Kaven shut the door quietly, the envelope still in his hand. The paper was thin, like it had been torn from a notebook, the ink smudged just slightly, like it had been written in a hurry.
He climbed the attic stairs, boots slow on the creaking wood. Lara was already crouched in the far corner, flashlight off, clutching the blanket around her like armor.
He held up the note. "Juliette left us another message."
Lara's eyes flicked to the paper, then back to him. "She was here?"
"She knocked. No visual, no footsteps, no car. Just this."
He handed it over. She read the words silently, lips barely moving.
The girl isn't the only one they made forget.
Lara's breath caught. "You think… she means you?"
Kaven didn't answer at first. "I've had gaps," he admitted after a moment. "Memories that feel… foggy. Like watching a film I've seen but can't remember the ending of."
Lara stared at him. "So what if this isn't just about me? What if the project—what if it rewrote more than one person?"
Kaven sat down beside her, rubbing a hand through his hair. "That would mean we're both pieces of something neither of us fully remembers."
Lara's fingers tightened around the note. "Juliette knows more. She's trying to steer us, little by little."
He looked at her. "And these coordinates… they might hold the next piece."
Lara nodded. "Then we go."
—
By morning, they were packed again. The forest road was narrow, thick with overgrowth and silence. No other cabins. No signs of anyone watching.
The coordinates led them deep into the restricted northern zone. An old research station once operated here, before the war, before the divide between civilian and classified land.
But now, only satellite records remained of it. No roads. No names. Just a blinking dot on their GPS and dense forest ahead.
Kaven parked the Jeep half a mile from the marked location. They moved on foot from there, the forest colder than before, even though the sun was out.
Lara stopped suddenly.
"Do you feel that?" she asked quietly.
He turned. "What?"
She shook her head. "I don't know. Like the air's heavier. Like we're being pulled toward something."
A few more paces — then they saw it.
Half-buried beneath moss and soil, an old concrete entrance. Rusted metal doors, one hanging off its hinge. A government seal faded on the side — barely visible now.
"Looks like this was it," Kaven muttered.
They stepped inside.
The air changed instantly — colder, stiller.
The inside looked like a bunker, lined with narrow corridors and flickering emergency lights. Like it had power... but not from the grid.
They walked slowly, careful with each step.
Lara's fingers grazed the wall, touching metal that felt too warm.
Then a low hum started.
Same frequency as before.
Her hand recoiled.
Kaven turned, alert. "Did you touch something?"
"No," she whispered.
Then the hum grew louder.
And the hallway lit up, one light after the other, leading forward… deeper.
"It's awake," Lara said.
Kaven raised his weapon.
"No," she said. "It's not threatening us."
He looked at her. "How do you know?"
"I don't," she admitted. "But something in here… remembers me."
They moved forward slowly, deeper into the underground maze.
And behind them, far back in the trees, a shadow shifted — and quietly followed.
---
End of Chapter 21