ARIA'S POV
My eyes are still flashing black in the rear-view mirror.
"Damien," I whisper. "Something's wrong with me."
He glances over while driving. "What do you—" He sees my reflection and slams on the brakes. "Your eyes!"
"I know!" Panic claws at my throat. "The demons—when I absorbed them—I think they're still INSIDE me."
Trunk-Aria laughs from the back. "Of course they are. You think you can just swallow eleven interdimensional parasites and they'll politely die? They're hibernating. Waiting. Building strength. In a few days, they'll take over completely and you'll be their PUPPET."
"Shut up!" Vivian snaps. "You don't know that."
"Actually, I do. Because it happened to another copy—Aria 3. She absorbed demons too. Lasted four days before they consumed her from the inside. She's one of the twelve hunting you now. Completely possessed. Completely insane."
My hands shake. "How do I stop it?"
"You can't," Trunk-Aria says simply. "You're already dead. You just don't know it yet."
"There has to be a way." Ethan pulls up something on his phone. "Dr. Wei's research mentioned purification protocols—"
"Which require equipment we don't have and time we don't have." Trunk-Aria's voice is almost gentle. "Face it, copy. Your expiration date is in seventy-two hours. Maybe less."
Damien's jaw clenches. "We'll find a way. We always do."
But I can feel it now that I'm looking for it—a squirming sensation deep in my mind. Like worms burrowing through my thoughts. The demons aren't gone. They're WAITING.
My phone buzzes with a new text from an unknown number:
"Aria 7 here. Just killed 4 and absorbed her power. I'm coming for you next, 1. Better run. "
Below it, a photo of a girl who looks exactly like me, standing over another identical girl's corpse.
"Oh god," Vivian breathes, seeing the message. "They're KILLING each other."
"Of course they are." Trunk-Aria sounds bored. "The organization designed it that way. Twelve copies enter, one copy leaves. Winner takes all—the right to exist, the singularity power, everything. It's a battle royale with yourself as every opponent."
"Why?" I demand. "Why create twelve of us?"
"Because the organization doesn't know which version will be strongest. So they made a dozen and let nature—or murder—decide." She meets my eyes in the mirror. "Ten more to go. How many do you think you can kill before the demons take over?"
I want to say I won't kill anyone. That I'll find another way.
But another text arrives: "Aria 9 just died. 2 got her. That's three down, nine left."
They're dropping like flies. And each death makes the survivors STRONGER.
"We need a plan," Ethan says. "If we're going to survive this—"
"WE aren't surviving anything." I cut him off. "I am. This is MY fight."
"Aria, you can't face eleven versions of yourself alone—"
"Yes I can. Because I'm the only one who absorbed demons. The only one who became a singularity. The others might be copies of me, but I'm the EVOLVED version." I look at each of them. "You three need to get somewhere safe. If I'm going to turn into a demon-puppet in three days, I don't want you near me when it happens."
"Absolutely not," Damien says immediately. "We're not leaving you."
"You don't have a CHOICE." My voice comes out harsh, desperate. "If those demons take over, I'll kill you. All of you. Is that what you want?"
Silence.
"Thought so." I open the car door. "Drop me at the next corner. I'll handle this alone."
"Where will you go?" Vivian asks quietly.
"Hunting." I step out into the night. "If there are twelve copies, I need to find them before they find me. And maybe—just maybe—if I absorb enough of them, I'll be strong enough to fight the demons inside me."
It's a terrible plan. But it's the only one I have.
Damien gets out too. "Then I'm coming with you."
"Damien—"
"My mother died alone, fighting demons she didn't understand. I won't let you do the same." His eyes are fierce. "You can order me to leave. You can threaten me. But I'm NOT abandoning you. Understand?"
God, why does he have to be so STUBBORN?
"Fine," I mutter. "But stay behind me. And if my eyes go fully black—"
"I'll do what needs to be done," he says quietly.
Meaning he'll kill me. Just like he wanted to do for his mother.
Somehow, that's comforting.
"What about us?" Ethan gestures to himself and Vivian.
"Keep Trunk-Aria secured. Get her somewhere safe." I glance at the trunk. "And maybe figure out if SHE'S really a copy too, or if she's lying to save herself."
Trunk-Aria's laugh is bitter. "Oh, I'm a copy. We're ALL copies. But at least I'm honest about it."
I slam the trunk closed on her voice.
Damien and I start walking into the dark city. Somewhere out there, nine other versions of me are hunting and being hunted.
"How do we find them?" Damien asks.
I close my eyes and reach for my timeline vision. Each copy of me creates a distortion—a knot in reality where multiple versions exist simultaneously. I can FEEL them like pins on a map.
"Three blocks east," I say. "Two copies together. Fighting."
We run.
The alley we find them in is splattered with blood. Two girls who look exactly like me are locked in combat—one has a knife, the other has some kind of supernatural glow around her fists.
"Stop!" I shout.
They both freeze and turn to stare at me.
"Another one," Knife-Aria says. "Perfect. Two birds, one stone."
"Wait—we don't have to fight!" I hold up my hands. "We're all victims here. The organization WANTS us to kill each other. But if we work together—"
Knife-Aria laughs. "Work together? Are you stupid? Only ONE of us gets to exist. The rest are spare parts."
She lunges at me.
I dodge, barely. My timeline vision shows me where she'll strike next—left, right, thrust—
I block each move, but she's FAST. And she fights like she has nothing to lose.
Because she doesn't.
Glowing-Fist-Aria joins in, attacking us both.
It's chaos. Three versions of me trying to kill each other in a dirty alley while Damien shouts warnings.
Then I feel it—that SQUIRMING in my mind intensifies. The demons are waking up, feeding on the violence, the fear, the death wish.
My eyes flash black again.
And suddenly I'm STRONGER.
I grab Knife-Aria's wrist mid-swing and TWIST. She screams. I don't let go. I can feel her energy, her life force, her very EXISTENCE trying to escape—
And I PULL.
Just like with the demons, I absorb her.
She dissolves into light and smoke, her essence flooding into me. Her memories, her skills, her timeline—all MINE now.
I gasp, overwhelmed by suddenly being TWO people at once.
Glowing-Fist-Aria backs away, terrified. "What are you?"
"The winner," I say, and my voice sounds wrong. Deeper. Layered with echoes.
She runs.
I start to chase—the demons WANT me to chase, to hunt, to FEED—
But Damien grabs my arm. "Aria, stop. You're losing yourself."
I look down at my hands. They're glowing black now, not white. The demon power is mixing with my singularity abilities.
"I can feel her," I whisper. "The copy I just absorbed. Her thoughts, her memories. She was starving on the streets. The organization promised her food, shelter, purpose. All she had to do was survive long enough to become the 'real' Aria."
"And you killed her."
"I absorbed her," I correct. "She's not dead. She's just... part of me now."
Is that better or worse?
Damien studies my face. "Your eyes are fading back to normal. That's good."
"For now. But the more I use this power, the stronger the demons get." I lean against the alley wall, exhausted. "This is impossible. I can't win. If I don't absorb the other copies, they'll kill me. But if I DO absorb them, the demons take over faster. I'm damned either way."
"Then we find the organization and make them FIX you."
"They won't. I'm disposable. Experimental. They'll just make Aria 13 and start over."
My phone buzzes. Another text: "Aria 11 here. I know what you're becoming. The demon-hybrid. I've seen your future—you lose control in 48 hours and kill everyone you love. But I can help you. Meet me at the old recording studio on Fifth Street. Alone. I have information about the purification protocol."
It's obviously a trap.
But what choice do I have?
"I'm going," I tell Damien.
"Of course you are." He doesn't even argue this time. "Because you're just that stubborn."
"It's kept me alive so far."
We start walking toward Fifth Street. The city is quiet, dark, dangerous.
Halfway there, Damien's phone rings.
He answers, listens, and his face goes white. "When?... How bad?... We're on our way."
"What happened?"
"That was Ethan. Someone attacked them while they were securing Trunk-Aria." His voice shakes. "Vivian is in the hospital. Critical condition. And Trunk-Aria is GONE."
My stomach drops. "Gone where?"
"That's the thing. According to the security footage..." He shows me his phone.
The video shows Trunk-Aria breaking free of her bonds with SUPERNATURAL strength. Her eyes are black. Completely black.
"She was possessed the whole time," I breathe. "The organization planted her to get close to us."
"And now she's loose in the city, hunting the other copies. Hunting YOU." Damien looks at me. "We need to—"
A woman's scream cuts through the night.
We run toward the sound.
And find something that makes my blood freeze.
All eight remaining copies—including me—are standing in a circle in the middle of the street.
No. Wait.
Seven copies are standing in a circle.
Around ME.
I'm in the CENTER, trapped.
But I'm also standing next to Damien, watching.
How am I in two places at once?
"Aria?" Damien's voice is uncertain. "Which one is really you?"
I open my mouth to answer—
But so does the Aria in the center of the circle.
And six other voices say "I AM" at exactly the same time.
All of us. All eight. All claiming to be the REAL Aria.
And standing behind the circle, smiling with those demon-black eyes, is Trunk-Aria.
"Welcome to the final round," she says. "Eight copies. One night. Only one survives. Let the TRUE game begin."
She snaps her fingers.
And all eight of me start SCREAMING as our minds connect, merge, and tear apart simultaneously.
I don't know which body is mine anymore.
I don't know which thoughts are mine.
I don't know which memories are REAL.
Am I the one standing by Damien?
Or am I one of the seven in the circle?
Or am I ALL of them?
And as consciousness splinters across eight bodies, I realize the horrible truth:
I'm not becoming a demon.
I already AM one.
I always was.
And the real Aria Chen died ten years ago.
We're all just parasites wearing her face.