"Get up, you heavy bastard."Evangeline’s voice cracked. Her boots slid in the black muck of the gutter. My teeth vibrated in their sockets. A low hum, like a hornet trapped in my skull, surged from the red mark on my chest. Every beat of my heart sent a fresh jolt of heat through my ribs. I couldn't breathe. My lungs were full of wet ash."Kai! Look at me!"I slumped. My chin hit the sludge. The rain tasted like copper and old batteries. Through the gray blur of the downpour, the red light on my chest pulsed. Faster. Brighter. Each flash matched the throb in my temples."Twenty-three hours," I wheezed. I couldn't lift my head. My 190-pound frame felt like a bag of wet cement. "Go, Evie. Just... go.""Shut the fuck up."She grabbed my collar. Her face was a mask of snot and rain. She yanked. My shoulder popped. I groaned, a wet, rattling sound. She hauled me backward, her heels digging into the mud, her pregnant belly a hard, sharp curve against her shredded dress."The crawlspace," s

Last Updated : 2026-04-11

"Check your chest. Now."My hand flew to my sternum before I was even fully awake. I sucked in a breath. It rattled like a bag of dry gravel. The brand—the jagged 'X'—didn't just glow anymore. The skin around it had turned a sick, necrotic purple. Black veins branched out from the center, crawling toward my collarbone like ink dropped in water. It pulsed. A low, wet throb that made my vision swim with static."It's spreading," I wheezed. I tried to sit up, but the world tilted. My stomach flipped. I tasted copper and bile."Don't move." Evangeline’s voice was right at my ear. "Your heart rate spikes, the timer speeds up. Stay down."We were in a flooded basement. The water was ankle-deep, oily and smelling of old grease. Rain drummed against the street above, muffled by concrete. A high-pitched hum—the sound of Blackwood drones—vibrated through the walls. Every few seconds, a red light swept through the street-level grates, slicing the darkness of our hole."You're shaking." I reached

Last Updated : 2026-04-11

All Chapters of THE SUBSTITUTE FOR THE SUBSTITUTE: Chapter 31 - Chapter 32

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