Chapter Thirty-Two: When the Past Knocks Back
The door didn't explode.
That was the worst part.
It opened slowly, deliberately—like whoever stood on the other side wanted them to feel the moment stretch.
Lucien's hand tightened around Hazel's wrist. Not controlling. Anchoring.
"Stay behind me," he mouthed.
Hazel shook her head once.
No more hiding.
The hallway light spilled into the room, slicing the darkness in half. A figure stepped inside, tall and calm, dressed too neatly for someone breaking in at midnight.
He smiled.
"Hazel Vale," he said smoothly. "You look… incomplete."
Something in her snapped into place.
Not fear.
Recognition.
Her head pulsed, and suddenly the memories weren't fragments anymore—they were floods.
A sterile room.
Wires against her temples.
This man's voice, saying the same thing:
Incomplete.
"You," Hazel whispered.
Lucien stiffened. "You know him?"
"Oh, I remember him," she said, her voice steadier than she felt. "He's the reason I forgot how to breathe for two years."
The man chuckled, unbothered. "Still dramatic. Good. That means the reset didn't break you."
"Step away from her," Lucien warned.
The man finally looked at him. His smile faded—just a little.
"Lucien Vale," he said. "Always loyal. Even when you're on the wrong side of history."
Hazel's chest tightened. "Wrong side?"
Lucien didn't answer.
That silence told her everything.
"You helped them," Hazel said slowly, turning to Lucien. "Didn't you?"
Lucien swallowed. "I helped you escape."
"That's not what I asked."
The man clapped softly. "Ah. There it is. The fracture point. You always did your best work when your heart was breaking, Hazel."
She stepped forward before Lucien could stop her.
"What do you want?" she demanded.
"To finish what we started," the man replied. "You were never meant to live a normal life. You were designed to see beyond it."
Hazel laughed, but it came out shaky. "Funny. I didn't sign up for that."
"You did," he said gently. "Over and over. Every time we asked."
Her knees almost buckled.
Lucien caught her this time, arms firm around her shoulders. "Don't listen to him," he said urgently. "They manipulated you. You were young. You were desperate for answers."
Hazel closed her eyes—and the last wall finally broke.
She saw herself nodding.
Heard herself say yes.
Felt the moment she realized the cost.
When she opened her eyes, they burned with something new.
Resolve.
"I'm not your experiment anymore," she said.
The man studied her, then smiled wider. "Good. That means Phase Two can begin."
Before either of them could react, the lights died completely.
The world tilted.
And Hazel felt it—the surge inside her waking fully for the first time.
Not chaos.
Control.
The man's voice echoed in the darkness, amused and certain:
"Welcome back, Hazel."
And somewhere deep inside her, something ancient answered.