Dominic Veyron ruled the night.
From the top floor of his mansion, the city looked small, like something he could crush with his hand if he wanted. He stood by the glass wall with a wine glass in his fingers, watching headlights crawl like insects far below.
He liked this hour.
No researchers.
No participants.
No Ann.
Just silence and himself.
"Still awake?" a voice whispered inside him.
Dominic smirked. "You don't get to ask questions."
The voice didn't answer right away. It never did. It waited. Weak. Hesitant.
"You shouldn't be doing this," the voice said quietly.
Dominic tilted his head slightly. "Still trying?"
"You don't have to hurt them."
"I don't have to listen to you."
Dominic raised the glass to his lips and drank slowly. The wine tasted sharp and expensive. He chose it because it burned.
"Do you know what they call me in the facility?" he asked his reflection in the glass.
Silence.
"They bow," Dominic continued. "They don't look me in the eyes. They don't breathe until I pass them."
The voice trembled. "You enjoy that."
"I earned it."
"You broke people to earn it."
Dominic laughed softly. "People break every day. I just document it."
He turned toward the mirror in the darkened room. His body was relaxed, confident, beautiful in a dangerous way. Everything about him said control.
Except his eyes.
For a moment, they looked… crowded.
"You used to hate blood," the voice said.
Dominic's jaw tightened.
"Shut up."
"You used to get sick when you saw it."
"That was your weakness."
"You were kind once."
"That was your mistake."
Dominic stepped closer to the mirror. "You are a leftover thought. A glitch in the system."
"You were me."
"I replaced you."
The voice whispered, "You imprisoned me."
Dominic's smile sharpened. "And look how well that worked."
He arrived at the facility the next morning dressed in black.
As he walked through the main hall, researchers stopped talking. Security guards snapped to attention.
ATHENA's voice echoed softly through the ceiling.
"Good morning, Director Veyron."
"Status."
"Participant stability: low. Mortality tolerance: rising."
Dominic smiled. "Beautiful."
From the observation deck, he looked down at the canteen.
Ann sat alone.
She was thinner now. Harder. Her eyes were scanning the exits like a trapped animal.
The voice stirred.
"You like watching her suffer."
Dominic leaned against the glass. "She's special."
"She's human."
"She's useful."
"You're lying."
Dominic didn't answer.
He watched her lift her wristband, turning it, studying it again.
She hasn't stopped trying, he thought.
Good.
That night, something happened that annoyed him.
He dreamed.
He did not dream often. When he did, they were usually violent and blurred.
But this one was… clean.
A university hallway.
Yellow lights.
Cheap posters.
The smell of books and coffee.
A girl walked past him.
Ann.
Younger. Laughing.
The voice inside him reacted first.
"That's her."
"I know."
"You watched her then."
Dominic frowned in the dream. "Why is she here?"
"She was safe."
"She was boring."
"She was alive."
Ann turned and looked at him.
But it wasn't Ann from the past.
It was Ann from the facility.
Her face was thin. Her eyes were tired.
"You didn't save me," she said.
Dominic woke up angry.
He sat up in bed, chest tight, fingers digging into the sheets.
"That was you," he growled inward.
The voice was quiet. "You still see her as her."
"She is mine."
"She's not a thing."
"She belongs to the system."
"She belongs to herself."
Dominic swung his legs off the bed and stood.
"Dreams are errors," he said. "And errors get erased."
In the shower, water ran over his face and shoulders.
For a moment, just a moment, his reflection in the glass panel behind him looked… wrong.
Not different.
Crowded.
"You are losing grip," the voice said.
Dominic laughed. "I run an empire."
"You can't control yourself."
"I control pain."
"You avoid memory."
Dominic shut off the water.
"Say another word and I will drown you in me."
The voice went silent.
Not gone.
Just pushed deeper.
Dominic dried himself slowly and wrapped a towel around his waist. He walked back into his bedroom, picked up his wine glass again, and stood in front of the mirror.
"How do you like me now?" he said to his reflection. "Idiot."
For one second, something soft flashed in his eyes.
Pain.
Vulnerability.
He crushed it instantly.
"You must be so mad and so sad," he continued, smiling.
"Sorry. I can't stop. I won't stop until everything you care about is destroyed."
His chest burned.
He welcomed it.
Because pain meant he still felt something.
And feeling meant he was still in control.
Even if something inside him was watching.
Waiting.
A/N: Okay guys in case you've noticed I've start to add Dominic's backstory I hope you'll enjoy it as much as I do.