Not long after his blood changed color-something inexplicable, undeniable-everything broke.
"AAARRGH! LEETT ME GOO PLEASE!!! It hurts! I'm not running away!"
Liam's scream split the air, shrill amongst the pain, panic, and fear eating away at his sanity. "WHAT DO YOU WANT TO DO TO ME?!" he roared again, his hoarse voice mixed with anger and fear. His body rebelled, shaking violently, as if his every cell refused to be forced.
Eren didn't answer with empathy. Instead, he pulled Liam's body roughly and sat him back on the bench-no, tossed, like tossing a worthless doll.
BRAK!
The sound of Liam's body hitting the hard wood filled the room.
"You're not an ordinary boy. And this... isn't just a test." Eren's words sounded like a verdict. Cold. Without compassion.
Liam stared at him, his eyes burning red. His breathing was heavy, labored. But his tongue didn't stay silent.
"Who was the rude one just now?! ME?! OR YOU?!" he snapped back, his voice breaking with emotion and stress. Her body shook so violently, between anger, pain, and fear that she could no longer contain it.
For a moment, the world seemed to collapse around her.
"If I hadn't done that... maybe I would have been killed." Eren replied sharply, his tone not just angry, but also fearful of something hidden within Liam.
Then-in an instant...
Everything exploded.
The classroom turned into an inferno.
The students' screams exploded like shockwaves. The sound of benches toppling over, objects falling, and footsteps hitting the floor repeatedly, was deafening. Some students were screaming, hysterical, some were crying loudly while pushing their friends to get to the door first.
"Get out! I don't want to be here!"
"Please open the door! He's a monster!"
"LIAM'S A MONSTER!!!"
A female teacher, who had been frozen in a corner of the room, finally lost control. She dropped the books from her hands and ran away with the other students. No one cared about protocol anymore. No one cared who was sitting and who was standing. Everyone just wanted one thing: to run away.
Meanwhile... from the opposite direction...
BRAAAK!!!
The classroom door was violently pushed open.
It wasn't a normal push, but it was hit like it was being pounded from the outside.
White light from the corridor outside streamed in, adding to the unreal atmosphere that hung in the air. Figures in full black uniforms stood in the doorway. Their faces were covered with masks. Their eyes were sharp, cold, unfeeling.
They were coming.
And Liam knew-this was only the beginning.
There they were-the NEXARIS officers.
Marching in with unison steps. Full black uniforms, cold faces covered by tactical helmets, weapons in hand, and sharp eyes full of caution.
They didn't come to calm things down.
They came to secure something far more dangerous than just ordinary school students.
The footsteps of the NEXARIS officers echoed in the now eerily quiet classroom. Dust still danced in the air, a remnant of the recent chaos.
One of the officers-tall and with a rank mark on his chest-stepped forward. He looked down at Liam, who was now face down with his eyes covered in cloth and his hands cuffed.
"Target identified," he said coldly.
"Class has been evacuated. Red level containment protocol, active."
Two other officers stepped forward, pulling Liam from the chair. He tried to resist, his body rebelling weakly, as if something inside him was still trying to hold on.
"I'm not a monster..." Liam muttered softly, but his voice was barely audible.
Eren and Thiago exchanged glances. Eren's face was more serious than before, even looking a little... scared.
"He activated too quickly..." Thiago said quietly.
"Too fast, and too unstable."
Another officer began to pull out a syringe-like device filled with a thick blue liquid. Eren quickly raised his hand, stopping them.
"Not now. We need him conscious for initial interrogation. The use of the serum will erase the initial traces of his power reaction."
The officer nodded briefly, putting away his tools.
As Liam was led out of the classroom, an unexpected roar greeted them in the main corridor-a crowd of reporters and journalists had filled the school area. They shone camera lights at Liam, microphones aimed at his cloth-covered face.
"Who is he really?!"
"Is this true about human experimentation?"
"Has NEXARIS violated human rights protocols?!"
"Are the other students also in danger?!"
The questions rained down on the air like bullets. Camera flashes made Liam stagger, confused between light and sound.
"I'm not... not..." he muttered, half-conscious.
The NEXARIS officers quickened their pace. Some of them formed human barricades, pushing back the journalists who forced their way forward.
Eren lowered his head, hiding his expression.
Thiago just stared straight ahead.
"Direct it to the car. Leave no room for intervention," whispered one of the commanders.
A student standing far down the hall shouted:
"What are you doing to Liam?! He's not a criminal!"
But the voice was drowned out in a sea of camera and microphone spotlights.
The metal door at the end of the hallway opened automatically.
A blinding white light greeted Liam, blinding his black cloth-covered nerves. The sound of cameras continued to bark, and the shouts of reporters seemed endless.
"Quick, bring him in!" one of the NEXARIS agents shouted, gesturing to the large black vehicle waiting in the schoolyard.
It was no ordinary car. It was an armored vehicle with a small triangular logo-the NEXARIS emblem-flashing beside its doors. Two agents stood guard at the door, one of them holding a rifle outward, guarding every corner with sharp eyes.
Liam managed to look back slowly, though his vision was blurred by the cloth and the cold sweat running down his forehead. He was breathing heavily. His legs could barely take another step.
"I'm... not a monster..." he said softly, once again. But his voice was drowned out by the sirens and screams of the journalists.
Eren grabbed Liam firmly by the shoulders, and together with Thiago, they pushed him into the car. Liam's body slammed into the metal floor of the vehicle, coughing loudly. His handcuffs rang loudly as they hit the floor.
The door closed with a heavy, final thump.
The surroundings became silent... at least to the outside world.
Inside the car, there was only the rough, ragged breathing of Liam... and the quiet sound of the scanner in the corner of the room starting up.
Eren sat across from him, staring at him silently.
Thiago leaned his head against the wall of the vehicle, closing his eyes.
"This is just the beginning," Eren murmured softly. "And you... are the key to it all."
The car sped off, leaving behind the crowd of reporters, the school, and the remnants of Liam's normal life that had been completely destroyed.
Author's Note
Sorry for the late update today 😅 Life got in the way a little.But thank you so much for still reading NEXARIS 🙏