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Chapter — 21
The Divide
Carter followed behind her, keeping a cautious distance.
Her hair was chestnut brown, cut just above the shoulders, swaying lightly with every step. She looked human—disturbingly so—but there was something off in the way she moved. Too precise. Too calm.
The hallways they walked through were dim and narrow, the hum of generators vibrating faintly underfoot. Each echo of their footsteps bounced off the concrete walls like distant heartbeats.
She was a little shorter than him. Maybe five-four. Definitely not older than him. Yet something in her presence made him feel smaller.
She spoke first, her tone calm but commanding.
"What's your name, boy?"
Carter blinked. Boy? She looks no older than me.
"Carter," he said after a pause.
She looked back over her shoulder, a faint, curious smile tugging at her lips.
"Carter?"
He nodded. "Carter Leywin."
"Leywin…" she repeated, testing the word. "Don't worry. This will all be over soon. Your people must be… confused."
"Confused is an understatement," Carter muttered.
They passed through a steel door and into a dimly lit corridor leading toward one of the back entrances. The air grew colder here—quieter, too.
There were fewer guards. The ones stationed here didn't stop them, didn't even glance their way. They stood perfectly still as the two walked by, eyes locked straight ahead, as though programmed to ignore them.
That only made Carter's skin crawl more. His heartbeat quickened. Every instinct screamed at him to run—but he didn't. He couldn't.
He had been separated from his friends, from everyone he knew, and now he was alone—walking beside something that looked human, but wasn't.
The woman glanced at him again, eyes gleaming faintly in the pale light. Her voice softened.
"You shouldn't be afraid."
Carter's throat felt dry. "I'm not," he lied.
She smiled—not kindly, but knowingly.
"That's good. Fear complicates the process."
---
Carter followed her through the corridor, his eyes darting around.
The airport didn't look like one anymore—military personnel patrolled every corner, and rows of canvas tents stood where boarding gates used to be. The air smelled of fuel, sweat, and metal.
This definitely isn't where civilians are supposed to be. Where is she taking me?
The woman broke the silence without turning back.
"You must be wondering how I can speak your language."
Carter didn't answer.
"It's my true name," she said softly. "It allows me to speak with all kinds of beings—noble races or otherwise."
Her tone carried no pride, only weariness, as if the words themselves had cost her something.
---
Carter gave her a confused look.
"True name?" he asked warily.
She didn't look back. "Truth Seeker," she murmured. "The humans of your world don't have true names."
Carter frowned. "You mean… names like Carter Leywin?"
She shook her head slowly. "Those are sounds. Masks you wear to be known by others. A true name is what the world itself calls you—what it whispers when you are born from it."
Carter stared at her, uncertain whether she was mocking him or simply insane.
"You must be wondering why I am telling you all this," she said after a pause. "Soon you'll know."
---
They passed another checkpoint—the guards didn't even glance up this time—and the world shifted around them.
The sterile concrete gave way to the chaos of the civilian zone.
Tents stretched across the terminal floor in uneven rows, stitched together from tarps and sheets. People huddled close around flickering lanterns, faces pale and drawn, murmuring names into the dark. The air was thick with fuel, sweat, and fear.
Children slept curled up beside their mothers, wrapped in coarse blankets. Soldiers moved among them like ghosts, rifles slung low, eyes scanning without emotion. Somewhere, a radio crackled with static, then died again.
Carter slowed, stomach twisting. This wasn't an evacuation camp. It was a waiting room for something worse.
At the far end, a line stretched toward a wide gate framed by floodlights. People stepped forward one by one, handing over papers, names, fragments of their lives. Some were waved through. Others were turned back—no explanation, no second chances.
And beyond that gate… the outside world.
Carter's gaze swept over the crowd—faces lit with fragile hope, scanning each new arrival. Some shouted names. Some broke into sobs, collapsing into the arms of those they had found. Others stood empty-eyed, realizing the one they waited for wasn't coming.
His chest tightened. He searched desperately for something familiar—a face from school, Adam's crooked grin, anyone.
Nothing.
He clicked his tongue, small and bitter in the thick air.
The woman glanced over, her eyes unreadable.
"Looking for someone?"
Carter hesitated, then nodded. "Yeah."
Her gaze lingered just long enough—not curious, not pitying. Just… knowing.
"Then I hope," she said quietly, "you're ready to see what's left of them."
---
Carter froze as a commotion broke out near the gate.
Two soldiers dragged a man from the line, his legs scraping against the floor. His voice cracked as he tried to twist free.
"Please! My wife's in there! You can't—"
A rifle butt slammed into his ribs. The thud echoed like a closing door.
The man's movements were too smooth, too obedient. Carter blinked, unsettled.
"Step back!" a soldier barked. "Anyone interfering will be detained!"
The crowd recoiled. Mothers clutched their children tighter. A boy whimpered, hushed quickly.
"What… what are they doing?" Carter whispered.
The woman beside him said nothing.
Another person—a tall, thin woman—was seized. She didn't scream. Didn't struggle. Her head tilted unnaturally as she was pulled down a side corridor. For a second, something in her eyes glinted wrong. Carter looked away quickly.
"Please! Stop!" a man cried. His hands went through empty air. The soldiers didn't even glance at him.
The line moved again. Voices murmured, but the air felt… too precise, too controlled.
Carter's eyes darted over the remaining people. Something felt off. Not all of them—but enough that unease gnawed at him. A flicker of stillness in one woman's posture, a too-wide smile on a man's face. Blinked. Gone.
He shook his head. I'm imagining it.
The woman beside him finally spoke, voice low.
"Some of them… do not belong he
re, Truth Seeker."
Carter frowned. "What… what do you mean?"
Her lips curved faintly, almost imperceptibly.
"You'll see soon enough."
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