Romancing the Beat – "Dark Night of the Soul")
There are moments in life where everything slows down. When the world holds its breath, waiting for someone—you—to make the right choice. And this? This is one of those moments.
---
You know how people always say that you never really know someone until you stand face-to-face with them? Well, here I am, staring down my own father, and I'm starting to think that might not always be a good thing.
His cold, calculating eyes meet mine, but I don't flinch. I've spent my whole life avoiding this. Avoiding him. But now? There's no escape.
He sighs like he's bored. "So, you finally decided to show up. What do you want, Gray?"
What do I want? Oh, I don't know. Maybe an apology for ruining my life? A heartfelt explanation for why he decided to play God with my brain? But all I can do is stand there, my fists clenched by my sides.
"I want the truth," I say. It comes out raspier than I meant it to, but I don't care.
He raises an eyebrow, leaning back in his chair. "The truth?" He laughs, but it's not a nice sound. "That's a big ask. Are you sure you want to know the whole story?"
I take a deep breath. "I don't have a choice, do I?"
He finally stands up, walking toward me like I'm some kind of puzzle he's about to solve. He doesn't seem worried, not in the slightest. As if I'm still that scared little kid who would never dare challenge him. Well, guess what? That kid's long gone.
"You're right," he says, his voice low and dangerous. "You don't have a choice. You never did."
I hate the smug tone in his voice. "I didn't ask for this. I didn't ask for your experiments or your plans to turn me into your personal little project."
He doesn't flinch. "You were always going to be a part of the bigger picture. You should be thankful. I gave you purpose."
I can't hold back the disgust in my voice. "Purpose? You mean you used me."
He shrugs, unfazed. "Everyone's used for something. Don't be naive, Gray. You were never meant to be some innocent bystander in my plans. You were always going to be central."
I take a step forward. "You never saw me as a person. Just a tool. A thing."
A flicker of something crosses his face, but it's gone so quickly I almost think I imagined it. He meets my gaze, his voice now colder than I thought possible. "If that's how you want to see it, fine. But you were a tool with a purpose. A purpose I've been working toward for years."
I step back, my pulse hammering in my ears. "What's your endgame, huh? What was all of this for?"
He smirks like he's about to drop the most profound truth bomb ever. "Immortality."
There it is. The thing I didn't want to hear. The truth I've been avoiding for so long. My father doesn't care about people. He doesn't care about me. He wants power. He wants to be untouchable, and if it means using me as a stepping stone, he'll do it without a second thought.
---
The silence that follows is thick enough to cut with a knife.
For a moment, I feel like I'm suffocating. All the air has been sucked out of the room. And it hits me like a ton of bricks—this is the man who created me. This is the monster I've been running from. This is the real him.
I force myself to speak, my voice shaking. "You don't get it, do you? You never understood. I'm not a tool. I'm not a project. I'm your daughter."
His eyes narrow. "I never needed a daughter."
That stings. But it's the truth. I always knew it, but hearing it from his lips… it's different. It makes it real.
I swallow hard. "And you never thought about what you were doing to me. To us. You just wanted to build your little empire."
He tilts his head. "You don't understand the bigger picture, Gray. This isn't about you or me. This is about the future. I didn't make the rules, but I'm going to break them."
I can't hold it in anymore. "You ruined my life."
"And now you've come to fix it?" He sneers, like the idea is laughable. "There's no fixing it. You're too far gone."
I want to scream, to punch him, but instead, I take a deep breath. "I'm not giving up. Not this time."
---
The confrontation takes another dark turn.
Suddenly, a door opens behind me, and I feel a cold rush of air. Someone else steps into the room, and for a second, I think I'm imagining things. But then I see him.
Elia.
She steps up beside me, her expression determined. "You're wrong," she says, her voice strong. "Gray can fix this. And so can we."
My father doesn't even look at her. He just sneers again. "What do you think you're going to do? Play the hero?"
"No," she says, her eyes narrowing, "we're not here to play anything. We're here to stop you."
For a moment, my father looks almost… amused. "And how do you think you'll do that? With your friends?"
"I don't need friends," I mutter, stepping forward. "I'm not the one who needs help."
But the words sound hollow, even to me. I know I can't do this alone. I need help. I need them.
Elia looks at me with a small smile, as if to say, I got your back. And for the first time, I don't feel so alone.
---
And then it all starts to crumble.
My father's smug expression falters, just for a moment, when I reach for the device in my pocket. The neural encryption. The one he put inside me.
I hold it up, showing it to him. "This ends. Now."
He chuckles, but it's a dry, empty sound. "You think that little piece of tech is going to change anything?"
"I know it's not," I say, my voice steady, "but this is. I'm done being your puppet."
---
The moment feels like it stretches out forever.
The air is heavy. Tension hangs in every corner of the room. And then, finally, my father steps forward. "You really think you can stop me? You're nothing but a piece on a board."
But I've already made my choice. I'm not going to be his pawn anymore. I'm not going to let him control me. And I'm sure as hell not going to let him destroy the people I care about.
"You're wrong," I say, voice steady. "I'm not your pawn. And I'm not going to let you win."