Eternal Undying Chronicles

The night was bitterly cold by the docks, where the only light came from a few flickering, dim streetlights and the occasional glint off the ocean's surface. The darkness felt oppressive, hanging heavy in the air like a thick fog.

The docks were eerily silent, save for the distant lapping of waves against the hulls of rusting ships and the occasional creak of old wood. Stacks of crates loomed like silent sentinels, their shapes barely distinguishable in the gloom.

The air carried a faint scent of death and decay, a sickly-sweet odor that no amount of industrial-strength cleaning chemicals seemed capable of erasing. The place felt forgotten, abandoned to time and the elements.

A tall, dark-skinned young man stood near the edge of the docks, his eyes scanning the shadows warily. His buzz-fade haircut was neat, contrasting with his rugged surroundings.

He was lean, his build suggesting a mixture of agility and strength, and his sharp eyes gave away his alertness. His clothes were functional, a black leather jacket over a plain white shirt, jeans that had seen better days, and scuffed boots that hinted at a life on the move.

"Hey, Petra, did you find anything yet?" he asked, glancing at the young woman beside him.

Petra had dirt-blonde hair that fell messily around her shoulders, her green eyes sharp with focus as she knelt by a stack of crates. She wore a dark hoodie and jeans, the kind of outfit that allowed her to blend into the shadows effortlessly.

Her small frame and youthful face made her look almost out of place in the grim environment, but her eyes held a depth of experience that belied her appearance.

Petra sighed, clearly frustrated. "Shut up, Caden. Psychometry isn't magic. I need to find the right stuff to touch," she muttered, her voice tinged with irritation as she continued to search the area.

"Yeah, I hear you," Caden replied, his tone equally annoyed.

"But we've been here for an hour. First, you say you found a trail of a monster, and then you lead me to an abandoned building in the docks. And this place stinks," he complained, wrinkling his nose at the pervasive odor.

Petra rolled her eyes. "Oh, shut up. My [Mind Burst] ability is too cool to fail. I just need a clue."

"[Mind Burst]? You just copied my esper name and added 'Burst' to it," Caden retorted, crossing his arms. "My [Mind Force] is way cooler. I mean, useful telekinesis versus your lame Psychometry? No contest."

Petra shot him a glare. "Shut up and let me focus. I didn't come up with the name, remember? It was the white coats in the lab who gave us our esper names. And keep talking, and I'll make you relive your traumas with my power," she threatened, her voice low and cold.

Caden backed off slightly, raising his hands in mock surrender.

"I apologize for my outburst… do as you please," he muttered, deciding it wasn't worth pushing her any further.

"You better be," Petra said.

"I take it back, your powers are useless," Caden taunted, a smirk forming on his lips.

As they continued their bickering, the air around them seemed to ripple, and a young woman with brown hair appeared out of nowhere.

She had piercing blue eyes that sparkled with intelligence, and she was dressed in a pair of long jeans and a jacket that was a few sizes too big, giving her a slightly disheveled look.

Despite her casual attire, there was an air of confidence about her, something that made both Petra and Caden instinctively stand a little straighter.

"Guys… I finally found you," she said, her voice tinged with irritation.

"You had one job, and that was to buy groceries. Now, I find you guys at the docks, and why did you only send a text? You could've at least called the rest of us," she scolded, her eyes narrowing in annoyance.

"Oi, Christina, sup girl?" Caden greeted her, attempting to sound nonchalant but failing miserably.

"Ehh… blame Petra. It was all her. She saw some claw mark in an alley and decided to touch it, saying she saw visions of a blonde girl taken by some monster."

"Shut up and let me focus!" Petra yelled, her patience wearing thin.

Christina sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose as she forced herself to stay calm.

"Right, whatever. Just hurry up and find something useful, this place stinks," she ordered, clearly not in the mood for their antics.

"Yes, ma'am," Caden and Petra replied in unison, their tones half-joking, half-serious as they fell silent.

A few moments later, Petra's eyes lit up. "I found something. It moved into the abandoned building over there. Come on, let's check out the clues. This might be our lead to find what that creepy robe guy asked us for," she said, her voice filled with determination as she led the way toward the dilapidated structure.

The building loomed before them, its walls crumbling and covered in dirt, windows shattered or boarded up. The stench of decay and chemicals was stronger here, almost overpowering as they approached the entrance.

"Are you sure about this?" Christina asked, her voice tinged with doubt as she glanced at Petra.

"Yes, I'm sure," Petra replied firmly. "This is the place. We need to be careful, though. Whatever we're looking for… it's not friendly."

"Great, just what we needed," Caden muttered, his eyes scanning the darkness warily as they prepared to enter the building.

"This place makes me wanna puke," Christina complained, her nose wrinkling in disgust as she stepped over a pile of debris, the stench of rot and decay almost overpowering.

Caden, his expression finally serious, moved to the front of the group. "You guys stand behind me. I'll protect you in case something shows up."

"As you wish, fearless leader," Petra teased, though her tone was half-hearted. She crouched down, pressing her hand to the filthy, rotten floor. The moment her skin made contact, her mind was assaulted by a grotesque vision—a twisted collage of human remains, dismembered and scattered across the floor like discarded refuse.

The horror of what she saw hit her like a physical blow, and she doubled over, retching violently.

"Petra, you okay?" Christina rushed over, her voice laced with concern, her hand hovering uncertainly over Petra's back.

"Calm down, don't force yourself," Caden added, his voice softer than usual as he knelt beside Petra.

Petra's body trembled uncontrollably, her face ashen, eyes wide with terror. The visions continued to flash before her eyes—men, women, and children, their screams of agony echoing in her mind, their bodies mutilated beyond recognition.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

She could barely breathe, the air thick with the stench of death, mingling with the acrid scent of chemicals and blood. She wanted to run, to get as far away from this place as possible, but her legs wouldn't move.

Minutes passed before Petra finally managed to steady herself. Her voice shook as she spoke, her words almost a whisper.

"This place is… a human abattoir, a slaughterhouse. So many humans died here, eaten… men, women, children… it was horrible."

Caden placed a hand on her shoulder, trying to console her. "Okay, Petra, it's okay. We can go now."

Christina nodded at his words, ready to teleport them out of the hellhole they found themselves in, but Petra slowly shook her head and stood up on unsteady legs.

"No, not yet. We still need a clue. We can't fail—our lives and freedom hinge on our success. So, no," she refused, her voice firmer now, though still tinged with lingering fear.

"But Petra…" Christina's voice trailed off, worry etched across her face.

"Petra, stop acting tough. We need to go. You look as pale as a corpse," Caden insisted, his tone urgent, his concern genuine.

"No, I refuse," Petra repeated, more adamant this time.

"Let's go, stop being stubborn," Caden said, his frustration growing.

"I'm not being stubborn. This might be our only chance. After so much suffering, we finally managed to escape from the labs, and now your life is the leverage for some asshat. If we fulfill the mission, we'd be free, for real this time. So, no, I'm not leaving," Petra said, tears welling up in her eyes.

Caden looked down, knowing her anguish, his jaw clenched with frustration and helplessness. Christina glanced at Caden, waiting for his answer.

"I still don't agree," Caden whispered, his voice laced with uncertainty.

"I won't leave," Petra insisted, her eyes locking onto his with a desperate determination.

"Damn it, Petra," Caden muttered, his resolve wavering as he glanced at Christina, silently asking for her input.

Christina sighed, her hand reaching up to rub her forehead in exasperation. "Look, I get it. But if this goes south, we're out of here. No arguments, no heroics."

Petra nodded slowly, wiping her eyes with the back of her hand. "Fine. But let me try. Please."

"Just… be careful," Caden finally relented, his voice heavy with resignation. "If you feel like something's off, we're gone. No arguments."

"I need to know what happened here," Petra muttered to herself, though the desperation in her voice was evident to the others.

"What happened to the young woman they brought here? Did she get eaten too?"

The other two watched her with growing concern, but Petra's resolve remained steadfast.

They moved cautiously through the dark, decrepit hallways, the dim light barely illuminating the crumbling walls. Eventually, they reached a large production area. The stench of rot and chemicals was almost unbearable, the air thick with the metallic tang of blood.

Christina's stomach churned, bile rising in her throat as she glanced around at the remnants of the carnage. The cleanup had been haphazard at best, leaving behind a macabre tableau of broken machinery and dark stains on the floor.

"What the hell happened here?" Christina muttered, her voice trembling. "From the looks of it, someone tried to clean up, but there were just too many deaths, and they did a sloppy job."

They pressed on, their footsteps echoing eerily in the silence, until they came upon a gaping hole in the ground. The concrete around it was jagged and cracked, as if some enormous force had torn through it, revealing the churning sea below.

Petra knelt by the edge, placing her hand on the ground. Her eyes glazed over as a vision took hold of her mind.

"There was a battle here," she began, her voice distant. "Monsters... and another creature... a shadowy figure. I can't make them out clearly. It was trying to protect the humans, killed the monsters.

But then… something worse came, something horrible. He fought it, but it defeated him. He made this hole in the ground in a fit of rage when one of the monsters killed a woman... I can't get all the details... too much time has passed... But he took the blonde girl with him, and a little girl, and they dived into the water."

She clenched her fists, frustration and helplessness washing over her. "I can't make out their faces…"

"Calm down, Petra," Christina said gently, though her own nerves were frayed. "If they jumped into the water, they might have survived."

"Or they died from the cold water," Caden added, ever the pragmatist.

Petra shook her head, her features hardening with determination.

"I doubt it. The shadowy figure was strong… I just need a clue, something that belongs to any of them…" She gritted her teeth, frustration evident in her voice.

"Will a strand of hair work?" Caden asked, his gaze fixed on the hole in the ground.

"Yeah, but where are we supposed to find that? This place has been cleaned up," Christina pointed out, skepticism lacing her words.

"They didn't clean up the hole," Caden replied confidently. He waved his hand, and with a slight exertion of his [Mind Force] ability, a barely visible strand of blonde hair floated up from the darkness, illuminated faintly by the dim light.

"Wow, you really have sharp eyes," Petra said, her surprise genuine.

"Too bad he's blind to the really obvious things," Christina muttered, her frustration clearly personal.

"Hehe, looks like it's [Mind Force] for the win," Caden bragged, a grin spreading across his face.

The girls ignored his self-congratulation, their attention focused solely on the hair. Petra took it carefully, her hands trembling slightly as she touched it.

Her eyes fluttered closed, and she spoke in a hushed tone.

"I can see her face… but she was unconscious the whole time. The shadowy figure was after her… it was trying to protect her."

Petra glanced at Caden, her brow furrowed in thought.

"We need to find her. Maybe we can get a clue about who or what was here, and maybe find those magical nets… netta things…"

"Not netta—it's nexus," Christina corrected her, exasperation clear in her voice. "And we don't even know what they look like."

"He said we'd know when we see it," Caden added.

"Still, that doesn't make it any easier," Christina muttered, clearly still on edge.

"For now, let's go back. We have a clue—we can track down the blonde this hair came from and see if we can figure out what that shadowy thing was," Caden declared, determination in his voice.

"Our freedom and lives depend on it. The outside world is too nice to give up without a fight."

"Agreed," Christina said, her voice firm.

Petra nodded, her resolve solidifying. "Let's go back, regroup with the others, and get to work."

"We can get Ping to do a DNA test and access the results through his security clearance," Caden suggested.

They turned and headed back through the dark, ominous halls, ready to face whatever challenges lay ahead.