Echoes of the Unknown [ii]
Chapter 6(ii) – Residue of Silence
POV: Scarlett
The man groaned in his half-conscious state, each breath shallow, like the building was sucking the air from his lungs. Jonah carried him at the back, trying not to jostle his battered frame.
The rest of us pressed on through the last wing of the school.
I hated the way the fluorescent lights flickered above, casting shadows that moved when we didn't. Hated the way my heartbeat echoed off the walls louder than our footsteps. Like this place wanted us to know we didn't belong here.
Jane moved close, clutching her spear tight. "You think he was telling the truth?" she whispered.
"I think he believes it," I muttered back.
That was enough.
Grey took a left turn into a science lab. Tables knocked over, jars shattered, glass everywhere. Some of it was stained brown—dried blood, maybe. Or something else.
Luke motioned for us to spread out.
The silence crept in again. That thick kind, like after a funeral. Where no one wants to say what they're all thinking.
Then Blair froze.
"Uh… guys?"
She stood in front of a cabinet, the glass smeared with grime. Behind it, inside sealed plastic bags, were vials. Syringes. Notes.
Grey stepped forward and opened the case.
The documents were damp but still legible. He scanned one of them quickly.
I read over his shoulder:
"Subject Theta-03 remains stable. Cognitive retention higher than expected. Aggression triggered only under isolation stimulus…"
He didn't say a word.
I looked at him. "Theta. Like the guy said."
He gave the slightest nod.
Luke joined us, looking between the notes and Grey. "You knew this place?"
"I knew places like it," Grey answered. "Didn't think we'd find one still standing."
Jane frowned. "So what, this was some kind of experiment site?"
Blair stepped back, eyes narrowing. "On people?"
"On control," Grey said. "Of death. Of memory. Maybe both."
Suddenly, the air felt heavier. More wrong.
The man groaned again. "They… they stayed behind…" he rasped.
Jonah bent down. "What?"
His eyes cracked open. "Not all of them were dead."
Then—bang.
A heavy crash from the hallway we'd just come from.
Everyone spun around, weapons drawn.
Luke whispered, "We're not alone."
Glass shattered outside the door.
A sharp inhale.
Then running.
Fast. Too fast.
Grey didn't wait.
He bolted into the corridor.
We followed.
The hallway was empty—except for the blood. A smear across the tiles. It hadn't been there seconds ago.
"Split?" Luke asked.
Grey gave a short nod. "Three and three. Circle back at the gym."
Jonah carried the man with Jane. Blair and Luke peeled off. I stayed with Grey.
We moved in silence.
And the silence answered back—with the sound of breathing. Not ours.
Heavy. Guttural.
Then we saw it.
Something standing at the far end of the hall.
It wasn't an undead.
It wasn't… human either.
Not completely.
Its head twitched like a glitch. Its limbs too long. It had no eyes—but turned to face us like it could see.
My body locked.
Grey raised his hatchet. "Back slowly."
But it charged.
Not stumbling—charging.
I barely got my blade up.
Grey intercepted it mid-sprint, his hatchet slamming into its shoulder. It didn't flinch. Didn't bleed right either—more like dark sludge.
I stabbed it in the ribs.
It screeched—a shrill, static wail.
Then Luke's voice came from the side hall. "MOVE!"
He tackled it from behind, buying us seconds.
We ran.
Didn't stop until we burst into the gym.
Everyone else was already there. The doors slammed shut behind us. Grey slid the bolt.
Jonah laid the man down. He was seizing now, foam at his mouth.
"What the hell was that?" Blair gasped.
No one answered.
Because we didn't know.
But deep down?
We all felt it.
Lowridge hadn't just been a test site.
A low hum buzzed through the gym lights—like something had powered on.
Grey stood at the doors, unmoving. Listening.
Then… a voice.
Not from a person. From the ceiling.
"Containment breach acknowledged. Purge sequence initiated."
A dull red light blinked to life near the back wall. Mechanical. Too modern for a school.
Blair backed up slowly. "That voice. Did anyone—?"
Scarlett cut in, "It wasn't human."
Grey turned to us. "We need to leave."
Jonah frowned. "How? The way we came—"
Grey pointed to the far end of the gym, to a wall with peeling paint.
"No," Jane whispered. "That's just—"
Grey walked over and pushed.
A hidden panel hissed open.
Behind it? A stairwell. Leading down.
Luke looked at me, then at the man convulsing on the floor.
And without a word, we followed Grey into the dark.
Whatever was above—whatever Site Theta was hiding—wasn't the only secret left behind.
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