The train into Chicago groaned like a dying thing, steel grinding against steel. Lyra sat by the window, a baseball cap pulled low over her curls, oversized sunglasses hiding most of her face. She looked nothing like herself — not the girl who once shot photos in the golden light of downtown rooftops, not the woman who'd run through flames with a gun in her hand.
Beside her, Damien was someone else entirely. His usual sharp, tailored look was gone — replaced with a construction jacket, fake stubble, and a quiet menace that couldn't quite be hidden by disguise.
Vega had done her job well. The IDs she'd forged were flawless — Mila Ray and Evan Holt, a pair of maintenance contractors from out of state. But as the city skyline loomed closer through the mist, Lyra could feel her heartbeat quicken. The streets below looked the same — bright, busy, alive — but she knew the Syndicate was watching from every corner.
Damien leaned slightly toward her. "Stay close when we get off the train."
She nodded, gripping the strap of her camera bag. "How will we find Sable?"
"He'll find us," Damien said.
That didn't comfort her.
---
They got off at an abandoned freight stop near Lower Wacker Drive — the underbelly of the city, where the air smelled of oil, smoke, and secrets. The hum of the city above barely reached down here.
Damien checked his phone, then slid it into his jacket. "He's late."
Lyra scanned the shadows. "Maybe he's being careful."
"Or maybe he's dead."
Before she could reply, a flicker of movement caught her eye — a figure emerging from behind a pillar, hoodie drawn low, gloves covering his hands.
"Sable?" Damien asked quietly.
The figure lifted his head. "You really shouldn't use names out loud, Cole."
Lyra studied him. He couldn't have been older than twenty-five, but his eyes were sharp — calculating in a way that said he'd seen too much too soon.
"You brought her," Sable said, nodding toward Lyra.
"She's part of this," Damien replied.
"That's what you said about Vega once."
Lyra frowned. "You know her?"
Sable smirked. "Everyone knows Vega. Especially the ones she burns."
---
They followed him through a maze of underground tunnels until they reached a small workshop lit only by the blue glow of monitors. Old tech cluttered every surface — laptops, wires, and circuit boards like veins of a machine.
Sable motioned for them to sit. "You have the files?"
Damien handed him the encrypted drive. "It's locked behind four firewalls and a biometric key."
Sable inserted the drive into his setup, typing rapidly. "Looks like Syndicate-grade encryption. You sure you want to open this?"
"That's the idea."
Sable glanced up. "Once I do, there's no going back. They'll know. Every alarm on their system will light up like Christmas."
Lyra exchanged a look with Damien. "Then we'd better be ready to run."
Sable grinned faintly. "Now that's the right answer."
---
The decryption took hours. Lyra watched lines of code spill across the screens while Damien paced restlessly. Every few minutes, the building creaked with the sound of distant trains.
Finally, Sable sat back. "Got it."
Damien leaned over his shoulder. "What's in there?"
Sable clicked open a series of files — transaction records, offshore accounts, internal memos. But one folder made Damien freeze.
It was labeled "Project Helix."
Lyra frowned. "What is that?"
Damien's jaw tightened. "A name I was never supposed to see again."
Sable opened the folder. Inside were documents marked classified, with references to experimental programs, human subjects, and payments to multiple shell companies — including one with Damien's signature.
Lyra's voice was barely a whisper. "You worked for them."
He didn't answer.
Sable looked between them. "Looks like they were running something big. Genetic trials. Psychological conditioning. Stuff straight out of a nightmare."
Lyra stepped back. "And you were part of it?"
Damien finally spoke, voice low and steady. "I was security detail. I didn't know what they were doing — not at first. When I found out, I tried to shut it down."
Sable gave a humorless laugh. "Yeah? How'd that work out?"
Damien's silence was answer enough.
Lyra turned away, her pulse roaring in her ears. The man she'd been falling for — the man she'd risked her life for — had once guarded monsters.
"Lyra," Damien said quietly, stepping toward her.
She shook her head. "You don't get to say my name right now."
---
The tension thickened until Sable's computer suddenly beeped.
"Uh, guys?" he said. "We've got a problem."
On his screen, a red warning flashed: INTRUSION DETECTED.
"They traced the signal," Sable said. "They're coming."
Damien grabbed his gun. "How long do we have?"
Sable yanked out the drive. "Minutes. Maybe less."
Lyra's voice trembled. "How did they find us so fast?"
Sable didn't answer. He didn't need to.
Because at that exact moment, Damien's phone buzzed — a single message flashing across the screen:
"You should've stayed gone. – Vega."
---
Gunfire shattered the silence.
The windows exploded inward, glass raining across the floor. Lyra ducked behind a desk as Damien returned fire. Shadows moved outside — Syndicate operatives, masks gleaming in the blue light.
Sable yanked open a floor hatch. "Down! Now!"
Lyra slid through first, the cold metal biting her palms. Damien followed, covering them until the last possible second before dropping into the tunnel below.
They landed hard, the air thick with dust and gunpowder. Sable slammed the hatch shut and sealed it. "That won't hold them long."
Damien turned to him, eyes blazing. "You said this place was off-grid!"
"It was!" Sable snapped. "Until someone fed them our coordinates."
Lyra's stomach dropped. "Vega."
Damien didn't answer — he didn't need to. His silence was all the confirmation she needed.
---
They ran through the tunnels, the sound of gunfire echoing behind them. Lyra's lungs burned. Every muscle screamed for rest, but adrenaline kept her moving.
At one point, Damien caught her arm, pulling her into a side passage as bullets tore through the walls. "Stay with me!" he shouted.
"I'm right here!" she gasped.
When they finally burst through an old service door, the night air hit them like ice. They were back in the open — somewhere near the river, neon lights flickering in puddles at their feet.
Sable slammed the door shut behind them. "We can't stay here. They'll scan for heat signatures."
Damien looked at Lyra. "There's an abandoned subway line two blocks east. If we get there—"
But before he could finish, a sharp voice echoed from the shadows.
"Going somewhere?"
They turned — and there she was.
Vega.
Her leather jacket gleamed under the streetlights, her pistol already raised. Behind her stood three Syndicate operatives.
"Didn't think I'd let you walk out with my data, did you?" she said.
Lyra's heart twisted. "You sold us out."
Vega smiled faintly. "I made a deal. The Syndicate gets the drive, and I get my freedom. Simple math."
Damien stepped forward, gun raised. "You don't do simple anything."
"You're right," she said, lowering her weapon slightly. "Because I still need her."
Lyra froze. "Me?"
Vega nodded. "The Syndicate wants proof their project worked. You're the last surviving subject, Lyra. You're Project Helix."
The world tilted.
"What?" she breathed.
Damien's face went pale. "That's not possible—"
"Oh, it is," Vega said. "You really think it's coincidence you survived that fire six years ago? Or that you heal faster than normal? They built you to survive, sweetheart. You're living proof of their success."
Lyra stumbled back, shaking her head. "No… no, that's not true."
But deep down, somewhere dark and hidden, a memory stirred — of hospitals, white rooms, needles, and pain that burned hotter than fire.
Damien's voice broke through the haze. "Vega, don't."
She smirked. "I'm not the one who did this to her. You were. You guarded those labs, remember?"
Lyra looked at him, eyes wide with horror. "Tell me she's lying."
Damien's silence was answer enough.
Vega sighed. "Love really does make people stupid."
Then she pulled the trigger.
---
The shot never hit Lyra.
Damien moved first — faster than she could register — grabbing her and pulling her behind a pillar as the bullet ricocheted off concrete.
Sable returned fire, hitting one of the Syndicate operatives. Chaos erupted. Gunfire, shouting, the smell of smoke and ozone filling the air.
Lyra clutched Damien's arm. "We have to move!"
He nodded, eyes locked on Vega. "Go! Now!"
But Lyra hesitated. She could see the fury in Vega's expression, the betrayal cutting both ways. For a second, she almost felt sorry for her.
Then Vega fired again — and Damien's body jerked as the bullet caught his shoulder.
"Damien!" Lyra screamed, catching him as he staggered.
Sable grabbed the drive from the ground. "We have to go now!"
Lyra wrapped Damien's arm around her shoulders, half-dragging him toward the subway entrance. The city lights blurred behind them — red, gold, blue — like the world itself was bleeding.
Behind them, Vega shouted something, but Lyra didn't look back.
She couldn't.
---
They didn't stop running until the tunnel swallowed them whole. The noise faded to nothing but their ragged breathing.
Damien sank against the wall, blood seeping through his shirt. Lyra knelt beside him, trembling hands pressing against the wound.
"Stay with me," she whispered.
He looked up at her, eyes dark and dazed. "You shouldn't have come back."
"Stop saying that," she said fiercely. "I'm not leaving you."
He managed a faint smile. "You might regret that."
Lyra shook her head, tears burning her eyes. "Never."
He reached up, brushing her cheek with his blood-stained hand. "Lyra… if what Vega said is true—"
She cut him off. "We'll deal with it. Together."
For a long moment, neither of them spoke. The city above was silent — unaware of the storm brewing beneath its streets.
Then, faintly, the sound of sirens echoed through the tunnels.
Lyra took a deep breath. "We need to find somewhere safe."
Damien nodded weakly. "Sable will know where to go."
She glanced back — but Sable was already gone.
---