Night Watcher Zero Novels & Stories

Scratchy, sudden, coming from his right. Gordon spun, flashlight cutting through the dark. The beam landed on a boy sitting motionless on the couch, his small frame impossibly still, his eyes fixed on nothing at all. "Jack?" Gordon said, lowering his flashlight slightly, though the boy gave no reaction at all - not a blink, not a breath that Gordon could see, only that same terrible stillness that made the hair on his arms stand up.

I don't walk around unarmed, that's the first rule of being an assassin. I move quietly, listening, observing. Zero’s waiting by the door, his big shape dark against a weak streetlight. He’s smiling, a cocky grin that says he’s got something good. “Took you long enough, MG,” he says in a teasing tone. “Don’t start,” I say back, but I smile a little. Zero’s one of the few I trust completely, even if he’s a Shadow Rider. He is loyal, he has proved that and always there when things get bad. “Who is it?”

Somewhere in the distance, a dormant network flickered to life, pulsing a single message through the dark web. ECHO ACTIVATION- 71 HOURS REMAINING. Lightning streaked across the night sky, illuminating Natasha’s face. She turned toward the vault, her reflection flickering faintly on the glass, and whispered the words that would haunt her forever. “She’s waking up.”

"Nobody moves through those routes without an escort until these are out." He was already standing. "Done." I turned to Lira. She was looking at the device on the floor with an expression I recognized because I had worn it myself, the first time I understood the Watcher was not a distant threat but a specific and patient one. The specific look of a person who has just understood that they have been watched for longer and more thoroughly than they knew. "It knew exactly where I was," she said. Quiet. Not a question. "Yes." "The whole time."

Loud, echoing through the intercom system—which shouldn't have been working, but somehow was. "Lucian Drakov." The voice was synthesized. Distorted. It sounded like a choir of static. "We are Zero Day. We are the end of your line." I looked at the small monitor inside the safe room. It was battery-powered. The image was grainy, infrared. It showed the living room. Lucian was behind the overturned sofa. He was firing into the dark. The men in white suits were advancing. They had night vision goggles. Lucian was blind. "Open the door," Adrian whispered. "Daddy..."

I didn't get any rest that night. Tyra rested one blade over her lap, Kieran sat close to me, half-awake, half-alert, and Malek snuggled against the wall. However, I was unable to close my eyes. Not after what I had witnessed. Subject Zero wearing my face, though not me. She was not Echo. Echo was the ideal weapon; she was smooth and icy. Zero, however, was something different; Not made to follow orders, it wasn't even made to be copied.

Silence. Complete silence. Nobody moved. Nobody breathed. Then the truth hit. Hard. Fast. Brutal. The fourth pendant. The missing subject. The forgotten child. No. No no no. Then Dr. Laurent quietly closed his eyes. Because he finally understood what was happening too. Subject Zero wasn't escaping. Subject Zero was coming for someone. Then suddenly, every monitor on Elliot's tablet glitched. Once. Twice. Three times. Then a face appeared. A young man.

"The shadow investors. They’ve been buying up the medical waste from my labs and the discarded chips from yours." "Correct, Mr. Thorne," the voice replied. "And now, we are testing the efficacy of our new hybrid. Subject Zero is merely the first course. The doors are sealed. The air filtration is offline. You have exactly six hours until the full moon reaches its zenith. Let’s see who survives the night: the hunter, the wolf, or the machine." A heavy thud vibrated through the floorboards. Then another. Something was climbing the outside of the building. "Juno?" Elara called out, her voice small.

Dark hair tied back. Calm eyes. Not nervous at all. Like someone who had been watching everything for a long time. Inside the vault Marcus stared at the screen. “Well.” He folded his arms slowly. “This night just keeps getting crowded.” Sebastian didn’t move. But his eyes were fixed on the new player. Zero’s voice came through the system. “I wondered when you would show up.” The woman smiled faintly. “Hello, Zero.” Daniel whispered, “They know each other too?” Leo zoomed the video feed.

On Oath Day, she was a "ceremonial guest." During Lunar Eclipse Night, she became a "blessing representative." And I, the actual Luna, hadn't attended a single one in five years. My phone suddenly vibrated. It was a message from Margaret, the pack housekeeper: "Luna, Alpha instructed to have a car ready at six AM. He has to handle an urgent matter." Sending a message like this at three in the morning. So urgent it needs a three-hour advance notice? I replied, "Understood." Then I set my alarm for five.