Chapter Five – Alyssa
The lab is eerily quiet. The steady hum of the ventilation system fills the sterile air, and the cold, flickering fluorescent lights cast harsh shadows across the room. Alone at my desk, surrounded by stacks of files and half-finished notes, I fight a tightening in my chest. Something feels off. It’s a prickling sensation, like someone’s eyes boring into my back.
I force myself to breathe, shaking it off as exhaustion. I’ve been here too long. But ever since that last conversation with Viktor, it’s been hard to ignore the creeping paranoia. He’d looked me dead in the eye and told me to stop digging. His words play on a loop in my mind, gnawing at me.
I rifle through a case file, skimming over pages, my fingers smudged with ink. It’s there again: a faint trace of an unusual neurotoxin. Not the kind you find in typical cases. My gut tightens as I flip through the pages, hoping for a connection, some clue I might have missed.
The clock on the wall ticks closer to midnight. Everyone else left hours ago, their laughter fading down the hallway as they headed home. Now, it’s just me, the whispering quiet of the lab, and a gnawing suspicion that I’m not alone.
I rip open an energy bar, the crinkle of plastic unnaturally loud. I take a bite, eyes scanning my scattered notes. My mind is fuzzy, too much caffeine, too little sleep.
Then, a sharp knock.
I freeze, the bar halfway to my mouth. The lab is empty. It’s way past closing. I reach for my phone, heart pounding, but then I tell myself I’m being ridiculous. It’s probably just security.
I cross the room, trying to look casual, but my hands are trembling. When I open the door, Nina is standing there, cheeks flushed, eyes wild. She doesn’t wait for an invitation—just pushes past me like the building is on fire.
“Alyssa,” she gasps, clutching her coat tight around her. “I swear, one of these days, you’re going to drive me insane.”
I force a smile, trying to ease my racing pulse. “What’s up with the late-night visit, Nina?”
She glares at me, her eyes darting to the files scattered across my desk. “I was home, trying to sleep, but I couldn’t shake the feeling something was wrong.” She steps closer, her voice dropping to a whisper. “You’re not safe here, Alyssa. Not with... them involved.”
“The Bratva?” I scoff, trying to sound braver than I feel. “There’s no proof.”
Nina’s expression hardens. “You think they care about proof? You’re too close, Alyssa. You’re poking a hornet’s nest.”
Her words hang in the air, but I shrug them off. I can’t stop now, not when I’m so close. Nina sighs, her shoulders slumping as if she’s carrying a weight too heavy to bear.
“Just... be careful, okay?” she says, her voice barely more than a whisper. “I don’t want to see you disappear like the others.”
She leaves before I can argue, the click of the door echoing through the empty lab. I turn back to my desk, her warning ringing in my ears, but I push it aside. There’s too much at stake. The faces of victims I’ve seen, the families I’ve met—those are the ones I can’t forget.
Hours blur together. The caffeine stops working, and my eyes burn from staring at my laptop screen. I’ve gone over the evidence a hundred times, and yet... there’s something I’m missing. Something right in front of me.
I stand, grabbing the files to put them away. But as I open the cabinet, my hands go cold. Two files are missing. I tear through the drawers, shoving folders aside, but they’re gone. My throat tightens. I know I filed them yesterday.
Before I can process it, my phone vibrates in my pocket. The screen lights up with a message from an unknown number:
*Stop digging if you value your life.*
I drop the phone like it’s a snake. My pulse races. Whoever sent this knows exactly what I’m doing. The files... they weren’t just misplaced. Someone’s trying to shut me down.
The lab feels colder than before, the shadows longer, deeper. I grab my coat, throw it on, and head for the exit. The stale air feels suffocating, and I need to clear my head. Outside, the night air is sharp, biting my cheeks. I take deep breaths, trying to calm the frantic beat of my heart.
But then I hear it—footsteps. Slow, steady, just behind me.
I spin around. The street is empty, the distant city lights casting an orange glow. But then, out of the corner of my eye, I see him. Viktor, standing under the dim streetlight, his face hidden in shadows. He’s watching me.
“What do you want, Viktor?” I call out, my voice stronger than I feel.
He steps forward, his eyes dark and unreadable. “I warned you, Alyssa. This isn’t a game.”
I let out a bitter laugh. “Warned me? Or threatened me? I’m not backing down.”
He’s closer now, close enough that I can see the tightness in his jaw. “You’re in over your head,” he says, voice barely above a whisper. “You have no idea what you’re up against.”
“Try me,” I snap, fists clenched. “If you’re so worried, maybe you should’ve left me alone.”
For a second, something flickers in his eyes—regret? Fear? It’s gone before I can read it. He leans in, his breath warm against the cold night air. “I don’t want to see you hurt,” he says, so quiet I almost don’t hear it.
I swallow, the words catching me off guard. But before I can say anything, he’s already turning away, disappearing into the shadows.
The street is silent again. I stand there, shaken, trying to make sense of the warning, the files, Viktor’s cryptic words. But there’s no time to unravel it now. I have work to do.
The next morning, I’m back at the lab. I lock the door behind me, double-checking it this time. I can’t afford more surprises. I sit down, crack my knuckles, and dive into the research. I’m not stopping until I get to the bottom of this.
If they think a few threats will scare me off, they have no idea who they’re dealing with.