Arron didn't scream. Not inside this room. But they all felt it anyway—in the way Lira stared at the hatch and didn't move.
No one spoke. No one moved.
They stayed in silence. The kind that only happens when something truly important is gone.
Kael stood frozen at the center console, his hand gripping the rail so tight his knuckles turned white. Sera sat against the wall, face buried in her sleeve. Mira's hands shook above her tablet, frozen on an unfinished scan. Everyone was still, like even breathing might shatter them.
Lira hadn't blinked. Her faceplate was still fogged. Her gloves hung loose at her sides, still covered in moss. The world outside the window didn't look peaceful anymore. It looked like it had won.
One of the techs, Jace, whispered, "Was that... real?"
No one answered.
Then it started.
A whisper. Soft. Wet. Familiar.
"...Lira..."
Another, deeper voice, broken and full of pain.
"...Mira... stay back..."
A third, trembling and sharp.
"Kael, run!"
The voices of the dead. Arron. Yenari. Reil.
Everyone froze.
Then—something shifted.
Hope. Desperate, reckless hope.
Dren moved first. "That was Arron. You heard it. That was him. He's alive."
Zae was right behind him. "We can still get them back. They're close. Those voices—we can't just sit here. Let's go fast, we have to bring them back."
Kael raised his hand, voice sharp. "Hold on—think, Dren. Think before you move."
Dren spun toward Kael. "Think?! You want us to just stand here while our friends—our family—are out there calling for help?"
"And what if it's a trap?" Kael countered. "You run out there, and then what? They drag you under too?"
Mira stepped forward. "Lira told us. She saw them die. You think she made that up?"
Lira didn't move, but her breath caught.
Sera stepped up beside Mira, pointing to Lira. "She watched it happen. She saw what none of us did."
"That doesn't mean she's right!" Dren snapped. "You weren't there either, Sera! I know what I heard. Let me take a look. Just a look. I can save him. I have to."
Without waiting, Dren ran toward the hatch.
But Nickson moved in fast and blocked him. "Stop! Dren, stop. Think. This isn't like you."
Dren shoved at his chest. "Let me go, Nickson. You think I'm just gonna sit and wait while Arron's voice echoes through this place?"
Nickson gritted his teeth. "You think he'd just whisper your name like that? Like some ghost? Think about what Lira told us. You think she lied?"
Dren snarled. "I don't care what anyone said. I know my captain's voice. I know what I heard."
Tamir joined Dren. "We can't stay here doing nothing. I'm not watching another person I care about disappear."
Layra stepped beside Nickson. "And I'm not losing anyone else to whatever's out there. You run into that voice, and you die for nothing."
The group—once like a family—split in two. One side pressing forward toward the hatch. The other pulling them back.
Rian's voice cracked as he stepped into the middle. "Yenari was my sister. You think I don't want to believe? I hear her voice right now. But that's not her. Not anymore."
Across from him, Arlen stepped out of the shadows. "Reil was my husband. Don't talk to me about knowing someone. I know how he says my name. I heard it again."
Kael lifted his hand again, trying to hold them together. "This is exactly what they want. Division. Fear. Confusion. We hold together, or we all break."
Sera shook her head, tears in her eyes. "We know you want to save them. But you can't. Please try to understand. Look at Lira. You think she would lie about this?"
Sera turned to her. "Lira, help us. Please. Tell them what you saw. You were there. You told us yourself. You saw them die."
But Lira stayed silent. Inside, something was spinning. Her heart. Her thoughts. Her certainty.
Then—her voice.
"No. You're wrong. I'm wrong."
She raised her eyes, trembling.
"I heard him. I know his voice. It wasn't a mistake. It wasn't fake. That was Arron."
Sera stepped closer. "Lira, what are you saying? You saw it. You were there. You saw what took him."
"That was then," Lira whispered. "But this? That voice? I'd know it anywhere. Even in a dream."
Lira bolted for the hatch, but Sera grabbed her wrist.
"Don't try to stop me!" Lira cried. "Let me go! Maybe I was wrong. Maybe they're alive."
Zae moved into her path. "Lira, please—we can't risk everyone for a maybe."
"He wasn't a maybe to me!" Lira shouted. "He was everything! He said we'd see each other again!"
Before anyone could react, the rear hatch opened.
Eliah stepped through. The girl Arron had saved.
She walked slowly, pale and trembling.
"Lira... wake up. We both saw it. He didn't stop. He pushed me inside. Then he turned. And they got him."
The room held its breath.
Lira's voice turned sharp, bitter. "Because of you."
Eliah flinched.
"If you weren't there—if you didn't need saving—he'd still be here!"
"I didn't ask him to—"
"He threw you in like you were worth more! He left me out there. Don't you get it? He chose you—not me! And now he's DEAD!"
Eliah stepped back, crushed.
Mira tried to move between them, but Lira shoved past.
"He's gone because of you!"
Eliah's voice broke. "I'm sorry—"
"Shut up! Don't pretend you care! If it wasn't for you—if you weren't so slow—if he didn't have to save you—HE COULD HAVE LIVED!"
The words hit like a blade.
Eliah folded. Her body dropped against the wall. Her voice cracked, but nothing came out. Only tears.
Rian turned away. Arlen clenched his fists.
Kael raised his voice. "Enough."
But no one listened.
Jace stepped between Lira and Eliah. "That's enough, Lira. She didn't choose this. None of us did."
Mira joined him. "We're all broken. Don't tear her apart."
In the background, the whispers continued.
"...Eliah..."
"...Arlen..."
"...Lira..."
But no one heard them.
The voices were swallowed by chaos.
Lira collapsed to her knees. Her breath, ragged.
Sera reached forward, but Kael stopped her.
"Let her fall," he said. "She needs to hit the ground."
Lira barely whispered. "It's my fault."
The team was broken.
Some by pain. Some by guilt. Others by rage.
Tears. Regret. Silence.
Unknown to them, this was just the beginning.
[Environmental Scan: Multiple Life Signals Detected – Safety Protocol Active]
The system voice cut through the room. Cold. Mechanical.
Everyone froze.
The storm paused.
But only for a moment.
Because the real storm was just beginning...
The alert faded, but the silence remained.
Kael stepped forward slowly, eyes scanning the console. "Multiple life signals…" he muttered. "But that's impossible."
Jace checked his side display. "Not ours. At least—not completely. There's interference."
Mira leaned over. "Too many echoes. The signals are repeating."
"Repeating?" Nickson frowned. "You mean like... playback?"
"Or mimicry," Sera said quietly.
A dull thump echoed from the roof. Then another. Like footsteps above.
Eliah was still on the floor, held loosely in Layra's arms.
Then, another voice came. This one louder. Closer.
"...Jace..."
He turned to the viewport.
"That was her," he whispered. "Yenari."
Rian stood upright instantly. "Where?"
"Just outside. She said my name. She's right outside."
Before anyone could react—
Slam.
The front wall shook.
A scraping sound. Long and deliberate.
Kael's voice dropped to a whisper. "We're being circled."
Jace's hands hovered above the console. "We need eyes. Drones. Spotters. Anything."
Tamir's voice broke in. "We shouldn't open anything."
But another voice came.
"...Arlen..."
He stepped toward the side window, whispering. "He never called me by my last name. It was Reil. Always Reil."
Sera hissed. "Don't."
"He's right outside," Arlen said, pressing his hand to the glass. "He's waiting."
Suddenly—
A sharp, bone-splitting scream from outside.
It wasn't anything they'd heard before.
Everyone froze. The sound tore through the walls and buried itself in their spines.
Then came another scream. And another.
Kael moved back to the console. "They're not voices. They're warnings."
"Or invitations," Mira murmured. "They're baiting us."
The platform's emergency lighting dimmed, shifting from blue to amber.
Nickson's voice shook. "The safety protocol—it's reacting to emotion. To instability."
"It's trying to contain us," Tamir added. "Keep us from doing something stupid."
A hiss of hydraulics—pressure building in the override vents.
Kael turned back to the group. "Nobody touches the hatch! No one!"
Then the rear private room hissed open.
Out stepped Rubby—the third team leader.
She held a datapad in one hand, headset still resting on her ears, the glow from the screen reflected in the sharp gleam of her glasses. Her posture wasn't casual—it was precise. Controlled. She walked like someone coming back from a warzone, not walking into one.
Her voice sliced through the room before anyone could speak.
"What the hell is going on? I was in my private room. Sleeping in my rest pod. Then Rick comes banging on the hatch saying everyone's losing it out here."
She stopped. Looked at the flickering amber walls. At Eliah curled on the floor. At the faces turned toward her—strained, fearful, ready to break.
The datapad lowered slightly.
Her tone didn't rise. It didn't soften.
It cut.
"Why is the override engaged? And what the hell are those sounds outside?"
A pause.
Then her brow furrowed. Cold confusion.
"And where the hell is that asshole Arron?"
---
End of Chapter 6
Reader's Note: If the silence in this chapter shook something inside you—drop your thoughts below. What would you do if someone you loved whispered from the dark? Want more horror, more hope, or more
Heartbreak? Let me know.
I read everything.and the storm is has only begun.