Chapter 21: Tangled Fates
The morning came far too quickly. Pale sunlight streamed through the trees, piercing the veil of night that had cloaked the world for what felt like an eternity. The forest was quiet now, almost reverent, as if it too were holding its breath, waiting for whatever came next.
Marissa sat beside the dying embers of the fire, her knees drawn to her chest, arms wrapped tightly around them. Sleep hadn't come easily. Every time she closed her eyes, the memory of Mason's kiss lingered behind her eyelids, stirring something deep within her a dangerous hope. One she wasn't sure she was ready for.
Mason was quiet too. He sat across from her, silent but alert, his posture rigid, as if expecting the world to come crashing down at any moment. His shirt clung to him, still damp from the early morning dew, and the circles under his eyes looked darker now. But there was a calmness in his gaze when it met hers, an unspoken understanding that things had changed between them. That they couldn't go back.
"We need to move," he finally said, his voice breaking the silence like a twig snapping underfoot. "It's not safe to stay here too long."
Marissa nodded but didn't rise right away. "Do you think they're close?"
Mason ran a hand through his hair, frustration flickering in his expression. "I don't know. But I do know they're not giving up. Not until they have what they want."
Marissa's stomach twisted. What they wanted. Mason had only given her fragments the night before—hints at the powerful forces chasing them, at the secret that had bound him to this life of shadows and silence. But it was enough to understand the danger was real, and it was closing in.
They gathered their things in silence. The forest seemed to shift around them as they moved less inviting, more watchful. Marissa tried not to let the paranoia take root, but every rustle, every breeze through the leaves felt charged with tension.
They didn't speak again until they reached the edge of the river.
Mason stopped, squinting at the horizon. "We'll have to cross here."
Marissa followed his gaze. The current was strong, and the water looked bone-chilling. "Are you sure it's safe?"
"No," he said simply. "But it's the only way to throw them off our trail."
She nodded again, trusting him more than logic told her she should. Mason stepped into the water first, wading into the current with practiced ease. He turned and held out his hand.
Marissa hesitated for just a moment before taking it.
The water was colder than she expected, stealing her breath as it rose past her knees. But Mason's grip was firm, steadying. She clung to it, focusing on his presence, not the swirling dark beneath her feet.
When they reached the other side, drenched and shivering, they collapsed onto the muddy bank. For a moment, they just lay there, breathing hard, letting the tension drain from their limbs.
Then Marissa spoke, her voice hoarse. "Mason… last night. What you told me…"
He turned his head toward her. "I meant every word."
"There's more, isn't there?" she asked. "More you haven't told me."
His jaw clenched. "Yes."
She sat up slowly. "Then tell me now. If I'm going to stay, if I'm really in this, I need to know what we're up against."
Mason sat up too, running his hands through his wet hair. For a moment, it looked like he might say nothing. But then the dam broke.
"There's a man," he said. "Victor Rellin. He's the one who started all this. He's the reason I'm hiding, the reason people are dying."
Marissa's pulse quickened. She hadn't expected a name. Not one that sounded like it had been carved in steel.
"He used to be a scientist," Mason continued. "Brilliant. Obsessed with human evolution and… control. What he did to me, it wasn't an accident."
Marissa's eyes widened. "What do you mean?"
Mason looked up at her then, and for the first time, she saw it—all of it. The pain. The fear. The guilt.
"I'm not just running," he said. "I'm changing. I'm not… I'm not entirely human anymore."
The words hung between them, heavy with truth.
Marissa's breath caught in her throat, but she didn't pull away. She didn't flinch.
"What does that mean?" she asked quietly.
"I don't fully know. But he did something to me, to others like me. We were part of a program. He wanted to create something someone that could survive anything. Adapt to anything."
She reached for his hand, finding it colder than before.
"I can feel things changing," Mason whispered. "My senses. My strength. Even the way I think sometimes. It's like I'm becoming… someone else."
"And the others?" she asked.
"They're dead," he said, eyes dark. "Or they turned into something worse."
Marissa felt a chill deeper than the river's touch. But still, she didn't let go.
"You're still you," she said, voice steady. "I know it. I see it."
Mason looked away, like he didn't believe her.
"You don't have to be alone in this," she added. "Whatever you're becoming, whoever you are I'm not leaving."
Silence again. Then Mason finally looked back, something raw and unspoken in his eyes.
"Thank you," he said, barely more than a whisper.
They sat like that until the sun rose higher, casting golden light over the forest. But the warmth didn't last.
A sound, a crack of a branch snapped the moment in two.
Mason jumped to his feet, pulling Marissa behind him.
"Run," he said.
And they did.
Together.