Chapter 9 · Don't Take the East Gate

I take the east gate anyway.

Cain told me not to. Twice. Which means someone wants me to go this way, and I need to know if he's the one setting the trap or trying to keep me out of someone else's.

The corridor smells like rust and old blood. The kind that's soaked into concrete so many times you can't bleach it out. Emergency lights flicker overhead, casting everything in that sick orange glow that makes it hard to tell if the stains on the walls are shadows or something worse.

My heart's pounding but I keep my steps even. Confident. Like I belong here.

I don't.

The east gate is supposed to lead to the outer district access tunnels. Student black market vendors use it when they need to move restricted goods off campus without security scans. I learned that my first life. Died before I could use it.

This time I'm walking in with my eyes open.

The gate itself is just a reinforced door with a broken card reader. Someone's already been through. The lock mechanism is bent outward, metal still warm when I touch it.

I slip through.

The tunnel beyond is darker.