Report – 12:13 A.M. | Unknown Safehouse
The flames had died.
But the war had just begun.
Damien stood before the holo-feed on the cracked wall, its glow painting harsh lines across his face. Every news channel echoed the same orchestrated lie:
BREAKING: Damien Blackwood Wanted in Connection to Gala Attack
Journalist Elara Vance: Accomplice or Victim?
No hesitation. No integrity.
The Veil had gone public—armed with propaganda.
Across the room, Elara stood by a broken window, wrapped in a worn blanket. Her eyes were distant, hollow. But her fingers trembled.
"They'll hunt us like animals now," she whispered.
Damien didn't look away from the screen. His voice was ice.
"Then we stop being prey."
---
12:42 A.M. | Abandoned Tunnel, Ravenport Outskirts
The steel door creaked open. The corridor beyond smelled of damp rust and secrets long buried.
Footsteps echoed—measured, deliberate.
From the shadows emerged a man draped in a crimson coat, a serpent tattoo curling along his neck.
Cassian Rhys.
Once an assassin of The Veil. Now its exile.
Damien had tried to kill him years ago. Failed.
Now… he needed him.
Cassian smirked as he lit a cigarette with fingers like blades.
"Well, well. The Devil comes crawling back. You must be desperate."
Damien didn't blink.
"We need access to The Veil's central nexus. You built the original tunnels."
Cassian blew smoke, amused.
"And why should I help the man who left steel in my ribs?"
Before Damien could answer, Elara stepped forward, her voice like a blade.
"Because they burned your brother alive last year. And we have the proof you never did."
Cassian froze.
The smirk vanished.
"Then let's burn them back."
---
2:13 A.M. | Safehouse Archives Vault
Dust and old data hung in the air as Elara dug through boxes Cassian unearthed—blueprints, encrypted drives, blackmail files older than her career.
Then she found it.
A photo.
Torn. Faded.
Her brother—Marcus.
Smiling. Alive.
And beside him… Dr. Liora Vale.
Younger. Laughing. An arm around Marcus like a sister.
The room tilted.
She knew him. She lied.
The door creaked.
Damien stepped in, saw the photo trembling in Elara's hand.
"You okay?"
She didn't look at him. Her voice cracked like glass.
"Everything I believed… was just shadows pretending to be truth."
Damien stepped closer. A quiet hand on her shoulder.
"Then we turn those shadows into fire."
---
3:00 A.M. | Emergency Broadcast – Hijacked
Cassian was a ghost in the grid—his fingers danced across stolen tech.
In moments, every screen in Ravenport flickered.
> Hijack Detected… Override Successful…
And then—
Truth.
Footage no one was meant to see.
Councilman Ward confessing to The Circle.
Security cam footage of children in chains.
Audio of Dr. Liora Vale ordering hits like boardroom meetings.
The city screamed.
The world gasped.
But truth doesn't end wars. It starts them.
---
3:17 A.M. | Crosshairs
Damien stood in silence, watching the storm he unleashed ripple through every screen.
Then—
CRACK.
Glass shattered.
Blood.
He staggered back, a crimson bloom spreading across his side.
Sniper.
Somewhere in the dark, someone whispered into a mic:
"The ghost bleeds. Mark it. Phase two begins."
---
To Be Continued…
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