The heavy front door creaked open, groaning against its hinges as if reluctant to reveal what lay beyond. John stepped through—and froze.
The scene before him didn't make sense.
A man, bound with thick, knotted ropes, sat slumped against the far wall of the lab. His white coat was wrinkled. His head jerked up as the door opened, and for a fleeting moment, desperation flickered in his eyes.
"Please..." the man said in hope.
John said, his voice small and fearful. "Forgive me, I... I don't understand what's happening. I came to see my sister, Luna, but she... she's not here."
He hesitated at the threshold. The air in the lab felt wrong—thick, charged with something he couldn't name.
"I'm John," he added, more firmly now. "And you are?"
The man's voice came strained, pained. "Dr. Thomas. I'm a physician. I came here for treatment. Luna said it would be painful... she tied me up herself. Your sister is... unconventional. But please, could you untie me?"
John's gaze narrowed. A chill crept up his spine, slow and certain.
Luna tied him up? That didn't sound like her. She was strict, yes—secretive, brilliant, even cold at times—but not violent. Not like this.
"Dr. Thomas?" John echoed. "Like this? No… she wouldn't…"
Still, curiosity warred with caution. He stepped further inside, eyes scanning the cluttered lab for any sign of his project. Shelves were lined with specimen jars, glowing vials, and technical readouts. Nothing looked familiar.
"Do you know where my project is?" John asked. "I need it. Luna said—"
"Yes, yes," Dr. Thomas interrupted quickly, his voice trembling with urgency. "She and I worked on it together. I remember where it is. She left to gather more supplies. You arrived just in time. Please… help me."
John hesitated. The man's voice was convincing. Desperate. And the ropes… they looked painful. Still, something in John recoiled.
"Alright," he said slowly, moving closer. "But first, just tell me where the project is."
"Untie me first," Dr. Thomas replied, too quickly. "I can't point or get to it like this."
Against his better judgment, John knelt beside him. His fingers fumbled at the knots. Thick rope coiled around the man's limbs, tight enough to bruise. Why would Luna do this…? he wondered.
The last rope fell away.
And that's when it happened.
With startling speed, Dr. Thomas lunged—his hand locking around John's wrist with crushing force.
John yelped, jerking back. "Dr. Thomas?! Are you—are you having a seizure?"
But the man no longer looked like someone in need of help. His eyes flickered—once, then twice—before turning a bone-white shade, vacant and inhuman.
Unaware, John stared into the face of something ancient. Something wrong.
Inside the body of Dr. Thomas, the Divine Stone stirred. Its essence churned, its will awakening as it examined this boy. Unexpected, it thought. Luna was strong, but unstable. This one... is compatible. Remarkably so.
A whisper of gold shimmered behind the white eyes. In a flash, the pale void was replaced by radiant light—blinding and golden.
"No—" John tried to pull away, but it was too late.
The golden energy surged forward in a bolt of piercing light, straight from Dr. Thomas's eyes into John's. He screamed, the sound ragged and raw, echoing within the sealed, soundproofed walls of the lab.
Pain unlike anything he had known exploded behind his eyes. Fire seared through his mind, burning memories, shredding thoughts, rearranging what made him John.
And then, silence.
Dr. Thomas's body collapsed—emptied of its master. The Divine Stone had found a new vessel.
John.
At the hospital, Luna's phone rang.
She answered immediately, her voice taut. "Hello?"
"It's your brother," came the receptionist's strained reply. "He came looking for you. I tried calling, but the line kept dropping. He left for the lab, I think."
Luna's heart skipped a beat.
"John… he's really here?"
"Yes. He—he seemed in a hurry."
Luna's breath caught. Her stomach turned to ice. He saw the lab. He saw Dr. Thomas. He must've...
"Thank you," she said quietly. "I'll be there right away."
The real Dr. Thomas—standing beside her, bruised but alive—stepped closer. "Go, Luna. I'll handle the situation here. You need to get to him. Now."
She nodded, already calling a cab.
He must be scared out of his mind, she thought. What must he think of me? I have to explain everything…
When Luna arrived at the lab, she was breathless, her coat flying behind her like a cape. She stormed up to the reception desk.
"Where is my brother?"
The woman behind the counter blinked. "He left, Dr. Luna. Waited a while, but then he said he was going to school. I thought he'd told you...?"
Luna turned to the lab doors, her mind racing.
No. He must have seen something. Something happened.
She reached the door, trembling as she scanned her keycard. The lab slid open—and what greeted her was worse than she'd feared.
Broken glass glittered across the floor. A chair lay overturned. One of the storage cabinets hung open. And the ropes... they were empty.
"No…" Luna whispered.
Behind a one-way observation window, a figure stood.
John. Or what looked like him.
He saw her. And it—the thing that had taken root inside him—tensed.
In one impossible blur of movement, it leapt, shattering the window, glass exploding outward as the creature vanished into the afternoon sky.
Far below, John's consciousness flickered like a candle in a storm.
What's happening?
He tried to scream, to move, to claw his way back—but his body was no longer his own. Something had taken him. Something ancient and powerful and merciless.
No… no…
And then—darkness.