The Marked
1060 Words
Jace Caldwell’s boots skidded across the rooftop’s gravel, his breath ragged as the massive NexTech drone loomed overhead, its cannons glowing like twin suns.
The word “RUN” stared up at him, scrawled in blood—whose, he didn’t know. Lena was gone, the Obsidian Heart with her, and Ethan’s voice still echoed in his shattered earpiece: She’s one of them.
His brother’s words cut deeper than the gash in his side, blood soaking his jacket. Lena, Ethan’s lover? A NexTech operative? The truth was a blade, twisting with every step.
The drone’s hum turned to a screech, its cannons firing. Jace dove behind an air unit as the rooftop erupted, shrapnel peppering his arms.
Pain flared, but his scar—the jagged black mark on his chest—burned hotter, like a brand searing his soul. His vision flickered, and that thing, The Shroud, whispered again: Move, Iron. Or die. For once, he didn’t argue.
He sprinted for the roof’s edge, the drone’s lasers carving molten lines behind him. The Lotus Den’s neon sign flickered below, Chinatown’s chaos a blur of lights and screams.
No time to think. He leaped, aiming for a fire escape across the alley. His body moved too fast, too precise, landing with a clang that should’ve broken his legs. The scar pulsed, and he felt it—something not human, coiling in his blood.
The drone pivoted, its red eye locking on. Jace scrambled down the fire escape, metal groaning under his weight. His side throbbed, but when he touched the wound, it was smaller, knitting shut.
What the hell am I?
The Shroud’s laugh rumbled in his skull, low and mocking. You’re mine.He hit the street, shoving through a crowd of vendors and punks. The drone’s shadow followed, its scanners buzzing.
Jace ducked into a subway tunnel, the air thick with oil and decay. His phone buzzed—another text, unknown number: Subway. Track 7. Now. A trap, probably, but he was out of options.
Lena had the Heart, and Ethan’s voice—real or not—was his only lead.The tunnel was a maze of flickering lights and graffiti, the rumble of trains masking his steps. His scar burned again, and his senses sharpened—too sharp.
He heard the drone’s hum before it rounded the corner, its cannons charging. Jace dove behind a pillar as a blast scorched the wall, concrete dust choking the air.
His vision flickered, and The Shroud appeared, its red eyes glowing in the dark. Fight, it hissed, and Jace’s hands moved on their own, ripping a steel pipe from the wall.
He swung, smashing the drone’s rotor. It crashed, sparking, but not before firing a dart into his thigh. Pain exploded, and he stumbled, vision swimming. The Shroud’s voice was louder now: You can’t outrun it.
Jace gritted his teeth, tearing the dart free. His leg healed faster than it should, the scar’s heat spreading like wildfire.
Track 7 was ahead, a derelict platform littered with broken bottles. A figure waited in the shadows—Lena, her platinum hair catching the dim light, the Obsidian Heart’s case at her feet.
Her gun was trained on him, but her eyes were wet, conflicted.
“Jace, stop,” she said, voice shaking. “You don’t know what you’re carrying.”
He advanced, Glock raised, rage boiling. “You were with Ethan. You let him die. And now you’re NexTech’s dog?”“I loved him!” she shouted, gun wavering. “He died to keep the Heart from them. I’m trying to finish what he started.”
“Then why run?” Jace snarled, stepping closer. His scar screamed, and The Shroud’s voice drowned out hers: She lies. End her.
His finger tightened on the trigger, but Ethan’s voice cut through, faint, from the broken earpiece: Jace, listen to her.He froze, heart pounding. The platform shook as boots echoed—more NexTech assassins, closing in from both ends of the tunnel.
Lena’s eyes widened. “They’re tracking you, Jace. The mark—it’s a beacon.”Before he could respond, his vision blacked out.
He was no longer in the subway. He stood in a void, The Shroud towering over him, its shadowy form rippling with red veins. “You’re the key, Iron,” it said, voice like grinding stone.
“The Heart’s power flows through you. Embrace it, or they’ll tear it from your corpse.”
Jace’s chest burned, and he saw it—his own reflection in The Shroud’s eyes, his face warped, eyes glowing red. Not human. Not anymore. He clawed back to reality, gasping, as Lena grabbed his arm. “Jace, we have to move!”
The assassins opened fire, bullets ricocheting off the tracks. Jace’s scar flared, and time slowed—his body moved without thought, dodging shots with impossible speed. He tackled Lena behind a rusted train car, returning fire.
One assassin dropped, but the others advanced, their exosuits gleaming. His scar pulsed, and The Shroud’s voice roared: Kill them all.He fought like a machine, bullets finding weak points in the suits, his pipe crushing skulls.
Blood slicked the platform, but his wounds closed as fast as they opened. Lena fired too, her shots precise, but her eyes kept darting to the case. Jace grabbed it, the Heart inside pulsing through the metal, syncing with his scar.
“We need to destroy it,” Lena said, breathless. “Before they—”A new figure emerged from the shadows, exosuit heavier, visor cracked to reveal a familiar face: Marcus “Glitch” Reyes, the hacker Jace had worked with last month.
His neon-tipped dreads were gone, his eyes cold.
“Sorry, Caldwell,” he said, raising a sleek rifle. “NexTech pays better.”Before Jace could react, Marcus fired—not at him, but at Lena.
She screamed, blood blooming on her shoulder as she fell. The case skidded free, and Marcus lunged for it. Jace roared, tackling him, but Marcus’s suit enhanced his strength, throwing Jace against the train car.
The Heart’s case lay open, its sickly glow bathing the platform.And then, Ethan’s voice, clear as a bell: “Jace, it’s not her. It’s me.” The Heart pulsed, and Jace’s vision split—Ethan’s face, alive, staring from the stone’s surface, his eyes glowing red like The Shroud’s.
- Writer
