The wind was sharp atop the ridge. Ava stood at the precipice, her coat flapping against her legs as if trying to pull her back. Below, the ruins of the old Institute compound sprawled like a carcass, half-devoured by moss and time. The past lay there, buried in steel and secrets.
Caroline stood beside her, silent, the morning sun painting her face in fractured gold. She no longer looked like the shattered woman Ava remembered. There was clarity in her eyes now. Determination.
"We go in through the north wing," Ava said. "The surveillance blind spot is still active."
Caroline nodded. "I mapped the patrols. Three guards every fifteen minutes. But they're not expecting anyone to come from above."
Ezra joined them, a rifle slung across his back and his usual half-smile absent. "We do this fast. Find the archive, download everything, and get out."
Ava looked back once more. Not at the compound, but at the world behind them. The mountains. The trail they'd taken. The veil they'd crossed.
"No more running," she said.
They moved as one, descending the ridge with practiced steps. No words were needed now. The mission was clear.
At the fence line, Ezra clipped the wires with silent precision. Caroline slipped through first, then Ava, then Ezra, bringing up the rear. The compound loomed ahead, a ghost of its former power, windows shattered, ivy crawling over cracked walls.
Inside, the corridors were dim and cold. Ava led the way, Cassandra's journal tucked in her pack. The path was burned into her memory—every corner, every turn, every room where a piece of her had been taken.
They reached the archive room without alerting anyone. Caroline hacked the terminal, fingers flying. The screen blinked to life, lines of code streaming.
"Got it," she said. "I'm in."
Ava and Ezra stood watch, tense. Every sound outside was magnified. A cough. A creak. Footsteps?
The download bar crawled. Thirty percent. Forty.
Then—a voice.
"I told them you'd come back."
Ava spun around.
Director Voss stood in the doorway, older but no less dangerous. He held no weapon. Just a tablet in one hand, and that same cold smile she remembered.
"You never could leave things buried," he said.
Ezra raised his gun. "Back off."
Voss ignored him, eyes on Ava. "She told you everything, didn't she? Cassandra. You opened the mirror. You saw the truth."
"I saw what you did to me," Ava said, voice sharp. "To all of us."
"We gave you purpose."
"You stole our lives."
Behind her, the download hit ninety percent.
Voss took a step forward.
Caroline spoke, low and lethal. "You move again and I swear—"
"You won't shoot," Voss said. "You're not a killer, Caroline. You never were. That's why I chose you."
"You were wrong," she whispered.
The gunshot echoed through the hall.
Voss staggered back, hand pressed to his side. Blood bloomed between his fingers.
Ava didn't flinch. She turned to the terminal.
"We're at ninety-five percent," Caroline said.
Sirens wailed.
"They're onto us," Ezra said.
"Hold the door," Ava commanded.
He ran to barricade it.
Voss slumped against the wall, laughing weakly. "You think this matters? The truth won't set you free. It will destroy everything."
"Good," Ava said. "Let it."
The download finished. Caroline yanked the drive free.
"Go!"
They ran.
Through corridors blazing red with alarms. Past old labs where horrors still whispered. Out into the daylight where the world waited, unknowing.
Behind them, the compound began to burn.
Later, at the safehouse, they watched the files pour open—names, records, footage. Evidence. Enough to bring down the whole network.
Ava stared at the screen. At her own face, years younger, eyes wide with fear.
Then she turned it off.
She looked at Caroline and Ezra. "We're going to finish this. Not with silence. But with fire."
They nodded.
Outside, the sky cracked with thunder. A storm was coming.
But for the first time, Ava didn't run.
She stood.
---
Sorry to the readers who read this book I made, if it doesn't meet your expectations, brothers and sisters, etc. Sorry if I update it a little, because I'm a bit tired because of a full day Monday-Wednesday at 2 pm, Thursday at 3 pm, home time even though I've already It's been a full week. I also have a lot of homework and studying for the upcoming TKA test. Thank you very much for reading this book I made..