Chapter 3
Alison
2:00 AM. Research Outpost Basement, Storage Room B3.
My hands trembled as I punched in the keypad code. My birthday—eight digits that felt like the combination to hell itself.
"Beep—"
The heavy steel door groaned open, and arctic air slammed into me. Rows of storage pods stretched into the darkness, the room cold enough to freeze your breath mid-air.
I stepped into this frozen morgue.
I moved down the aisle, hunting for Pod 7.
"Six... Seven... There."
My voice echoed off the metal walls.
Through the pod's frosted window, I saw her. Madison—my sister, who used to light up rooms with her smile.
Now...
The air left my lungs.
Madison lay corpse-pale, eyes sealed shut—but that wasn't what broke me. It was the butcher-job incision across her abdomen, stitched up like a fucking science experiment.
"No... this can't be..."
I fumbled with the controls and cracked open the pod.
The cold bit into my bones. Madison's skin felt like marble, but rage burned through my veins like acid.
Then I saw the pod's interior walls—and my blood turned to ice.
Bloodstains. Everywhere.
Handprints smeared across the metal. Deep gouges where fingernails had clawed desperately. Her nails were gone, leaving bloody tracks.
"Jesus Christ... what did they do to you?"
My voice cracked, but tears wouldn't come—only white-hot fury.
A medical chart hung beside the pod. The words made my stomach drop:
"Subject 07—Premium Genetic Sample—Fetal Extraction Complete—Maternal Fatality Confirmed"
"Live dissection? No fucking anesthesia?" My fists clenched. "You sick bastards!"
More details below:
"Subject displayed extreme resistance during procedure, extending operation time. Recommend enhanced restraints for future subjects."
"Subject 07 demonstrated remarkable survival instinct. Cardiac activity continued 47 minutes post-incision."
"Fetal tissue intact. Transferred to specialized cultivation unit."
Forty-seven minutes.
I nearly lost it. They'd carved her open while she was awake and let her suffer for forty-seven minutes before she died.
And her baby—my nephew—was now their lab rat.
"I'm going to destroy every last one of you." I whispered to her still form, my voice barely human.
4:00 AM. Abandoned Research Cabin.
I lit a kerosene lamp, shadows dancing across the rotting table. The stolen personnel files lay spread out, several names circled in red ink.
Sheriff Thompson. Grant. Caitlin. Colonel Williams...
"What was the going rate, Thompson? What did my sister's life cost you?"
I spoke to Madison's photo—her bright smile mocking this nightmare world.
But kindness was a death sentence here. I'd learned that the hard way.
By evening, I waited at the old pier on the frozen lake.
Perfect spot for what I had planned. Thompson would show up with his blood money, thinking he could buy his way out. Instead, he'd learn what real pain felt like.
Footsteps crunched across the ice.
Thompson's bulk appeared on the dock, clutching a black case. The greedy fuck actually thought he could pay me off.
"Alison? You the one who texted?" He wheezed. "Fifty grand. Right here. Enough to disappear forever. Take it and get the hell out of town."
I stepped from the shadows, smiling like a shark. "Fifty grand for my sister's life?"
"That's more than enough! It was an accident! You can't shake us down forever!" Thompson's voice shook despite his bluster.
"Accident?" I laughed, cold as the lake. "Forty-seven minutes of live surgery is an accident?"
Thompson went white as snow. "How the hell do you know—"
I pulled my knife and lunged.
BANG!
A gunshot cracked the night.
The bullet whistled past my ear. I spun, instantly alert.
Caitlin emerged from the far end of the dock, four armed soldiers flanking her. The blonde bitch wore a shit-eating grin.
"Her life was worthless. But you? You're worth your weight in gold."
I got it immediately. "You knew I'd be here."
"Obviously." Caitlin raised her pistol. "Did you really think we'd send this fat fuck alone to die? He was just bait."
Thompson whirled on Caitlin, furious. "You said I'd be safe!"
"Shut your mouth, you pig." Caitlin didn't hide her disgust. "You've served your purpose."
The soldiers closed in.
But I started laughing.
Not from fear—from pure, twisted joy.
Ten years in the psych ward had taught me one thing: when you're cornered, crazy is your best weapon.
"You think surrounding me means you win?"
I lobbed a smoke grenade. As white fog exploded, I dove at the nearest soldier.
All hell broke loose.
I moved faster than they expected. My blade opened the first soldier's throat, hot blood painting my face. I snatched his rifle.
BANG! BANG! BANG!
Gunfire erupted across the lake, muzzle flashes lighting up the ice.
I rolled, dodging bullets, squeezing the trigger. The second soldier dropped.
The metallic stench of blood filled my nostrils, dragging me back to that bloody afternoon ten years ago.
But I paid for it—a bullet punched through my left shoulder. Pain exploded through my body like lightning.
"Shit... sloppy."
I bit down hard, fighting through the agony. Blood streamed down my arm, painting the snow crimson.
"Take her alive! She's useless dead!" Caitlin screamed at her men.
They switched to rubber bullets, but I was already sprinting toward the lake.
Thompson caught a stray round in the arm. Blood poured as he screamed at Caitlin: "You promised you wouldn't kill me!"
Caitlin stared at him coldly, raising her gun. "Dead men tell no tales."
"Ma'am!" One of her soldiers stopped her. "He's the sheriff! His death will raise questions!"
Caitlin hesitated—just for a heartbeat. But that heartbeat was all I needed.
I sucked in a breath and dove into the frozen lake.
The water hit like a sledgehammer.
I swam through the black depths, lungs screaming, shoulder throbbing in the ice-cold water. But I had to keep going—deeper, farther.
When I finally surfaced, I was near a small island in the lake's center. The dock's lights were distant pinpricks.
Hours later, sirens shattered the town's quiet.
"EMERGENCY ALERT! Alison Black, 26-year-old female, diagnosed with severe antisocial personality disorder. EXTREMELY DANGEROUS! This individual attacked Sheriff Thompson and military personnel tonight and remains at large. If spotted, contact law enforcement immediately. $100,000 reward for information leading to her capture!"
Every house lit up. Terrified faces pressed against windows.
"A hundred grand... that's more than I make in five years."
"She tried to kill the sheriff—who's next?"
"Lock everything! Don't let that psycho in!"
The entire town had become my prison.
Deep in the abandoned storm drains, I huddled in a corner, wrapping my shoulder wound with torn fabric. Footsteps and barking dogs echoed above—search teams combing every inch.
Blood soaked through the makeshift bandage. My face grew ashen.
I touched the cross necklace around my throat—Madison's last gift to me.
"I fucked up, sis... but I'm not done."
The footsteps grew louder. Searchlights swept the drain entrance.
I took a shaky breath and crawled deeper into the darkness.
My first shot at revenge had failed. But it proved one thing:
In this world, only a devil more ruthless than the rest can avenge an angel.
And I was ready to become that devil.