New Arcadia – 12:07 AM
The streetlight buzzed overhead, flickering like it was afraid to stay on.
Jay stood frozen in the middle of the empty road. His clothes were damp with sweat. His chest rose and fell in sharp, panicked gasps.
Blood.
It stained his fingers, his sleeves, his palms.
Not his blood.
Someone else's.
His mind raced. *Did I hurt someone? Did I
"You didn't."
The voice inside him growled softly.
"I did."
Jay clutched his head. "No, no, no—stop it…"
But the voice didn't stop.
It never stopped now.
The Next Morning – 7:58 AM
Jay sat in his seat at school, back row by the window a ghost among the living.
Students laughed. Phones buzzed. Everything seemed normal.
But not for him.
His fingers twitched on the desk. Every now and then, they moved in unnatural ways too fast, too sharp like strings being pulled by someone else.
He hadn't slept.
The blood was gone… but he could still feel it sticky, warm, real.
Ms. Elenor's voice pierced through the blur.
"Jay, could you read the second paragraph on page 142?"
He looked down at the book.
The letters were wrong. They crawled.
Each word seemed alive twisting, melting, blinking.
His lips parted... but nothing came out.
"Jay?" she repeated, softer now.
And then—
> "Don't speak. Let me."
> That voice again—inside.
> Familiar and foreign.
> A snake curling around his spine.
Jay stood up abruptly.
"Bathroom," he said, and left before anyone could answer.
School Bathroom – 8:05 AM
Jay splashed cold water on his face.
Looked into the mirror.
He didn't recognize himself.
His pupils were slightly dilated.
The whites of his eyes had a faint red hue.
A vein under his skin pulsed visibly along his jawline.
And then in the mirror he blinked.
But his reflection didn't.
Jay stepped back, horrified.
The reflection tilted its head, slowly… unnaturally.
"You'll get used to me."
It smiled
Jay punched the mirror.
Glass shattered.
Blood spilled this time, his own
Lunch – Rooftop
Jay didn't eat. Didn't move.
The rain had started light, steady, cold.
His hoodie was soaked, but he didn't care.
Every raindrop felt like a heartbeat.
Every gust of wind carried a whisper.
He felt something crawling beneath his skin.
Not bugs Memories.
Needles.
Pods.
His mother's scream.
He gripped the railing, knuckles white.
"I'm not like them," he muttered.
"I'm not…"
> "You're not human,"
> the voice corrected.
Jay's eyes filled with tears
but he didn't let them fall.
After School – Basement Library
The old archives smelled of mold and dust.
He broke into the restricted terminal again.
His fingers moved fast almost like they remembered the keys on their own.
Search: ELIAS RAY – GENETICIST
ACCESS DENIED – Clearance Level 6 Required
He cursed. Punched the desk.
Suddenly, the screen flickered.
An image flashed. A man in a lab coat. Smiling.
Behind him a glass tank.
Inside: afetus.
Floating.
Wires running through its spine.
SUBJECT: JAY – Fusion Success: Pending
Jay's heart stopped.
Then, the screen went black.
That Night – Jay's Room
He stared at his bandaged hand.
Veins pulsed beneath the skin faint, glowing red.
He took off his hoodie.
The mark on his chest had grown.
No longer a faint spiral it now had lines, forming a symbol... like it was being written from the inside out.
He looked in the mirror.
His reflection stared back.
Then slowly it winked
Jay didn't move.
He just whispered:
"I'm not ready."
And the voice replied:
"You will be."
To Be Continued...