Chapter 53: I Found My Missing Sister Alive in a Fallen Laboratory

The stairs to the basement were at the end of the hallway, behind an unmarked metal door.

Kael pulled out the lockpick again.

He worked the lock.

The door gave way.

On the other side was a metal staircase spiraling downward.

Dim lighting.

The sweet, rotten smell drifted up through the shaft with such intensity that Adrián could taste it now.

As if the air itself had a flavor.

Ishtar brought a hand to her nose.

"I can smell it now too."

"Silvano?"

"Same."

"Good. Everyone can smell it. We go down in order. I’m first, Ishtar second, Vega third, Silvano last covering our retreat. Quiet. No talking until I say otherwise."

All four nodded.

Kael started down.

Adrián followed.

His boots made the faintest metallic sound against the steps—almost imperceptible, but with the Mask enhancing his senses, every footfall sounded like a bell ringing.

He focused on stepping more softly.

Focused on keeping his breathing low.

They descended five floors.

"Five floors."

"This basement isn’t a basement. It’s an entire underground complex."

Adrián filed that information away without commenting.

When they reached the bottom of the staircase, all four stopped.

They were standing in a hallway much longer than the one upstairs.

Much wider.

Smooth concrete walls.

Different fluorescent lighting—whiter, more clinical, the kind used in hospitals or laboratories.

There was a drain running through the center of the floor.

A laboratory drain.

The kind used to wash away blood.

The hair on the back of Adrián’s neck stood up.

Kael moved down the hallway, his right hand already resting on the grip of the weapon at his waist.

Fifteen meters ahead, the corridor split.

To the left was a closed set of metal double doors with a small sign that read:

STORAGE M-1

To the right was another closed set of metal double doors.

Another sign.

STORAGE M-2

And straight ahead, at the far end of the hallway, was one more set of closed metal double doors.

No sign.

A camera hung above them.

It was currently dead, caught inside Silvano’s isolation bubble.

Kael stopped.

The others stopped behind him.

"Vega," Kael murmured. "Which direction is the smell coming from?"

Adrián closed his eyes.

Focused.

The Mask sharpened his senses.

The sweet, rotten odor was coming from—

He understood immediately.

Both of the first two doors.

Both storage rooms.

Stronger from the left than the right, but present behind both.

"Both, Kael. The storage rooms. Stronger on the left."

"..."

"And there’s something behind the unmarked door at the end too. Different. Not the same smell. Something else. Like... electricity."

Kael waited.

"And something sweet," Adrián continued. "But a different kind of sweet. Perfume. Expensive perfume."

Kael turned toward Silvano.

Silvano frowned.

"Expensive perfume in an industrial basement. That’s unusual."

"Yeah. It is. We check Storage One first. If there are victims, that’s probably where they are. Silvano, maintain the bubble. Ishtar, watch the hallway behind us. Vega, you’re with me. Move."

Kael approached the doors to Storage M-1.

He worked the lock.

Five seconds.

The door opened without a sound.

Kael entered first.

Adrián followed.

Ishtar came in behind them, covering the entrance.

Silvano remained outside in the hallway, both hands raised as he maintained the isolation bubble.

Inside the storage room, the lighting was different.

Blue.

Cold.

It took Adrián two seconds to process what he was seeing.

The room was large.

Rectangular.

Tall industrial shelving lined the walls.

And arranged across those shelves in neat rows like pharmaceutical products were—

Containers.

Cylindrical.

Thick glass.

Exactly large enough to hold a human body.

Filled with pale blue liquid.

And inside every container—

A figure.

Female.

Human.

Eyes closed.

Skin unnaturally pale.

Cables attached to the chest.

The temples.

The wrists.

Adrián froze in the doorway.

"..."

Kael was already moving down the aisle between the shelving.

With the exact calm of a man who had seen terrible things before during his long life.

He pulled out his phone.

Started photographing each container systematically.

Adrián took two steps forward.

Then three.

Then stopped in front of the first container on the right.

The figure inside was a young woman.

Mid-twenties.

Dark brown hair.

Very pale skin.

Eyes closed.

Mouth slightly open.

Her chest rose and fell very slowly.

Very irregularly.

Cables ran from her chest, temples, and wrists.

At the base of the container was a label.

Adrián crouched.

Read it.

«Sample V-04. Specimen: Marina Ríos, 24. Latent Relic: Level 2. Status: Stable. Extraction in progress. Capture Date: 01/19/2023.»

Adrián felt his chest tighten.

"Marina."

"She’s alive."

"Marina Ríos is alive."

He stood.

Looked at the container.

Marina was breathing.

Very slowly.

Very irregularly.

But she was breathing.

He looked at the container beside hers.

Another woman.

Blonde.

Twenty-one or twenty-two.

«Sample V-05. Specimen: Ana Ríos, 23. Latent Relic: Level 1. Status: Stable. Extraction in progress. Capture Date: 09/06/2021.»

"Ana Ríos."

"Another one of the five."

Adrián started moving between the shelves quickly.

Very quickly.

Almost running, but making no sound.

Reading labels.

Searching.

«V-06. Beatriz Molinari. Latent Relic: Level 2. Captured: 03/12/2020.»

«V-07. Sofía Alarcón. Latent Relic: Level 3. Captured: 11/14/2019.»

«V-08. Constanza Reyes. Latent Relic: Level 1. Captured: 04/07/2018.»

Adrián stopped.

"Five."

"These are the five cases we’ve been investigating."

"They’re alive."

"All of them."

But he kept walking.

Because Storage M-1 didn’t end after five containers.

There were more.

A lot more.

Ten.

Fifteen.

Twenty.

Thirty.

Adrián started reading labels as he moved.

«V-09. Julia Rendón. Captured: 02/2017.»

«V-10. Verónica López. Captured: 08/2015.»

«V-11. Elena Vega. Captured: 05/03/2022.»

Adrián stopped.

He stood in front of container V-11.

His breath caught.

His eyes locked onto the label.

Both hands pressed against the thick glass before he even realized he had moved them.

Inside the container.

Inside the pale blue liquid.

Eyes closed.

Skin deathly pale.

Dark brown hair floating slowly around her face.

A small scar through her left eyebrow.

Cables running from her chest.

Her temples.

Her wrists.

Elena.

His sister.

Alive.

Breathing.

Adrián felt his knees start to give.

"...Elena."

And at that exact moment, behind him, Ishtar’s voice came in an urgent whisper.

"Brother-in-law. Brother-in-law, no. Remember what you promised."

Kael’s voice followed.

Much quieter.

Much firmer.

"Vega. One step at a time. Breathe."

Then Silvano’s voice came from outside in the hallway.

"Guys. Hurry. I’m detecting movement upstairs."

A pause.

"Four presences."

Another.

"They’re coming down here."