Chapter 52: We Broke Into a Pharmaceutical Company. Something Was Breathing Underneath It.

Silvano parked the SUV in an empty lot four hundred meters from the fence.

The second SUV stopped ten seconds later.

Kael and Ishtar got out and walked over.

The four of them gathered around the hood of the first SUV.

Kael unfolded a map across it.

"Okay. Situation," he said, his voice low and clear. "The complex has four buildings. North, south, east, west. The first two are administrative—offices, meeting rooms, archives. The other two are operational—storage, packaging, distribution. According to the blueprints Nikita obtained, there’s also a basement beneath the west building marked as ’electrical facilities.’ That basement is what we’re interested in."

"...Why the basement?" Adrián asked.

"Because the west building consumes enough electricity for a pharmaceutical facility this size to power three apartment blocks. It doesn’t make sense. Either they’re incredibly inefficient, or they’re powering something underground that isn’t on the blueprints."

"Okay."

"Silvano. Isolation bubble over the west building. Cover both floors and the basement. How long can you maintain it?"

"Forty-five minutes at most. After that, I’ll need to rest. If we’re still inside when the forty-five minutes are up, the cameras will start recording again. The motion detectors will reactivate. Any supernatural surveillance spells they have will come back online as well."

"Good. Forty-five minutes. In and out. Ishtar."

"Yes, Kael?"

"You stay with Vega throughout the entire infiltration. Physically attached to him. If the two of you get more than three meters apart, that’s a critical error. Vega uses the Mask for enhanced senses, not combat. If there’s a fight, you and I handle it. Vega only watches, listens, and records."

"Understood."

"Vega."

"Yeah?"

"Your job is one thing and one thing only. Absorb information. With the Mask active, you’ll be able to sense supernatural residue that we can’t detect with the same sensitivity. You go wherever your instincts take you. You mark locations. You touch things if necessary. You speak quietly whenever you find something. And above all, you do absolutely nothing without consulting us first."

"...Understood."

"And Vega."

"Yeah?"

"If at any point you feel like you’re close to your sister, say it. Out loud. Don’t filter it. We decide what to do with that information. You don’t make that decision on your own. Okay?"

Adrián took a breath.

"Okay."

"Good. Silvano, activate when we’re in position. We approach from the southern perimeter, follow the fence, and enter the west building directly without passing through the administrative buildings. Move."

The four of them started forward.

Adrián felt his heart accelerating.

Okay. Mask.

He exhaled.

The Mask materialized over his head with the same ease he had learned in the training room. Black gloves formed over his hands.

His enhanced senses activated.

And with them, the world changed.

The air smelled different.

From three kilometers away, he could smell the diesel from a tractor.

From five hundred meters away, he could smell the industrial oil inside the complex.

At a hundred meters, he could smell something else—something he didn’t recognize at first, but eventually identified as a mixture of pharmaceutical chemicals that were probably normal for a facility like this.

But he could smell something else too.

Very faint.

Buried beneath everything else.

Something sweet.

Like... rotten jasmine.

Like overripe fruit.

Like flowers sitting in a vase whose water hadn’t been changed in a week.

Adrián frowned.

"Silvano," he murmured.

"Yes, kid?"

"I smell something strange. From the west building. Sweet. Rotten."

Silvano stopped.

Closed his eyes.

Took a deep breath.

Then opened them again.

"I don’t smell it, kid. But that doesn’t mean it isn’t there. Your Mask amplifies your senses beyond levels mine can reach anymore. Make a mental note of it. Let’s go."

Adrián nodded.

They approached the fence from the south.

Kael pulled out a small tool—Adrián didn’t see from where—and cut two sections of wire into a rectangle roughly one meter by one meter with the exact efficiency of someone who had done this many times before.

The cut made no sound.

The fence opened.

The four of them passed through one at a time.

Adrián crouched low, careful not to hit his head.

He felt the edge of the fence brush against his hair.

On the other side, the complex courtyard was enormous.

Cracked concrete covered the ground.

Empty metal containers were stacked in one corner.

A delivery truck sat parked a hundred meters away.

Absolute silence.

Silvano stopped.

Closed his eyes.

Raised both hands.

"Activating," he murmured.

Something changed.

Adrián couldn’t see it.

But he felt it.

A faint vibration spread over the west building like an invisible skin.

As though a dome had silently grown around all three levels of the structure, sealing it away from the outside world.

"Bubble active," Silvano said very quietly. "Forty-five minutes starts now."

"Move," Kael said.

They ran.

The four of them crossed the courtyard in twenty seconds.

Adrián noticed that Kael and Ishtar were much faster than he was—even with the Mask active.

Silvano stayed at his pace behind them, covering their backs.

They reached the wall of the west building.

Kael pressed himself against it.

Looked around.

Searched for an entrance.

He found a small service door secured with an ordinary lock.

Kael pulled a lockpick from his pocket.

Worked the lock for five seconds.

The door opened.

"Inside."

All four entered.

The door closed behind them.

Silence.

They stood in an interior hallway.

Weak fluorescent lighting.

Gray tile floor.

Worn white walls.

The smell of cleaning products mixed with something else.

Adrián took a deep breath.

The sweet, rotten smell was much stronger inside.

Much stronger.

And it was coming from below.

From the basement.

"Guys," Adrián murmured. "The smell is really strong. It’s coming from the basement."

Kael turned toward him.

"You’re sure?"

"I’m sure."

"Good. We go down."

"..."

"Silvano, does the bubble reach the basement?"

"It does."

"Perfect. Let’s go."

They began moving silently down the hallway, searching for the stairs leading to the basement.

And somewhere beneath their feet, two levels down, something that shouldn’t have been breathing...

was breathing.

Adrián felt it through the Mask.

Very faint.

Very irregular.

Like a breath fighting desperately to remain a breath.

His stomach dropped.

She’s alive.

Someone is alive down there.