Location: Vencor's headquarters.
The atmosphere is silent—too silent.
A single man kneels before Vencor, trembling.
Vencor:
"Release it."
A small metal case is opened.
Inside—a thin glass ampoule, filled with a black-violet mist swirling like smoke trapped in a bottle.
Chain of Ruin.
A drug engineered to collapse the nervous system instantly.
One breath… the brain shuts down.
Days later, organs fail.
Death arrives quietly.
Vencor doesn't smile. He just watches the swirling gas.
Vencor:
"Send it to the Owls first.
I want to see how Emma reacts…
when everything she touches begins…
to die."
---
SCENE — THE OWLS' BASE
A peaceful afternoon.
Owls resting, laughing, playing cards, cooking, reading.
Then—
A crash at the entrance.
A small glass vial rolls across the floor.
It cracks.
Hissss…
Black-violet mist spreads.
The Owls inhale before they even understand.
One by one—
Thud.
Thud.
Thud.
Bodies fall.
Mouths foaming.
Eyes rolling back.
Limbs twitching violently—then going still.
Silence.
Just silence.
---
TWO SURVIVORS
Aria and Selene had masks on—Aria because she was cleaning chemicals, Selene because she was smoking near an open vent.
They looked around—
Their family.
Their friends.
All falling.
Aria panicked first.
Aria (Angrily):
"SELENE—THEY'RE NOT BREATHING—SELENE—"
Selene, for once, had no arrogance.
No attitude.
Just pure horror.
Selene:
"Chain of Ruin… this is Vencor.
This is him."
Aria grabbed Selene's wrist, voice cracking:
Aria:
"We have to tell Emma. RIGHT NOW."
Selene nodded.
No jealousy.
No obsession.
Just urgency.
They rode a car, and drove to.
Emma.
---
Emma, Diana, Mostang, Carlo, Kane—gathered around a quiet living area.
Selene bursts in first—panting, pale, shaking.
Selene:
"EMMA—LISTEN TO ME—"
Aria follows—eyes red, breath unstable.
Aria:
"The Owls… they're down.
Chain of Ruin.
Vencor attacked—
They're not waking up—"
The room freezes.
Everyone turns to Emma.
She doesn't blink.
She doesn't gasp.
She just stands.
But the silence around her feels like the calm before a massacre.
Her voice is low, steady, terrifying:
Emma:
"…How many survived?"
Aria:
"Just me… and Selene."
Diana goes cold.
Mostang stops breathing mid-exhale.
Carlo clenches a fist.
Kane starts shaking.
Emma slowly ties her hair.
Calm. Focused. Unmoving.
Emma:
"Then we move.
Immediately.
Gear up.
Masks. Gloves.
We don't breathe that air."
She walks past them.
No shouting.
No emotion.
Just execution.
----
The door was still open when Emma arrived.
She stepped through it slowly.
No footsteps.
No hesitation.
Just her shadow stretching forward across the concrete floor.
The air was still.
Too still.
Her eyes scanned the room once.
Bodies.
Their bodies laid where they fell.
Some collapsed over chairs.
Some halfway through standing.
Some lying on the floor, arms folded unnaturally beneath them.
A card game was frozen mid-play.
One cup of tea was still warm.
Emma said nothing.
Aria stood behind her—Watching. Upset.
Selene behind Aria, jaw clenched, eyes burning.
Diana, Mostang, Kane, Carlo—stood by the door, unable to move forward.
Emma walked.
Her boots made no sound.
Like she was gliding.
She passed by the first body—
She checked the pulse.
There was none.
Her expression didn't change.
Emma didn't cry.
She didn't look angry.
She didn't look anything.
Just empty.
She moved to another.
Then another.
Checking each one.
One by one.
Each time she stood up, the room seemed quieter.
Kane clenches his teeth, squeezing his palm
Mostang lit a cigarette
Diana stared at the ceiling, mad.
Aria spoke.
Aria:
"Emma… I'm… sorry… I couldn't—"
Emma stopped walking.
Slowly, she turned her head.
Her eyes met Aria's.
Not cold.
Not warm.
Just tired.
Emma:
"It's not your fault, Aria."
Aria nods.
Selene stayed quiet.
She watched Emma's back.
The straight posture.
The stillness.
The silence.
She didn't look back.
Emma:
"Diana.
Start sealing the exits.
Mostang.
Check if any survived in the lower rooms.
Carlo, Kane.
Burn the contaminated equipment.
Actually. Burn the whole place."
They nodded.
No one questioned her.
No one spoke.
Emma walked to the center of the room.
Her fists clenched, but her face stayed empty.
Selene stepped closer—slowly—like approaching a wolf.
Selene (soft, cautious):
"Emma… what are you feeling right now…?"
Emma didn't turn.
Didn't blink.
Her voice was calm.
Too calm.
Emma:
"…Nothing."
But the silence after that sentence…
Felt like something in the world just cracked.
----
The fire was still visible from the hill.
Orange light reflecting in everyone's eyes.
No one spoke during the walk back.
No one had the words.
When they returned to the hideout, the door shut behind them, and silence pressed against the walls.
Emma didn't sit.
She didn't breathe like everyone else did.
She just stood, looking at Diana.
Diana's face was blank.
She looked tired — not physically, but like her body was dragging something heavy inside her.
Emma stepped closer.
No hesitation.
No emotion.
Just truth.
Emma:
"Diana.
Me and you."
The room froze.
Kane stopped mid-breath.
Mostang's cigarette slipped slightly in his fingers.
Celeste looked up from the floor.
Carlo's eyes sharpened.
Diana blinked once.
Diana:
"…Just us?"
Emma nodded.
Her voice was low, steady — the kind that doesn't leave space for arguments.
Emma:
"They're targeting us directly now.
Not the team.
Us.
So it's me and you."
The room felt smaller.
Mostang stepped forward, fists clenched.
Mostang:
"Emma— we can—"
She didn't even look at him.
Emma:
"No."
Just that one word.
Mostang swallowed his frustration.
Kane's voice cracked.
Kane:
"But— we're a team—"
Emma turned her head.
Her eyes softened—just barely—but the softness hurt more than anger.
Emma:
"And that's why you stay alive."
Kane shut his mouth.
Carlo exhaled slowly and spoke with no emotion:
Carlo:
"You two going means assassination-level work."
Emma didn't deny it.
Diana finally stepped forward.
No hesitation.
No fear.
Diana:
"When do we leave?"
Emma looked at her — really looked — like recognizing something.
Something only they understood.
Emma:
"Now."
No dramatic gestures.
No weapons waving.
No speeches.
Just two girls who had both lost too much.
Diana grabbed her jacket and tied her hair back.
Emma reached for her jacket also.
She slid it on slowly.
The room felt colder.
Selene, who had been leaning against the wall, stepped closer — her voice low, trying to sound calm, but jealousy bleeding through the cracks.
Selene:
"…Do you really trust only her?"
Emma didn't look back.
Emma:
"I don't trust anyone."
Then she looked at Diana.
Just Diana.
Emma:
"But I know how she fights."
Diana's jaw tightened — not pride.
Not pain.
Just understanding.
Emma opened the door.
Night air rushed in.
No one stopped them.
No one could.
They walked out together.
Side by side.
Silent. Unbreakable. Deadly.
The door closed behind them.
Chapter end