A low chuckle echoed from the shadows, making my skin crawl. The familiar voice cut through the haze of my mind like a knife.
I blinked, squinting as the light above flickered, and the figure stepped closer. My heart skipped a beat.
Sayid.
The same Sayid who had been on my side, the one I’d thought I could trust. His dark eyes gleamed beneath the mask, his expression unreadable as he crouched down in front of me.
I struggled against the ropes binding me, my pulse quickening. “W-What’s going on, Sayid? Why are you wearing that mask? What the hell is happening?”
He paused for a moment, scanning the room with a sharp gaze. “Pretending," he said. “I can't let you ruin our plans."
The urgency in his tone was clear. “W-What do you mean?” I demanded.
The door to the small, dimly lit room creaked open, and Sayid stood up quickly, his posture tense. He turned to me, his eyes cold and calculating. “Stay quiet,” he ordered.
I had no choice but to obey. The door swung open fully, and a masked figure stepped inside, his movements slow and deliberate. He paused as if scanning the room for any signs of life. Sayid stood at the edge of the shadows, blending in like one of them, his body language mimicking the masked man’s rigid stance.
Sayid nodded subtly at the intruder, his body language imitating the posture of the others. “All clear,” he muttered in a voice I barely recognized. It was calm, controlled, like he’d done this a thousand times before.
The figure didn’t respond, but after a long moment, he turned and exited the room.
Sayid immediately rushed over, cutting through the ropes with practiced ease. “We need to go. Now,” he urged, grabbing my arm and pulling me to my feet.
My legs wobbled beneath me, and I stumbled, my head still spinning. “Where are we…” I demanded, trying to regain my bearings.
“You’ll see,” he said cryptically, guiding me toward the door. I didn’t have time to protest as he half-dragged me through the hallways, moving faster than I could keep up with.
The heavy thud of footsteps echoed in the distance, making my pulse spike. I tried to pull away.
Sayid stopped abruptly, his grip tightening on my wrist. “You have to trust me, Sierra. This is the only way.”
I glanced back, but the sounds of the other masked figures grew louder, and the tension in the air made my stomach turn.
With a final glance over his shoulder, Sayid pulled me through a narrow passageway and into the woods outside the old factory. The cool night air hit me like a slap to the face, and I gasped for breath, trying to make sense of everything.
Before I could voice another question, Sayid yanked me down a dirt path, pulling me through the trees. The ground beneath my feet was uneven, but I kept running, hoping that this was all just a nightmare. I tried to break free, my heart racing, but Sayid’s grip on my arm tightened.
“Let go of me!” I shouted, pulling against him. I needed answers, and I wasn’t going to let him drag me off without them.
I stumbled for a few more steps, but my legs couldn’t keep up with the urgency in his movements. Before I could react, Sayid spun me around, his hands firm but gentle on my shoulders.
That’s when he saw it. The faint birthmark just behind my ear, the one I never paid much attention to. The mark that no one ever mentioned—except now, in the glow of moonlight, he could see it clearly. It wasn’t a coincidence.
HE INTENDED TO DO THAT.
Sayid froze, his eyes locked on it, his breath hitching in surprise. “I knew it. It’s there…” he muttered, almost to himself. “The mark…”
I pulled away, my breath shallow as I felt the panic rise in my chest. “What mark? W-What are you talking about?”
Sayid’s expression shifted, his lips parting as if he was about to say something monumental. “Sierra, y-you’re Dr. Victoria’s real daughter,” he said quietly, his voice tinged with disbelief.
The world seemed to slow down, my mind struggling to keep up. “W-What?” I stammered, unable to comprehend what he was saying. “No. That can’t be right.”
“You’re her biological child,” Sayid continued, his voice heavy with guilt. “Evelyn was adopted. She was never meant to be her daughter. I—” He stopped, running a hand through his hair, frustration and regret flickering in his eyes. “I swapped you two at the hospital. It was the only way to keep you safe.”
My mind raced, trying to piece together the fragments of my life, the lies. “Why would you do that?!”
“I couldn’t,” Sayid said, his gaze intense and full of regret. “It was too dangerous. If your real father found out who you were, he would’ve used you to destroy everything. The only way to protect you was to keep you hidden. To keep you away from all of this.”
I stared at him, the weight of his words sinking in, but before I could respond, the sound of distant shouting reached our ears. Sayid’s eyes flickered toward the mansion in the distance, his face darkening.
We ran, deeper in the woods. It was a half of our before we finally arrived at our destination— the mansion.
And then a familiar voice.
A few seconds, we heard gunshots!
“L-Let's go, it's too dangerous. H-He killed Dr. Vic—"
