The observation room erupted into darkness, as though the air itself had been swallowed by an insatiable void. Shadows writhed along the walls like living creatures, thick and suffocating. The mage-lights overhead flickered once, feebly, then surrendered completely.


    The shadows rippled, and Evelyn was there—no warning, no sound. One moment absence, the next her silhouette carved against the blackened air, sharper than a blade’s edge. Her breath didn’t hitch, her pace didn’t falter. She moved with precision, her every step calculated, her focus absolute!


    Evelyn’s hand shot to the hilt of her blade, and with one fluid motion, she drew it. Shadows coiled tighter around her, summoned by her rage. The runes etched into the hilt glowed faintly, a red-hot pulse mirroring the fury in her eyes. Without hesitation, she slammed the hilt against the observation window’s thick glass. The impact reverberated through the room like a thunderclap, a shock wave of raw magic rippling outward. The runes ignited. Light flared and then fractured, splintering into veins of crimson and gold that snaked across the glass. It resisted for a heartbeat, a stubborn final defense. Then, with a sound like ice cracking underfoot, the entire pane shattered. Shards exploded outward in a glittering cascade, the water beyond surging through the breach with violent force.


    Jonah barely had time to scream. The torrent seized him, hurling him like a ragdoll into the corridor. The swirling blackness swallowed his cries, and then the water carried him away, a flailing figure lost in the flood.


    As the glass gave way, the blade in Evelyn''s hand detonated with a concussive blast. The shards tore into her palm, the bones in her hand fracturing under the force of the blade exploding like a hand grenade. Her hand jerked back involuntarily, the mangled remains of the hilt clattering to the ground. She didn’t flinch, didn’t even glance at the damage. Instead, Evelyn melted back into the shadows, her form dissolving into the writhing blackness as the water rushed past in front of her. From inside her shadowy void her eyes scanned the space with surgical precision, seeking one thing. Her shoulders only relaxed by the smallest degree when she caught sight of Isabella’s hands clutching the metal door handle, her knuckles white, her grip ironclad despite the heavy panting and coughing coming from her slumped form.


    Isabella''s fingers, white-knuckled and trembling, latched onto the door handle as though it were the last anchor in the world. Behind her, glass shattered with a shriek that sliced through the water around her. muscles screaming as the torrent fought to drag her into the gaping void where the observation window had been. The algae—bright green and shimmering, almost alive—was wrenched from her skin by the rush. Her gasp was nothing but a whisper in the deafening cold. A flicker of movement caught her eye—just a tendril of algae, curling unnervingly in the current before it vanished. Isabella’s lungs burned as the seconds stretched impossibly thin, every part of her aching to let go, to collapse into the pull. And then it slowed. The raging torrent dulled to a trickle, leaving her shivering and gasping in the echoing silence. Water pooled at her ankles Isabella coughed violently, pressing her forehead to the metal door and slumping to her knees. Her soaked hair clung to her cheeks and neck as shivers wracked her body. She pushed herself up on trembling legs, staring at her arms where they glowed green and pulsing faintly.


    “Shit,” she whispered, whipping at her arms frantically, her breath visible in the cold air. Her voice trembled, as much from the cold as from her fear. The algae didn’t seem to be eating her—yet. She quickly turned over to wash the algae off and her breath froze completely. It was everywhere! The algae bathed the entire room a low green glow. The glow trailed up her legs, continuing past her waist and over her chest! The subtle patches of warmth on her face and neck confirming the frightening news. She was covered in it! Her entire body! She swallowed hard, reality revealing  just how close she had been to dying in the most horrifying and horrible ways she could think of!


    The corridor outside the observation room reeked of salt and something else—an acrid stench that clung to Jonah''s throat as he stumbled upright. Water pooled at his feet, reflecting the algae’s sickly green glow that pulsed and flickered across the grimy tiles. The observation room door dangled precariously, one hinge groaning under the weight. Jonah clutched his shoulder, the arm hanging limp, pain radiating from where the door frame had slammed into him. He squinted through the haze, his breaths ragged. What just happened? The water, the algae—it wasn’t supposed to—


    “Jonah Kane.”


    The words came low and steady, cutting through the dim light like a blade. Jonah turned, eyes wild. Evelyn stepped forward, her figure emerging from the murky shadows as if the darkness itself spat her out. Blood dripped steadily from her mangled left hand, dark splotches punching holes in the green glow of the algae coating the floor. Her other hand clenched a blade made of pure shadow.Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings.


    “Detective?” Jonah said as his body froze, his voice cracking. His bravado faltered, and his gaze darted to the exit.


    "Don’t even think about it. You’re under arrest for the murder of Dr. Alan and Dr. Peterson,” Evelyn said, each word clipped and seething with quiet rage. Her boots splashed lightly against the water as she advanced on him, blade pointed directly at his chest. “and for the attempted murder of Dr. Hartley.”


    Jonah''s good hand darted to his pocket, and he withdrew a glass container with a red crystal gleamed ominously in his palm, faint energy crackling around its edges. His lips curled in a sneer, though fear flickered in his eyes.


    “Take one more step, and I’ll smash it.” his voice, tight with a mix of desperation and confidence, echoed in the corridor. His fingers curled around the glass jar, the ominous red crystal inside pulsing faintly like a dying ember. The green algae coating the floor glimmered underfoot, ominous as a loaded cannon.


    Evelyn froze mid-step, her shadow blade retracting soundlessly into the folds of her trench coat. The shadows it left behind twitched at the edges of her sleeve, restless like caged animals. Her sharp green eyes flicked from Jonah’s trembling hands to the jar, calculating. If he was bluffing, he was damn convincing.


    “Let’s talk this through,” she said, opening the hand that was holding the blade half facing towards him in a placating manner, her tone low and even. She didn’t flinch when the faint crack of glass echoed as Jonah adjusted his grip. “You don’t want to end up as the guy who dissolved himself along with his victims. That doesn’t exactly scream ‘mastermind.’”


    “Don’t patronize me.” Jonah’s laugh was dry, humorless. “This crystal has enough stored magical energy to cause a reaction on a scale far larger than anything Doctor Hartley or I have ever seen! You think I’m scared to use it? Try me.”


    For a beat, Evelyn’s gaze flicked down to the glowing green algae on the floor. She saw Isabella’s in her mind—slumped against the metal door inside the observation room, soaked from head to toe. The image burned in her chest, a volatile torrent of terror and rage. It was gone in a flash, replaced by the white-hot clarity of purpose. and she relaxed her body slightly.


    Jonah’s sneer deepened. “That’s what I thought.” Seeing the detective stand down.


    “I believe you,” Evelyn said, her voice cold as steel. She let the tension in her shoulders slacken a little more, tilting her head just enough to show a measure of surrender. The shadows at her feet slithered back into the shadows of her clothes. “You’ve got the upper hand.”


    Jonah exhaled, a sharp relief that softened the rigid lines of his posture.


    “Smart move, Detective.” He adjusted the jar, holding it up as if to admire his own leverage. “But it doesn’t have to end this way. You and I? We can work something out.”


    Evelyn’s lips curled into a bitter half-smile. “Yeah? Enlighten me.”


    Jonah looked back at her.


    “Thirty-seventy split. I’m feeling generous. I walk out of here with my research, and you two stay alive. All you have to do is walk away. Cases go cold all the time, Detective. Let this one freeze.”


    Evelyn kept her face impassive, but her jaw tightened. “You’re a real humanitarian.”


    Jonah grinned, misinterpreting her disdain as interest. “Oh, come on. You know how this city works. Every cop’s got a price. And I’m letting you name yours. Let’s be real, nobody’s going to miss—”


    A loud crack interrupted him as Isabella’s fist collided with his jaw. The sound reverberated through the corridor, raw and satisfying. Jonah stumbled, clutching his face as the jar slipped from his hand. The electric glow of the crystal reddening the green glow of the algae as it fell closer!


    Evelyn dove forward, her coat flaring. Her hand stretched out, shadows inside her sprang to life once more as they rushed towards the tips of her outreached fingers. The jar disappeared into the void just as the shadowy tips of her fingers made contact.


    Isabella stood over Jonah unconscious body, her knuckles white in clenched fists. Her chest heaved, damp hair clinging to her cheek. She looked over as Evelyn got to her feet. She took one shaky step towards her. Then she dropped to her knees. Evelyn caught her before she could fall and slowly, carefully, lowered her to the damp floor.


    "Yes!" Isabella exhaled quickly up at Evelyn.


    "Yes what?" Evelyn answered, a concerned smile growing on her face as she gently brushed damp hair from Isabella''s face.


    "Yes. I would love to be with you for Christmas!"


    The stunned look on Evelyn''s face, and the reddening of her cheeks were the last thing she saw before her vision faded into blackness.