Chapter 9
1153 Words
The screen flickered.
For a moment nothing happened. The video window opened, but the image remained black. A faint buzzing sound came from the speakers of the old computer.
Elena leaned closer to the screen.
“Daniel?” she said quietly.
“I’m here,” his voice answered through the phone. “Tell me what you see.”
“Nothing yet.”
The screen suddenly flashed white.
Elena flinched.
Then an image slowly appeared.
A sterile white room.
Bright lights.
Metal tables.
And in the center of the room—
A small girl.
Elena’s breath caught.
It was her.
Younger.
Much younger.
Six years old, just like the document had said.
Her hair was shorter, and she wore a hospital gown that looked far too large for her small frame. Thin wires were attached to her temples, and a machine hummed quietly beside her.
The sight made Elena’s chest tighten.
“Oh my God…”
“Is that you?” Daniel asked.
“Yes.”
Her voice trembled.
“I think so.”
The video continued.
A man stepped into the room.
Tall.
Confident.
His face calm and cold.
Elena felt the blood drain from her face.
She recognized him instantly.
The man from the alley.
The one who had chased her.
The one who had shot Marcus.
“Daniel,” she whispered.
“Yes?”
“He’s in the video.”
The silence that followed was heavy.
“The same man?” Daniel asked.
“Yes.”
Elena stared at the screen as the man approached the young girl.
He knelt in front of her.
“Hello, Elena,” he said in the video.
His voice sounded almost gentle.
“Today we begin the next phase.”
The child looked up at him nervously.
“What phase?” she asked.
The man smiled slightly.
“Your awakening.”
Elena felt a strange chill move through her body.
On the screen, the man gestured toward the machine beside the girl.
A scientist standing nearby activated it.
Lights blinked.
The machine began humming louder.
“Elena Carter,” the man said, speaking like someone recording a report.
“Subject number one of Project E.C.”
Elena’s hands trembled as she gripped the edge of the desk.
Daniel spoke again.
“What are they doing to you?”
“I don’t know,” she said.
But deep inside, something about the scene felt… familiar.
Too familiar.
In the video, the young Elena winced as the machine activated.
Electric pulses flashed across the wires connected to her head.
The girl gasped.
Her body stiffened.
“Elena,” the man said calmly. “Focus.”
The child tried to speak, but her words came out shaky.
“It hurts…”
The man didn’t react.
“Pain is temporary,” he said.
“Power is permanent.”
The machine hummed louder.
Suddenly, the lights in the room flickered.
One of the scientists frowned.
“Sir… we’re seeing abnormal readings.”
The man stepped closer to the machine.
“How abnormal?”
“Brain activity is spiking.”
The young Elena suddenly screamed.
The lights above the table exploded.
Glass shattered across the floor.
Every computer screen in the room went black.
The scientists stepped back in shock.
“What’s happening?” one of them shouted.
The man stared at the child with fascination.
“Elena,” he said quietly.
“Excellent.”
The girl’s eyes opened.
And they were glowing.
Even through the grainy video, Elena could see it clearly.
A faint blue light shining from her eyes.
The room trembled slightly.
Metal trays slid across the floor.
Papers lifted into the air.
“Daniel…” Elena whispered.
“I think I’m doing that.”
“What?”
“In the video.”
Her pulse raced.
“Things are moving without anyone touching them.”
Daniel’s voice became tense.
“Telekinesis.”
“What?”
“It means moving objects with your mind.”
Elena stared at the screen in disbelief.
“That’s not possible.”
But on the video,
It was happening.
The child lifted both hands.
And the machine behind her suddenly exploded.
Sparks flew everywhere.
The scientists shouted and ran for cover.
But the man remained standing.
Watching.
Studying.
“Extraordinary,” he said.
The video paused.
Then a new message appeared on the screen.
PHASE TWO SUCCESSFUL
Elena’s stomach dropped.
“Daniel…”
“Yes?”
“I think that’s what he meant.”
“Who?”
“The man chasing me.”
She remembered his words.
He created you.
The screen flickered again.
Another video file opened automatically.
This one looked newer.
The same man sat in front of a camera.
He looked directly into it.
“Elena Carter,” he said.
“If you are watching this, it means the activation sequence has begun.”
Elena’s heart pounded.
“He’s talking to me,” she whispered.
Daniel didn’t speak.
“You were always meant to discover this,” the man continued.
“Your life has been carefully monitored since your release.”
Elena’s chest tightened.
“So yes… I’ve been watching you.”
Her blood ran cold.
“Your abilities were suppressed through memory manipulation,” he continued.
“But tonight, the drive has triggered the first stage of your awakening.”
Elena suddenly felt dizzy.
“Daniel…”
“What’s wrong?”
“My head…”
Pain shot through her temples.
The room seemed to spin.
On the screen, the man continued speaking.
“Soon you will remember everything.”
Elena clutched her head.
Images flashed across her mind.
White rooms.
Machines.
Scientists.
Screams.
“Daniel… something’s happening…”
“What do you feel?”
“My memories…”
Her vision blurred.
“They’re coming back.”
Suddenly, every computer in the cafe flickered.
The lights above her buzzed violently.
The employee at the counter looked up in confusion.
“What the hell”
The lights exploded.
Glass shattered across the room.
Elena gasped.
The computers began lifting off the desks.
Tables shook violently.
“Daniel!” she cried.
“I can’t control it!”
“Listen to me!” Daniel said urgently.
“You need to calm down!”
“I’m trying!”
A chair flew across the room and slammed into the wall.
The employee screamed and ran outside.
The cafe was falling apart.
“Elena!”
“I don’t know how to stop it!”
Her eyes burned.
Her hands trembled.
And then
She heard a voice behind her.
Calm.
Cold.
Familiar.
“You were always meant to wake up.”
Elena slowly turned around.
Standing in the doorway was the man from the video.
The man who had created her.
And this time, he wasn’t smiling.
“Welcome back,” he said.
Her blood ran cold.
Because suddenly…
She understood something terrifying.
She wasn’t just running anymore.
She had become the weapon they had been waiting for.
- Writer
