Chapter 2812: Story 2813: The First Ryan

The seventh lock clicked.

A terrible vibration swept through the laboratory. The enormous metallic door opened a few inches, releasing a cold wind that smelled of burning flesh and ancient earth.

Ryan stared at the stranger standing before him.

The man had his face, his height, and even the same scar above his left eyebrow.

“Who are you?” Ryan demanded.

The stranger smiled sadly.

“I am the original Ryan Malik. The first child your father created.”

Hamza slowly raised his weapon. “That’s impossible. The firstborn was standing right here.”

The stranger looked at him.

“Your records are lies, Captain. There were three children, not two.”

Ryan felt his chest tighten.

“Three?”

The stranger nodded. “Adam was the second. You were the third. Father erased my existence because I was the only one who could hear what lived beyond that door.”

Adam staggered backward, clutching his head.

“No... Father told me I was the firstborn!”

“He told you what you needed to believe,” the stranger replied. “You were created to imprison the creature. Ryan was designed to control it. And I was supposed to destroy it.”

Suddenly, the metallic door slammed against its frame.

A massive black finger pushed through the opening.

The entire laboratory shook.

Meher screamed through the radio, “Ryan! Get away from that door! The seventh lock has been damaged!”

The stranger turned toward Ryan.

“You must close it before the thing remembers its name.”

“What name?” Zara asked.

The stranger’s expression changed.

“Mother.”

A woman’s voice echoed from beyond the door.

“My children... why are you keeping me outside?”

Ryan froze.

It was his mother’s voice.

The golden symbol on his chest began pulsing violently. Six lines glowed, while the seventh remained dark.

The stranger grabbed Ryan’s wrist.

“Don’t answer her! She isn’t your mother. It is the original organism, using her voice to reach you.”

Adam suddenly dropped to his knees.

“Mother,” he whispered.

His golden veins turned black.

“Adam, get up!” Ryan shouted.

But Adam raised his head, smiling with an expression Ryan had never seen before.

“The prison is opening,” he said. “And I finally remember everything.”

His body began dissolving into black smoke. The smoke rushed toward the metallic door, forming a gigantic human-shaped shadow.

Hamza fired at it, but the bullets passed through.

Zara grabbed Ryan’s arm. “We need to leave!”

The stranger shook his head.

“Leaving won’t save anyone. If that door opens completely, every infected person in Karachi will become part of her.”

Ryan looked at the seventh lock.

Then he heard his father’s voice from the speakers.

“Ryan, whatever happens, do not let your first brother touch the door!”

The stranger suddenly smiled.

“Too late.”

Behind Ryan, the laboratory glass shattered.

Something had awakened inside his reflection.