The next day, the Safehouse buzzed with a tension that felt almost tangible. Word had spread quickly about the night’s mission and the information they’d uncovered. The regime knew about Alina. They weren’t just looking for an oracle; they were hunting her specifically. Alina stood near a small window, watching the light filter through dust-covered glass, her mind churning. She couldn’t shake the image of the document—the label “Subject 12” burned into her thoughts, a constant reminder that she was no longer invisible. Jarek approached her, his face set with determination. “We need to talk about what comes next.” She nodded, bracing herself. She had known from the moment she read that file that things would change. Hiding wasn’t an option anymore; she was a marked target, and every decision from now on could mean the difference between life and […]
Alina barely slept that night. The low murmur of voices drifted through the Safehouse as its occupants moved in and out of shadows, exchanging fragments of information and secrets in tense whispers. She lay on a makeshift cot in a corner, eyes half-closed, trying to listen while keeping her own thoughts hidden. When she did drift off, her dreams were fragmented and strange, visions bleeding into one another. She saw fire, walls crumbling, people running… and at the center of it all, a figure whose face was always just out of reach, calling to her in a voice she couldn’t quite hear. She awoke before dawn, sitting up abruptly, her heart racing. She didn’t know if it was another vision or just a remnant of her fears, but either way, it left her feeling hollow. Her hands shook as she […]
Alina kept to the shadows, her mind racing as she replayed the vision over and over. The man’s voice, cold and commanding, echoed in her thoughts, a warning that settled like a stone in her chest. Whoever he was, he held power—enough to mobilize entire districts and tear through the city in search of her. She knew she had to stay ahead of him, to find answers before he found her. The streets were quiet in the early hours, the sounds of the city muted by the oppressive weight of curfew. In the dim light, Alina moved quickly, blending into the narrow paths that wound through the underbelly of the city. Here, among the forgotten alleys and crumbling buildings, she felt safest, though safety was becoming a relative term. As she approached the outskirts of the district, she glanced up. […]
Alina Valen’s world shifted in shades of gray, shadows casting their eerie silhouettes as she slipped through the narrow alleys of the Inner District. The buildings, towering relics of a time when humanity reached for the sky, now seemed to loom over her like guards. Their once-brilliant façades were dulled with grime, a bleak reminder of a society that had long since traded ambition for control. She kept her hood pulled low, her gaze fixed on the cracked pavement as she moved, counting her steps, one cautious footfall after another. Every sound—a distant shout, a shuffling pair of footsteps—set her heart pounding. This district wasn’t safe, and tonight, the world felt heavier, as though something in the air itself was on the verge of collapse. She couldn’t explain it; she never could. But she had learned to listen to these […]