CLIMAX Book Two — Chapter 1: The World Outside
Three months.
That was how long it had been since Genesis collapsed.
Three months since Zariah Bennett had walked out of the underground facility with blood on her clothes, dust in her hair, and the certainty that her life would never be ordinary again.
Three months since the world learned that Project Climax existed.
Three months since the names of powerful families, hidden laboratories, missing people, falsified records, and decades of manipulation began appearing in newspapers across the country.
And three months since Zariah had discovered the truth that frightened her more than anything else.
Destroying Genesis had not destroyed The Circle.
It had only forced The Circle to change.
The world outside had celebrated them as survivors.
The newspapers called them heroes.
People online called Zariah the girl who exposed one of the biggest conspiracies in modern history.
There were interviews.
Documentaries.
Investigations.
Government officials making promises.
Lawyers demanding answers.
Families searching for relatives who had disappeared years earlier.
But none of them knew the whole truth.
None of them knew that some members of The Circle had disappeared before authorities could reach them.
None of them knew that several records had already been erased.
And none of them knew that somewhere beneath the ruins of Genesis, one final system had continued running.
PROJECT CIRCLE: ACTIVE.
Zariah knew.
She had seen it.
And she had never told anyone.
Not even Kairo.
She stood beside the apartment window, watching rain slide down the glass.
The city below looked peaceful.
Cars moved through wet streets.
People hurried beneath umbrellas.
Lights glowed from apartments and offices.
Everything looked normal.
That was what frightened her most.
Normal had become suspicious.
Zariah stepped away from the window.
Her apartment was quiet.
Too quiet.
She looked toward the hallway.
“Kairo?”
No answer.
He had left earlier that evening, promising to return before midnight.
Zariah checked her phone.
10:43 PM.
She frowned.
Kairo was usually punctual.
Especially after everything they had survived.
She called him.
The phone rang.
Once.
Twice.
Three times.
Then voicemail.
Zariah lowered the phone.
“Where are you?”
She tried again.
Nothing.
Her stomach tightened.
Three months ago, she would have dismissed it.
Now, silence had meaning.
Her phone vibrated.
She looked down.
UNKNOWN NUMBER
A message appeared.
STOP LOOKING FOR THE CIRCLE.
Zariah stared.
A second message arrived.
THEY ARE LOOKING FOR YOU TOO.
Her heartbeat quickened.
Then a third message.
ASK KAIRO WHAT HAPPENED THE NIGHT HE DISAPPEARED.
Zariah stopped breathing.
“What?”
She immediately called him again.
This time, the call didn’t even ring.
His phone was switched off.
Zariah stared at the screen.
A strange coldness spread through her body.
The night Kairo disappeared.
She remembered him telling her there were gaps in his memories.
She remembered the things he had recovered after Genesis.
The childhood photographs.
The hidden facility.
The promise he had made to protect her.
But there had always been something he refused to discuss.
One night.
One missing night.
A night that seemed to exist somewhere between his childhood and the beginning of Project Climax.
Zariah’s phone vibrated again.
She opened the message.
YOU THINK GENESIS WAS THE BEGINNING.
Then:
IT WASN’T.
Another message appeared.
AND KAIRO KNOWS WHY.
Zariah dropped the phone onto the table.
“No.”
A noise came from behind her.
She spun around.
The bedroom door was open.
She had left it closed.
Her pulse raced.
“Kairo?”
Nothing.
She slowly reached for the lamp.
The light came on.
Nothing.
She walked into the hallway.
Empty.
She checked the kitchen.
Empty.
Bathroom.
Empty.
Then she heard a faint sound.
A click.
From the living room.
Zariah turned.
The television had turned on by itself.
Static filled the screen.
Then an image appeared.
Kairo.
Zariah’s heart stopped.
He was sitting in a dark room.
His hands were tied.
There was blood on his lip.
He looked exhausted.
But alive.
“Kairo!”
She rushed toward the screen.
His eyes lifted.
For a moment, he looked directly at her.
Then the video changed.
A black screen.
White letters appeared.
COME ALONE.
Zariah’s hands shook.
The location appeared beneath it.
An abandoned building on the outskirts of the city.
Then:
MIDNIGHT.
The screen went black.
Zariah immediately reached for her phone.
She called Nia.
No answer.
She called again.
Nothing.
She tried Kairo.
Still switched off.
She grabbed her jacket.
Then stopped.
Come alone.
That was exactly what The Circle would want.
Zariah looked toward the door.
She wasn’t going alone.
Not this time.
She called Aria.
Her sister answered almost immediately.
“What happened?”
Zariah’s voice was low.
“Kairo is missing.”
Silence.
“What?”
“I received a message.”
“What message?”
“They sent me a video.”
Aria’s voice became serious.
“Where are you?”
“At home.”
“Stay there.”
“Aria—”
“I’m coming.”
The call ended.
Twenty minutes later, someone knocked.
Zariah opened the door.
Aria stood outside.
She wore black jeans, a dark hoodie, and boots.
A small weapon was strapped beneath her jacket.
Zariah looked at her.
“You came armed.”
Aria raised an eyebrow.
“You called me because Kairo disappeared.”
“Fair.”
Aria stepped inside.
“Show me the message.”
Zariah handed her the phone.
Aria watched the video.
Her expression changed.
“This isn’t live.”
“What?”
“The lighting.”
Zariah frowned.
“What about it?”
“There’s no reflection on the table.”
“So?”
“So the camera isn’t where you think it is.”
Aria paused the video.
She zoomed in.
“Look.”
Zariah leaned closer.
A small symbol was visible in the corner.
A circle.
With four lines crossing through it.
Zariah’s stomach tightened.
“The Circle.”
Aria nodded.
“But this symbol isn’t from Genesis.”
“What does that mean?”
“It means whoever sent this is using an older system.”
Zariah looked at her.
“Older than Genesis?”
“Yes.”
Before Zariah could answer, someone knocked again.
Both sisters turned.
Aria reached for her weapon.
“Who is it?”
A voice answered.
“Elias.”
Aria lowered the weapon.
She opened the door.
Elias walked inside.
He looked at both women.
“Kairo hasn’t answered me either.”
Zariah’s heart sank.
“You tried him?”
“Six times.”
“Where was he last seen?”
“At Sterling Holdings.”
“His office?”
“Yes.”
Elias pulled out his phone.
“I checked security footage.”
“And?”
“He left the building at 9:58.”
“Alone?”
“Yes.”
“Where did he go?”
Elias looked at her.
“That is the problem.”
He turned the screen toward them.
The footage showed Kairo walking through the parking garage.
He stopped beside his car.
Then another car entered.
Black.
Tinted windows.
Kairo looked toward it.
The footage ended.
Zariah stared.
“Can you trace the car?”
“Already tried.”
“And?”
“Fake plates.”
Aria crossed her arms.
“So someone planned this.”
Elias nodded.
“Definitely.”
Zariah’s phone vibrated.
All three looked down.
Another message.
YOU HAVE UNTIL MIDNIGHT.
Zariah looked at the clock.
11:06 PM.
Less than an hour.
Elias shook his head.
“We’re not going.”
“They have Kairo.”
“And that’s exactly why this is a trap.”
“They know I’ll come.”
“Yes.”
“They know I’ll come alone.”
“Yes.”
“Then we’ll make them think I am.”
Aria smiled.
Elias looked at her.
“What are you planning?”
Zariah picked up her coat.
“We go together.”
“That’s not what the message says.”
“I know.”
She looked at both of them.
“But I’m done following their rules.”
Aria nodded.
“Good.”
Elias sighed.
“Fine.”
He checked his weapon.
“But nobody separates.”
They left the apartment.
Across the street, a black car remained parked.
Its engine was running.
Inside, someone watched them leave.
A phone rang.
“Yes?”
A voice answered.
“They’re moving.”
“How many?”
“Three.”
A pause.
“Good.”
“And Kairo?”
“He’s ready.”
“Should we proceed?”
The voice on the other end became colder.
“Not yet.”
“Why?”
“Wait for Zariah.”
“Why?”
The answer came quietly.
“Because she still believes she’s rescuing him.”
The call ended.
Inside the car, the person smiled.
“She has no idea she’s walking into her own history.”
The abandoned building stood at the edge of the city.
It had once been a Sterling property.
Now it was nothing but a skeleton.
Broken windows.
Cracked walls.
Overgrown grass.
Zariah stared at it from inside the car.
“I remember this place.”
Aria looked at her.
“You’ve been here?”
“No.”
“Then how do you remember it?”
Zariah touched her forehead.
“I don’t know.”
Elias looked at the building.
“That’s not possible.”
Zariah ignored him.
Something about the place felt familiar.
Not like a memory.
Like a nightmare she had forgotten.
They stepped out.
The wind was cold.
No rain now.
Just silence.
Aria looked around.
“There’s no security.”
“That doesn’t mean we’re safe,” Elias said.
Zariah walked toward the entrance.
The door was already open.
Inside was darkness.
A single light flickered at the end of the corridor.
Zariah took a step.
Aria grabbed her arm.
“Wait.”
Zariah looked at her.
Aria pointed.
A camera was mounted above them.
Its red light blinked.
Zariah stared at it.
Then she smiled.
“They want us to know we’re being watched.”
Elias nodded.
“Which means there are cameras everywhere.”
“Let them watch.”
Zariah stepped inside.
The door slammed shut behind them.
Aria spun around.
“That’s not good.”
The lights suddenly turned on.
A screen appeared on the wall.
Kairo.
Zariah ran toward it.
“Kairo!”
He looked directly into the camera.
“Zariah.”
She almost cried from relief.
“Where are you?”
Kairo looked around.
“I don’t know.”
“Are you hurt?”
“A little.”
“Who did this?”
He hesitated.
“Zariah…”
“What?”
“Don’t trust—”
The screen went black.
“Kairo!”
Zariah hit the screen.
“Kairo!”
Nothing.
Then another screen activated.
A photograph appeared.
A young Kairo.
A young Zariah.
A young Aria.
And behind them stood a woman.
Zariah stared.
Her heart stopped.
She knew that woman.
Not from her memories.
From the Genesis archives.
Elena Sterling.
Kairo’s mother.
But there was something wrong.
The photograph was dated twenty-four years ago.
Elena had supposedly died shortly afterward.
Aria stared at it.
“That’s impossible.”
Elias stepped closer.
“Maybe not.”
Zariah looked at him.
“What do you mean?”
He pointed at the photograph.
“Look behind her.”
A second person stood in the background.
A man.
Zariah zoomed in.
Her blood ran cold.
Victor Sterling.
Young.
Alive.
And standing beside him was someone else.
A woman whose face had been scratched out.
Zariah whispered:
“Who is that?”
A voice came from the darkness.
“Someone you were never supposed to remember.”
Everyone turned.
A woman stepped into the light.
Zariah immediately recognized her.
The woman who had taken Aria.
Aria raised her weapon.
“You.”
The woman raised her hands.
“Please.”
“You lied to us.”
“I know.”
“You worked for The Circle.”
“I did.”
“You took me from my family.”
The woman’s eyes filled with tears.
“Yes.”
Aria’s weapon trembled.
Zariah stepped between them.
“Why are you here?”
The woman looked at her.
“To warn you.”
“About what?”
She glanced at the photograph.
“The Circle isn’t dead.”
“We know.”
“No.”
She shook her head.
“You don’t.”
She looked at Zariah.
“Because the people you fought at Genesis were only the outer layer.”
Elias frowned.
“What does that mean?”
“It means Genesis was never the center.”
Zariah felt a chill.
“Then what was?”
The woman whispered:
“The Circle.”
Aria lowered her weapon slightly.
“Who’s leading it?”
The woman hesitated.
Then said:
“Someone who knows all of you.”
Zariah stepped closer.
“Who?”
Before the woman could answer, the entire building shook.
The floor beneath them opened.
Elias grabbed Aria.
Zariah fell forward.
A hidden staircase appeared.
Darkness waited below.
The woman looked at Zariah.
“They’re underneath us.”
“Who?”
“Kairo.”
Zariah’s heart stopped.
“And my mother.”
Silence.
“My mother?”
The woman nodded.
“They have her too.”
Zariah stared down the staircase.
“Then let’s go.”
They descended.
One step.
Then another.
The deeper they went, the colder it became.
At the bottom stood a massive steel door.
Five symbols were carved into it.
Zariah recognized four.
Bennett.
Sterling.
Hart.
Vale.
But there was a fifth symbol.
One she had never seen before.
The woman stopped.
Zariah looked at her.
“What family is that?”
The woman whispered:
“There isn’t supposed to be a fifth.”
The door opened.
A voice came from inside.
“That’s because the fifth family was erased.”
Zariah froze.
She knew that voice.
It was Kairo.
But then another voice answered from the darkness.
A voice that made everyone stop.
“Welcome back, Zariah.”
A man’s silhouette appeared.
Zariah couldn’t see his face.
But Kairo could.
From somewhere inside the chamber, Kairo shouted:
“ZARIAH, DON’T COME ANY CLOSER!”
The figure smiled.
And Zariah realized something terrifying.
Kairo wasn’t afraid for himself.
He was afraid of what would happen when she saw the person standing beside him.
A woman stepped forward.
Zariah’s breath caught.
Her mother.
Alive.
But standing beside her was a man Zariah believed had died years ago.
The man smiled.
And said:
“It’s time you learned who your family really is.”
