Chapter Fifty Three: The Escape
801 Words
Mila’s POV
The floor trembled beneath them.
Red lights pulsed across the ceiling as metallic doors began sliding down one by one — sealing the exits.
“Move!” the clone snapped, tugging Mila’s arm.
They sprinted down the corridor, slipping on trails of blue fluid that shimmered like liquid electricity. Sirens screamed from every direction. Overhead, a robotic voice repeated:
> “Containment breach. All personnel evacuate immediately.”
Mila’s heart pounded in sync with the alarm. “Where are we going?”
“Out,” the clone said simply. “Before they flood the lower floors.”
Mila didn’t ask how she knew. Somehow, she believed her — maybe because the girl’s voice felt eerily familiar, like hearing herself in a dream she half-remembered.
They turned a corner, only to freeze as two guards appeared — rifles raised.
“Stop right there!” one barked.
The clone stepped in front of Mila, eyes narrowing. “Stay behind me.”
“What are you—”
But before Mila could finish, the lights around them flickered, and the guards staggered. Their weapons sparked, then short-circuited, dropping to the floor.
Blue light coiled around the clone’s hands like mist.
The guards fell unconscious before they even hit the ground.
Mila stared, speechless. “How did you—”
“Later,” the clone interrupted. “We’re running out of time.”
They raced through the corridor, dodging fallen cables and shattered glass. Every alarm, every flashing light seemed to pulse with Mila’s heartbeat. She could feel it — something in her blood responding, waking up.
By the time they reached the stairwell, she was dizzy. “I can’t—”
The clone turned, gripping her shoulders. “Yes, you can. You’ve always been stronger than they let you believe.”
There was no fear in her eyes — only certainty.
And somehow, Mila drew strength from it.
They reached a reinforced door at the end of the hall — locked with a biometric scanner. The clone pressed her hand against it, but the light flashed red.
“Access denied,” the system droned.
Mila stepped forward, almost on instinct. “Let me try.”
She pressed her palm beside the clone’s — and the scanner turned green.
> “Access granted.”
The door slid open.
They ran through — into a hangar-like chamber filled with glass pods and suspended cables. A massive elevator stood at the far end, its platform humming faintly.
“This is it,” the clone said. “The surface exit.”
They reached the elevator — but before they could activate it, a calm, cold voice echoed through the intercom:
> “Mila. Stop.”
She froze. She knew that voice.
Dr. Lang.
> “I warned them not to bring you back here,” he said, tone almost gentle. “You’re not ready for what you’ll remember.”
The clone stepped forward, defiant. “We’re done being your experiment.”
Lang sighed. “You’re both fragments of the same whole. But the system can’t support two of you. If she lives, you die.”
Mila turned sharply toward the clone. “What is he talking about?”
The clone hesitated. For the first time, fear flickered in her eyes.
“Mila,” Lang continued, “you’ve seen what happens when the link stabilizes. She’s your shadow. Your mind can’t contain both identities — it’ll collapse.”
The clone’s jaw tightened. “Don’t listen to him.”
But Mila could feel it — a sharp pulse between them, like static electricity crawling beneath her skin. Her head throbbed. Their breathing synced, their hearts beating in perfect rhythm.
One mind. Two bodies.
And a link that could destroy them both.
“Mila,” Lang said softly. “If you want to live… step away from her.”
The clone turned to Mila. “Don’t you dare.”
Mila looked between them, her pulse hammering.
For a heartbeat, she wanted to believe the clone — but deep down, her body was trembling from something new: pain. Real, splitting pain that made her vision flicker.
Lang’s voice echoed again.
> “Choose.”
The elevator platform began to rise on its own, metal groaning. Guards shouted below. Alarms blared louder, almost deafening.
Mila grabbed her head, gasping. “What’s happening to me?”
The clone caught her before she fell. “Hold on, I’ve got you.”
And as the doors above opened to the night sky, Mila whispered, half-conscious, “Who’s going to save us now?”
The clone’s eyes glowed bright blue.
“Maybe we save ourselves.”
The elevator broke through the surface with a blast of cold air and moonlight — and as the facility sealed shut beneath them, both girls vanished into the darkness.
- Writer
