanwhile – Eclipse HQ
Mina stared at the screen.
Watching Aria.
Watching Damien.
And behind her?
Subject 03. Smirking.
“She’s remembering,” he said. “Faster than you predicted.”
“She’s bonding again,” Mina replied.
“You wanted this, didn’t you?”
Mina stepped closer to him, ran a red nail down his chest.
“I wanted chaos.”
“What if she chooses him?”
“She won’t.”
“Why?”
Mina grinned. “Because the next order… is to eliminate both of them.”
A global bounty dropped.
Kill Aria Vale & Damien Black. Double payment for bringing them in alive.
The entire underground lit up.
Assassins. Mercenaries. Traitors.
All gunning for our blood.
---
Back to Aria
We were on the run again.
A stolen bike. Damien behind me. Weak, but alive.
I could feel it in my bones.
Every mile we rode—the trigger inside me pulsed hotter.
Every time I looked at him—I saw us, back in that lab. Just kids.
Just weapons.
And now? We were fire and fury.
But someone was tracking us.
“I need answers,” I demanded, pacing the room while Damien sat on the edge of a rusted table, shirtless, wounds stitched, tattoos gleaming.
“About what?” he asked.
“About me. About you. About why I feel like I’d burn the world for you.”
He looked at me.
Silent.
Too long.
“Tell me,” I begged.
He stood. Moved toward me. Close.
Close enough to feel the heat crackling between us.
Then he leaned in, lips brushing my ear.
“Because we were never meant to fall in love.”
I froze.
“What?”
“We were trained to be linked. But love… that was the glitch. The flaw in the program.”
“And what happens when two weapons fall in love?” I whispered.
He stepped back.
“They destroy everything.”
Suddenly—
The window exploded.
A dart slammed into Damien’s chest.
He gasped. Collapsed.
I spun, gun drawn, heart hammering.
And saw her.
Mina.
Standing in the shadows, smiling.
“Hello again, Aria.”
“You followed us.”
“Of course I did. You think I’d let you two rewrite the story?”
She stepped into the light.
Holding something.
A tablet.
She tapped it.
And Damien screamed.
His body convulsed, his eyes turned black for a moment—like something took over.
“What did you do?!”
“I activated his kill mode,” Mina purred. “But here’s the catch…”
She walked toward me.
“Only you can stop it.”
I turned to Damien.
He was shaking. Snarling.
Eyes wide with panic and fury.
His hands reached for me—
But not in love.
In violence.
“Aria—run!” he growled.
But I didn’t.
I raised my gun.
Pointed it at his heart.
Tears burned in my eyes.
And I said, “Not again.”
- Writer
