The days following our escape felt surreal. The pain from my injuries lingered, but it was the memories that hurt the most—the faces of those children in Block C, the look in my coworker's eyes when I killed him. Every night I lay awake, haunted by it all. But despite the darkness creeping into my mind, there was one thing I held onto: John's survival. His life was the only thing that kept me from breaking completely.
Four years had passed since we fled the Pandora Institution. In that time, John and I moved from place to place, constantly changing our identities, always on the run. The institution's reach was vast, and they would never stop looking for us. We had to be smarter than them—smarter than the director.
John was growing up fast. He was fourteen now, and his powers had become stronger and more refined. He was no longer the frightened boy who hid in the shadows of Block C. He had learned to defend himself, but that kindness I had worried about still lingered in him. He didn't want to hurt people unless he absolutely had to. And while that gave me hope for his future, I also knew it could be a weakness when the time came for revenge.
We were living in a small apartment on the outskirts of a forgotten town, a place where no one asked too many questions. I had managed to secure a job under a fake name, working as a mechanic at a local garage. It wasn't much, but it kept us afloat and allowed us to stay off the radar. John spent his days studying and practicing his telekinesis in secret. We had to be careful, always careful.
But we knew our time was running out. I could feel it in my bones. Pandora wouldn't let this go. They wanted John back. Not because they cared about him, but because he was their second most successful creation, well the first now since they killed Samantha. The director would never allow such a failure to exist.
We had no choice. We had to go back. Not just to survive, but to end it. To free the others. And to destroy the Pandora Institution once and for all.
---
One evening, as the sun dipped below the horizon, casting the sky in shades of red and gold, John and I sat across from each other in the tiny kitchen of our apartment. The old wood table between us was cluttered with papers, maps, and blueprints of the Pandora Institution that I had drawn from memory.
"We can't keep running," John said, his voice steady but filled with a quiet determination.
I looked up from the map I was studying. His eyes, a mix of fear and resolve, locked with mine. He was right. We both knew it. But hearing him say it made the weight of our reality sink deeper into my chest.
"I know," I said softly, rubbing my temples. "But going back means risking everything. We barely made it out alive the first time."
"They'll never stop hunting us," John continued, his gaze unwavering. "We can't live like this forever. We have to stop them, and we can't do that from the outside."
I leaned back in my chair, staring at the ceiling. My mind raced with possibilities, each one more dangerous than the last. "You've gotten stronger, John, but they'll be expecting that. They'll have new security measures, new guards, maybe even new creations like you."
John's face darkened at the thought. He had nightmares about Pandora, just like I did. But his were different. He dreamt of the other children, the ones we left behind—the ones who never had a chance. "We have to save them," he whispered. "They deserve a chance to live."
I swallowed hard, the memories of Block C flooding back. I saw the faces of those children every day, a reminder of my failure to protect them. But now, maybe we had a chance to make things right.
"We can't do it alone," I said finally. "We'll need help."
John raised an eyebrow. "Who would help us? Everyone's too scared of Pandora."
I tapped the table, considering our options. "There might be someone. Sera… she was part of the resistance. There are others like her. People who've lost family to the institution. If we can find them, we might stand a chance."
"Sera's dead," John said, his voice heavy with guilt. He had always blamed himself for not being able to save her that day.
"I know," I replied, my voice softening. "But she wasn't working alone. There's a network. Underground. I've heard whispers in some of the towns we've passed through. We just have to find them."
John nodded, though doubt lingered in his eyes. "What if they don't trust us?"
"They will," I said, more confident than I felt. "They hate Pandora as much as we do."
John stared at the map in front of us, his fingers brushing over the lines I'd drawn. "Then let's do it. Let's find them. And let's end this."
I smiled, pride swelling in my chest at his courage. He was no longer the boy I had once feared wouldn't survive. He was strong, and he was ready. We both were.
"Alright," I said, folding the map and sliding it into my bag. "Tomorrow, we start the search. And when we're ready… we'll take Pandora down."
As the last light of day faded from the sky, the fire of revenge burned bright in our hearts. We had spent three years running, hiding, surviving. But now, it was time to fight back.
Pandora was about to face its reckoning