The hallway stretched silent and dim, bathed in the amber glow of a flickering ceiling light. Luna stood still, her arms folded, her voice sharper than usual.
"By the way, Dr. Thomas, what were you doing at my door all night?"
Normally, her tone was gentle, like a lullaby woven with reason and calm. But now, suspicion laced every word. The silence between them hung thick, punctuated only by the hum of electricity overhead.
She stood facing him, the dim hallway light casting long shadows that danced around their figures. "I want to speak with you, alone."
Dr. Thomas froze mid-step. His affable smile faltered, replaced by a nervous twitch that betrayed the calm mask he wore. His eyes darted down the corridor, scanning for witnesses.
"Of course, Dr. Luna," he said with a forced laugh. "What is it?"
Luna didn't budge. "Look, Dr. Thomas," she said, eyes narrowing, "if you're thinking of proposing again, then I'm afraid my answer is still no."
His expression flickered—pain, regret, something more—but he quickly buried it beneath another smile.
"No, no, that's not it at all," he said.
She tilted her head slightly, watching him too closely for comfort. "Good. Because I want to talk about that divine stone."
Everything stilled. Even the air seemed to hold its breath. The name—divine stone—had shifted the room's energy.
Thomas blinked. His voice came quieter now. "Divine Stone?"
Luna's instincts flared like a siren in her chest. She could feel the unease emanating off him like static.
"Yes," she replied, her voice firm. "Let's go to my cabin. The secret library will be closed by now."
She turned without waiting and strode down the hallway. He followed, footsteps slow, almost reluctant.
Inside her cabin, Luna shut the door behind them. The familiar space, lined with books and softly humming equipment, offered no comfort tonight. She sank into her chair, never taking her eyes off him.
"Tell me what happened back then," she said. "As far as I saw, you were lying on the floor."
Thomas hesitated. His hand rubbed the back of his neck, then dropped. His gaze shifted to the floor. "Yes, well... I was disoriented," he murmured. "You're very smart, Luna."
She didn't blink. "I know."
But as he spoke, she noticed his hands moving below the desk. Small movements. Precise. Her breath caught when she saw the faintest shimmer of light—a soft, ethereal glow forming at his fingertips.
Before she could react, the lights surrounded her in a flash. Her lips sealed shut, her scream muffled by the barrier of light. Her body froze.
Thomas stepped out from behind the desk. His eyes—those eyes that had once been warm and human—were now pale white orbs, stripped of any soul. A pulse of golden light surged from his chest, slamming into Luna's eyes.
She couldn't move. Couldn't breathe. Couldn't even think clearly.
But then—
Thomas flew backward, crashing into the wall. A shadowed figure lunged forward, swiftly binding his hands and feet in thick cloth, then pulling a dark cover over his face.
"Luna, are you alright?"
The voice—familiar, yet off by a breath—brought clarity back to her senses. She blinked rapidly, her limbs slowly regaining control.
Standing beside the restrained figure was another Dr. Thomas.
The real one.
"What… what is happening?" she asked, struggling to sit upright, her voice shaking.
"No time to explain," he said, pulling the cloth tighter around the bound form's wrists. "When divine stone inside the class cube glowed, it connected with me. Knocked me unconscious. And then—" his eyes darkened "—it took my form. Escaped with it. It's been deceiving everyone since. I just barely broke free."
Luna was pale. "We need to go to the laboratory. To Dr. James. If we don't act quickly..."
The impostor stirred beneath the bindings. Its limbs twitched erratically, and then it hissed—a guttural, inhuman sound that made Luna's skin crawl.
"You won't stop me," it snarled, its voice echoing like broken glass. It still wore Thomas's face, but now it twisted and shimmered unnaturally.
The real Thomas wasted no time. He tightened the bindings, using extra cloth from Luna's emergency kit. Luna joined in, her hands trembling but determined.
"We need to get to the base," Thomas said. "This thing—whatever it is—it can't be allowed to roam freely. If it gets loose again, it could be catastrophic."
Dr. James's phone was off. Luna tried twice more, her fingers pressing harder with each failed attempt.
"No response," she muttered.
They made a split-second decision and headed toward his house. Every step was a countdown, every moment a race against what might already be too late.
Behind them, in the dark, the white-eyed doppelgänger writhed in silence—biding its time.