Page 119 of Dark Bonds

The realization settles in my gut like a lead weight, making it hard to breathe. How many lives had been shattered in this sterile hell? How close did I come to being another test subject, another broken soul in Blackwood’s twisted game?

“Where are they?” I nibble my lip, but all the doors have vanished.

The shadows within me writhe and pulse beneath my skin, a living manifestation of my fear and anger, eager to lash out at the source. I clench my fists, trying to keep them contained, but I can feel my control slipping.

“I don’t know. I don’t know,” Dorian repeats.

Before I can voice more thoughts, the lab door bursts open with a resounding crash. Leo, Matteo, and Bishop rush in, their faces a mix of confusion and determination. The sudden intrusion shatters the oppressive silence, replacing it with the palpable tension of our pack united in the face of this new threat.

The door, which sealed itself, is now torn to pieces. Relief spreads through me that they found it, that they found us.

“Holy shit,” Leo murmurs, his eyes wide. “Did we just stumble into mad scientist central?”

“Blackwood’s been conducting secret experiments,” I explain quickly, gesturing to the charts with a hand that trembles slightly. “I just don’t know what he’s doing.”

Matteo’s face darkens with rage, his normally calm demeanor cracking to reveal the fury beneath. His tactical mind kicks into gear, his eyes scanning the room. “We need to neutralize this threat immediately. I suggest we start by securing all exits and gathering intel.” His hand brushes against mine as he moves past, a gesture of comfort and protection that sends a jolt of warmth through me.

“Wait,” Bishop interjects, his years of strategic training evident in his measured tone. “We can’t just rush in,” Bishop warns, his voice low. “One misstep, and Blackwood could bury everything we’ve uncovered. Remember what happened to the shadowmancers in ‘86?” His dark eyes meet mine, a silent plea for caution that I find hard to ignore. “It was in our history lessons.”

A lesson I didn’t get to.

“Are you serious?” I turn on him, anger flaring hot and bright in my chest. The shadows around us deepen in response, as if feeding off my emotion. “Look at this place! Who knows how many people he’s already hurt? And all we have are pictures.”

“I’m not saying we do nothing,” Bishop argues, his voice maddeningly calm, a counterpoint to the chaos of my thoughts, “but we need to be smart about this. If we play our cards right, we could bring down not just Blackwood, but anyone else involved in these experiments.”

A tense silence falls over the group as we consider Bishop’s words. I hate to admit it, but he has a point. Still, the thought of letting Blackwood continue his work, even for a short time,makes my skin crawl, the shadows beneath it churning with barely contained rage.

“What about the test subjects?” Dorian asks, breaking the silence. His voice is heavy with the weight of his own secrets and guilt. “We need to find them.”

I turn to look at the far end of the lab, where a row of containment units hums ominously. “There,” I say and rush over. There are a dozen buttons.

Naturally, I press a large red one.

A hum sounds, followed by a gear, and the top of the unit turns into a window. Beyond is a person sleeping peacefully.

There are a dozen units, each one possibly holding a person suspended in a shadowy substance that writhes and pulses like a living thing. My heart clenches at the sight, a mix of horror and empathy threatening to overwhelm me.

I stumble back, memories of Valerie’s “treatments” flooding my mind. The helplessness, the pain, the violation—I can almost feel the needle in my arm again. My shadows writhe beneath my skin, reacting to my distress.

“Frankie?” Leo’s voice breaks through the haze, his hand warm on my shoulder. “You okay?”

I take a shaky breath. “Yeah, I just... I know what it’s like to be trapped and experimented on. We have to help them.”

The determination in my voice surprises even me. We’re getting these people out, whatever it takes.

“We have to help them,” I say, my voice steadier than I feel. “Whatever else we decide, we can’t leave them like this.”

Leo nods, moving toward the containment units. The determined set of his shoulders is a far cry from his usual carefree demeanor. “I agree, but how do we get them out without alerting Blackwood?”

As if in answer to his question, another alarm suddenly blares to life, the sound piercing and relentless. Red lights flash,bathing the lab in an eerie glow that turns the shadows into writhing, monstrous shapes.

“Shit,” Matteo curses, his tactical mind already racing for a solution. “We’ve been made.”

“We need to move, now,” Bishop orders, already heading for the door. His calm facade has cracked, revealing the urgency beneath. “Grab what evidence you can. We’ll have to come back for the test subjects.”

My feet feel rooted to the spot, my gaze darting between the exit and the containment units. Each second stretches into eternity as the alarms blare around us. My hand reaches out toward the nearest unit, then pulls back, my entire body a battlefield between self-preservation and the desperate need to help.

Dorian grabs my arm, his touch sending a jolt of electricity through me despite everything. His eyes plead with me, a mix of fear and determination that mirrors my own. “Frankie, we have to go. We can’t help them if we’re caught too.”

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