Chapter 57: The Sanctuary

The SUV roared down the muddy forest path, rain hammering the windshield like bullets. Ivy clutched her seatbelt with trembling hands, her heart still racing from the encounter.

The real Asher was bleeding, his knuckles white as he gripped the wheel.

“I thought I lost you,” Ivy gasped, glancing at him.

“You almost did,” Asher replied, jaw clenched. “That thing took my face, my voice. It nearly replaced me completely.”

Ivy turned to him. “Where were you?”

“Trapped. Underground facility. I escaped two days ago,” he said, wincing. “Neris was right. They’re not just watching us—they’re rewriting us.”

Ivy shivered. “How did you know where to find me?”

He handed her a folded piece of paper from his jacket. It was a page torn from Neris’s journal. On it, scribbled in rushed ink, were coordinates, and beneath them, two words:

“Only truth survives.”

They drove for hours, the landscape shifting from dense forest to rocky cliffs. Eventually, Asher veered off-road, tyres crunching gravel. A towering metal gate loomed ahead, hidden behind vines and camouflage netting.

“This place is off-grid,” he said. “They call it The Sanctuary. Only ex-agents and fugitives know about it.”

As they passed through the gate, Ivy saw armed guards, satellite dishes, and a labyrinth of bunkers built into the hills. It felt more like a rebel base than a safe house.

Inside the main bunker, a woman with steely grey eyes approached.

“Agent Hale,” she said, nodding. “I see the rumours were true.”

“Marla,” Asher replied. “We need your help. She's the one.”

Marla turned to Ivy. Her expression changed—an unreadable mix of awe and caution.

“So, the vessel lives.”

Ivy was brought to a medical chamber where her vitals were monitored. Asher stood guard, never letting her out of his sight.

In the briefing room, Marla projected a hologram of an ancient scroll.

“This isn’t just a pregnancy,” she said. “It’s a convergence.”

Ivy frowned. “Convergence of what?”

“Light and dark. Science and myth. The child you carry isn’t entirely human. It’s the result of genetic engineering fused with… something older. Something divine—or cursed.”

Asher interjected, “They’ve been creating hybrids for decades. But Ivy’s child? She’s the first natural hybrid.”

“The one born with choice,” Marla finished. “They’ll all come for her. The elites. The mimics. Even the Resistance.”

Ivy’s head spun. “Why? What do they want with her?”

Marla stared her down.

“She’s the key. To destruction—or salvation.”

Later that night, Asher took Ivy to a private chamber. A medic had drawn blood samples and analyzed her DNA.

“There’s something else,” he said, holding out the report. “You’re not just carrying a hybrid.”

Ivy took the report. Her eyes widened.

“No… that can’t be right.”

“You have mimic DNA, Ivy. Your blood reacted to the mimic the same way their own kind does.”

She dropped the paper. “Are you saying I’m one of them?”

“No,” Asher said gently. “You’re… immune to them. Maybe even their opposite. That’s why they want your child—she’s a threat.”

Ivy stood, heart pounding. “Then we need to run. Hide.”

“We can’t hide forever,” Asher replied. “There’s only one way to stop them.”

Ivy looked at him, breath caught.

“You want to go to the capital, don’t you?”

Asher nodded grimly. “We burn the operation from the inside.”

That night, Ivy couldn’t sleep. Her dreams were laced with strange symbols, dark corridors, and a soft humming that resonated in her bones.

She awoke to pain—sharp, unbearable pain.

The hourglass mark on her belly glowed red, brighter than ever before.

Asher rushed in. “What’s wrong?”

“I don’t know,” she groaned. “It’s like—like she’s moving. But not inside. Outside me. Like she’s reaching for something.”

Suddenly, the mark pulsed, and a beam of light shot from it, hitting the far wall.

A rune appeared—burned into the concrete.

And below it, a message in an ancient language.

Marla and two others came running, eyes wide.

“I’ve seen this before,” Marla whispered. “It’s a summons.”

“A summons for what?” Ivy asked.

Marla met her eyes.

“For judgment.”

The next morning, Marla made an announcement.

“We intercepted a transmission last night. The Resistance has been infiltrated. Someone inside is a mimic.”

Everyone looked around in panic.

“No one leaves,” Marla ordered. “Until we find the traitor.”

Ivy’s heart sank. The only people who had direct access to her were now suspects.

But just as Marla turned away, Ivy heard something strange in her voice. A metallic echo.

Her skin turned cold.

She leaned toward Asher. “What if it’s not someone in the Resistance?”

“What do you mean?”

“What if it’s Marla?”

Asher’s expression hardened—but before he could respond, an explosion rocked the Sanctuary.

Alarms blared.

Doors locked down.

And a voice crackled through the speakers.

“She is mine. And no wall can keep her from me.”