Liam stood there.
Staring at the glass. At the blood streaked across it. At the girl lying unconscious on the floor. At the mangled bodies of the tiger and the guard.
His mind was trying to process what he’d just witnessed.
’She crushed them. With her mind. Just raised her hands and crushed them like they were nothing.’
He’d fought the X Killer. Seen what enhanced abilities could do. But this was different. Watching it happen to soone else. Watching a little girl do it.
His stomach felt tight. Uneasy.
The air in the observation room was cold. Recycled and filtered. That sterile sll hospitals had, except sharper. More chemical. Like sothing was always being cleaned.
Dr. Renfield was still writing. The scratch of his pen against paper was the only sound in the room. Making notes. Completely unbothered by the carnage.
Elena touched Liam’s arm. "Co on. There’s more to see."
More.
Liam pulled his eyes away from the glass. Followed her.
They left the observation room. Walked down another corridor. Longer than the last. The overhead lights were recessed into the ceiling. Bright. No shadows. The kind of lighting that left nowhere to hide.
The floor was polished concrete. His footsteps made no sound. Elena’s heels did. A quiet, asured click every few steps.
This corridor had more doors. All of them with windows. Reinforced glass with wire threading through it in a tight grid.
Elena stopped at the first one. Gestured for Liam to look.
Inside was another room. Smaller than the last. Maybe twenty feet by twenty feet. Padded walls. White. Clean. No furniture. No cracks in the padding.
A boy was in there. Maybe fourteen. Skinny. Wearing all white. His feet were bare against the floor.
He was standing in the center of the room. His back to the window. Still.
Then he moved.
Jumped straight up. His hands and feet hitting the ceiling. And he stuck there.
Like a spider.
He crawled across the ceiling. Fast. His movents jerky and unnatural. Like a video of sothing played back wrong. Then down the wall. Across the floor. Up another wall.
Never falling. Just sticking.
Liam watched. ’He can climb on anything.’
He pressed two fingers to the glass, then dropped his hand.
The boy never looked at the window. Just kept moving. Climbing. Like he’d been doing this for hours and would keep doing it for hours more.
Elena moved to the next door.
Inside was a man. Mid-twenties. He was sitting on the floor with his knees pulled to his chest. His head down. A single light above him. The rest of the room dim.
Then his head started to change.
His hair moved first. Then it grew. Rapidly. Shooting outward in every direction. Long, sharp spikes erupting from his scalp and extending out around him like a starburst. They were dark and rigid. Covering his entire head.
Then they retracted. Slowly. Pulling back in, shrinking down until his hair just lay flat again. Normal.
Then they grew again. Faster.
Over and over. Growing. Retracting. Growing. Retracting.
The man’s face was blank. Emotionless. Like he was performing a task he’d done a thousand tis. Like he’d forgotten there was anything else to do.
Elena moved to the next door without a word.
This room looked empty at first. Sa white walls. Sa floor. A light in the center. Nothing else.
Liam frowned. "There’s no one in there."
"Look closer," Elena said.
Liam pressed his face closer to the glass. Scanned the room slowly. The corners. The edges.
Then he saw movent. A shimr. Like heat waves rising off pavent. Sothing that made the air bend slightly where it passed.
Soone was there. Walking. Moving around the periter of the room. But completely invisible.
Liam stepped back. "Invisibility."
"Yes." Elena’s voice was flat. Informational. "No enhanced strength. No durability. Just invisibility. Makes him useful for reconnaissance. Nothing else."
She moved to the next door.
Inside was a lady. Maybe twenty–five. She was running. Full sprint. Around the periter of the room, tracing the sa path in a tight oval. Her sneakers squeaked faintly against the floor with each pivot.
Fast. But not superhuman. Just fast.
She’d been running for who knows how long. Her face was red. Her hair matted flat to her forehead. Sweat darkening the collar of her shirt. Her breathing was labored and audible even through the glass. Ragged and wet.
But she didn’t stop. Just kept running.
Elena spoke without looking at Liam. "Enhanced endurance. She can run for days without stopping. No enhanced speed. No enhanced strength. Just endurance."
Liam watched her round the corner and start again. Her eyes were fixed on nothing. Staring at the middle distance.
’She looks exhausted. But she’s still going.’
He wondered if she’d asked to run today. Or if running was just what they told her to do.
Elena moved to the last door.
Liam could hear it before he got to the window. A low hum from equipnt. The kind of sound dical machines made.
Inside was another girl. Maybe sixteen. Sitting in a chair. Electrodes attached to her temples. More on her arms. Wires ran across her lap and up to a machine bolted to the wall behind her.
The monitor on it flickered with green lines.
A man in a lab coat was standing next to the machine. His back to the window. Watching the screen. His posture relaxed.
Then the girl’s body jerked. Convulsed. Her back arching hard against the chair. Her hands gripping the armrests. Her knuckles white.
Electricity.
They were shocking her.
The girl’s mouth opened. But no sound ca out. Just her body shaking. Her muscles tensing against themselves.
Then it stopped. The girl slumped in the chair. Her chest heaving. Her head dropping forward.
The man in the lab coat made a note. Clicked his pen. Then pressed a button.
It happened again.
Liam’s jaw tightened. His eyes dropped to the floor. He stood there a mont, saying nothing. His hand found the doorfra beside the window. He wasn’t leaning on it. Just touching it.
He made himself look away.
Elena was already walking. Led him to another area. Larger.
The corridor opened out into an open space. High ceiling. Rows of long tables running parallel down the length of the room. Stainless steel surfaces. Everything under bright, unforgiving light.
The sll hit him differently here. Chemical. Sharp. Sothing sharp underneath it, like solvent. And faintly sweet in a way that didn’t belong.
Beakers. Burners. Chemicals in labeled containers lined up in neat rows. People in white coats were working. Mixing. asuring. Writing notes. No one spoke. The only sounds were glassware clinking and equipnt humming.
Elena stopped in the center of the room. Gestured around. "This is where they make the drugs. The serums. The enhancents. Everything you saw back started from here."
Liam looked at the rows of vials on one table. Different colors. Red. Clear. A pale, milky blue. He thought about what each one did to soone.
’They’re making them. Creating superhumans. Like it’s a factory.’
He thought about the little girl with the blood on the glass. The boy on the ceiling. The man with his hair shooting out in spikes. The woman running herself into the ground.
’Is the world just different now? Did it switch from normal to this? Superhumans. Experints. Secret labs under hospitals. Did it happen while I was just living my life and not noticing?’
He stood in the middle of it all for a mont. Just stood there. Listening to the quiet clink of glass and the soft scratch of people writing.
Then another thought settled over him like cold water.
’They’re like low-budget X-n. Abilities that are useful. But not powerful enough to matter.’
He looked at Elena. "None of them seem happy."
Elena looked out across the lab. At the people in white coats. At the equipnt. Her expression didn’t change. She took her ti answering.
"They’re not supposed to be happy," she said. "They’re supposed to be useful."
Liam’s stomach turned. He kept his voice even. "And the little girls?"
Elena’s eyes didn’t move. "Sa thing."
Liam wanted to say sothing. Wanted to do sothing. There was a specific version of it he kept reaching for. Pulling out his phone. Calling soone. Doing sothing that made sense.
’I can’t just run to the cops. They’d never believe . And even if they did, judging by how we got in here, if you’re not part of the Seven Families, you’re not getting access to this place. The cops wouldn’t be able to do anything.’
He dropped that thought.
He felt helpless. Angry. But there was nothing he could do.
Not right now.
Elena turned. "Let’s go."
They walked back the way they ca. Through the open lab. Back into the corridor. Past the doors. Past the rooms. The fluorescent lights humming above them the whole way.
As they approached the exit, Dr. Renfield appeared. Stepped out from one of the side rooms like he’d been waiting.
He smiled. "Leaving so soon?"
Elena didn’t stop walking. "Yes."
Dr. Renfield fell into step beside them. His shoes clicked against the polished floor in a slightly different rhythm than Elena’s. "Doesn’t your client want to pick sothing? Make a purchase?"
Elena stopped. Turned to look at him. Her expression cold. "What did I tell you about questioning my client?"
Dr. Renfield raised his hands. Palms out. "I’m not asking him. I’m asking you."
Elena’s eyes narrowed. "I thought it was a mistake the first ti. But I see you’re actually stupid enough to ask that."
Dr. Renfield’s smile faltered. Sothing moved through his expression. Quick. Gone just as fast. "I’m sorry. Really. I shouldn’t have—"
"Better," Elena interrupted. "Now leave so I can take my client elsewhere."
Dr. Renfield nodded quickly. "Of course. Of course."
He stepped aside. Gestured toward the exit with both hands. Still smiling.
Elena walked past him without looking at him again. Liam followed.
As they reached the door, Liam glanced back.
Dr. Renfield was standing there. Watching them. His hands clasped in front of him. His smile was back. Wide. Too wide. Mouth closed. Eyes bright in a way that had nothing warm in it.
’Creepy.’
Liam turned back. Followed Elena through the door.
---
Back at Liam’s apartnt.
The fan was on. Spinning slowly overhead. The blades cutting through the warm air in long, lazy rotations. Making a soft whirring sound that filled the room.
Liam was lying on the bed. His back against the mattress. His hands crossed behind his head on the pillow. Staring up at the ceiling. Watching the fan turn.
Thinking.
About all of it. The girl and the blood on the glass. The boy stuck to the ceiling. The man with his hair growing and retracting over and over. The invisible shape moving through the empty room. The woman running herself into the ground. The girl in the chair.
’How many of them are there? How long has this been going on? How many people know about this?’
His mind wouldn’t stop. Just kept turning it over. Picking it up and putting it down. The fan kept going. The room was warm.
"How dare you."
Elena’s voice broke through his thoughts.
He blinked. Looked down.
Elena was between his legs. Naked. Her hair falling over her shoulders. Her hand resting on him. Fingers curled around loosely.
She was looking at him. Her expression playful. Teasing. "How dare you not concentrate on ."
Liam smiled. Slow. So of the weight in his chest eased a little. "Sorry. I shouldn’t have gotten distracted."
Elena’s lips curved into a smile. Slow. Deliberate. "Ti to get punished."
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