Chapter 11 - The Anchor of the Void
Mark spun around, shielding Lily with his body as he glared at the agent with venomous fury. “Get out of my house! Both of you! Touch my family again and I swear to God I’ll kill you with my bare hands!”
The agent didn't flinch; he simply pressed a glowing red button on the side of the metallic cylinder in his hand, and a sharp, high-pitched whine filled the room, making Mark’s ears ring violently. The second girl—the one wrapped in the blue wool blanket—suddenly stepped forward, placing herself between Mark and the tactical operative. Her burn-scarred wrist glowed with a faint, iridescent light that matched the colossal silhouette moving outside the window.
“You can’t contain the core, commander,” the girl spoke, her voice steady, mature, and utterly devoid of childhood innocence. “The cycle has already completed its rotation. Every thirty years, the debt must be paid in full.”
The lead agent cursed under his breath, lowering the cylinder slightly as his tactical radio crackled with frantic static. “Command, we have a total containment failure on the upper tier. The subject is actively interfacing with the primary node. We need immediate thermal sterilization of the entire sector.”
Clara gasped, dropping to her knees and grabbing the agent’s tactical vest. “No! You promised us safe passage if we handed over the box! You said the girls would be spared!”
“Contracts change when the asset goes rogue, Mrs. Reynolds,” the agent replied coldly, shoving her away with a callous flick of his wrist. He raised his radio to his mouth. “Execute Protocol Nine. Burn it to the ground.”
Mark didn't wait to hear the rest of the order. He hoisted Lily higher onto his hip, grabbed Clara’s arm with his free hand, and lunged toward the bedroom window, shattering the remaining shards of glass with his elbow. Below them, the drop to the soft flowerbeds was less than twelve feet.
“Jump!” Mark yelled, shoving Clara over the sill just as a deafening explosion ripped through the hallway behind them, sending a wall of searing heat and white-hot flame rolling into the master bedroom.
May you like
The world outside dissolved into a blur of smoke, flashing emergency lights, and the roaring thunder of the collapsing foundation as Mark leaped into the dark night air with his daughter clutched tightly against his chest.
---
