The police station was almost empty when Kael walked in.
He didn't push the door.
He didn't ring the bell.
He just opened it.
His footsteps echoed on the old tiled floor. The air smelled like cold coffee and rusted metal.
An officer behind the counter looked up, visibly annoyed.
"Yeah?"
He recognized him.
It took a second.
"Kael Grayson!"
The officer jumped from his seat, spilling his coffee.
Kael didn't flinch. He walked to the center of the lobby.
"I'm here to turn myself in," he said — for the first time in hours.
His voice was low.
No shouting.
No demands.
He just stood there. Waiting.
⋆⭒✧༺༻✧⭒⋆
The alarm went off five minutes later.
The station came alive.
Officers swarmed the room.
Some shouted commands.
Others raised their guns.
No one dared to approach.
Kael didn't react.
He didn't raise his hands.
Didn't lower his gaze.
Eventually, someone stepped forward and cuffed him.
He didn't resist.
He said nothing when they pushed him to the ground.
Not even when they hit him, just in case.
Or when they threw him into a dark cell.
That's how the night passed.
Standing.
Staring into nothing.
Thinking about everything he had lost.
He remembered the moment Sara offered him a place to stay.
Her voice.
Her calm.
Maybe that had been the closest he'd ever been to peace.
But now, all of it was gone.
Just a cell. And silence.
And a guilt that scraped his chest from the inside.
Sometime before dawn, he heard footsteps. People coming in. Urgent voices.
"Are you sure he's in there?"
"Yes. He hasn't said a word since he arrived."
"Is he hurt?"
"He healed himself. It's... unsettling."
Kael didn't listen any further.
He just drifted deeper into that detached state he had been floating in for hours.
⋆⭒✧༺༻✧⭒⋆
By sunrise, the sound of armored vehicles woke the city.
The station was sealed off.
Special units descended — dark suits, gloves, masks, containment gear.
As if they'd come for a bomb.
Kael still hadn't moved.
His body, still.
His mind, elsewhere.
Two agents entered the cell.
"Kneel. Don't look at us. Don't speak," one of them ordered.
Kael looked at them for a moment. Not as a threat.
He didn't reply.
He let them take him.
They dragged him through the corridors.
Everyone stared.
Not at a man.
At a mistake. A system failure. An anomaly.
"This isn't a person. It's a thing," one of the agents muttered as they passed.
Kael heard it. But didn't react.
He was too far gone. Too deep inside himself.
When they shoved him into the vehicle, his head hit the metal frame.
He bled.
But the wound closed instantly.
One of the soldiers swallowed hard.
"Holy shit... this thing's not human."
Kael closed his eyes.
For a second, he wished the soldier was right.
⋆⭒✧༺༻✧⭒⋆
Elsewhere in the city, Sara woke up without knowing why.
The sun had barely touched the windows.
The TV was still on from the night before.
A frozen image: Kael's face, captured by a surveillance camera.
Sara rubbed her eyes. Looked around.
The place was the same — but something felt off.
A silence heavier than any noise.
"Kael…"
She jumped to her feet. Ran to the hallway.
"Kael!"
Opened the door.
No one.
Looked at the table.
Nothing. No note. No message. Not even a sign.
She stood there, chest tightening.
"No…"
⋆⭒✧༺༻✧⭒⋆
She grabbed her phone.
The news was everywhere.
"Kael Grayson turned himself in at the central station early this morning."
"He will be transferred to a special facility."
"No statement from the government on whether he will be tried or detained indefinitely."
Sara froze.
The words didn't fully register.
Only one thought pierced through her:
He did it.
He surrendered.
He's alone.
No hesitation.
She grabbed whatever she could: coat, phone, bag.
Left the house.
She hailed a cab.
"San Boreal," she said, voice as steady as she could manage.
"Miss, that area's under quarantine."
"Take me. I'll pay double."
The driver looked at her. Hesitated. Then drove off.
As the taxi moved, Sara gripped her phone tightly, scrolling through every image, every headline, searching for a lead, a location — anything.
"I don't care if they arrest me. I just want to see him," she whispered.
The driver didn't answer.
But he didn't stop the car.
The city looked indifferent to the chaos.
People walking.
Shops open.
But Sara didn't see any of it.
It was all noise. Background.
Her mind was with Kael.
Is he alive?
Is he hurt?
All she knew was that she couldn't just sit and wait.
⋆⭒✧༺༻✧⭒⋆
In the back of the armored truck, Kael didn't say a word.
The air inside was thick.
The silence, oppressive.
In front of him, two soldiers watched him with barely hidden disgust.
"What do you think they'll do to him?" one whispered.
"Study him. Lock him away. Maybe destroy him."
"And if they can't?"
"Then bury him underground and forget."
Kael heard it all.
But didn't raise his head.
⋆⭒✧༺༻✧⭒⋆
The voices faded.
Kael leaned against the cold metal wall.
The motion of the vehicle was smooth.
But inside, everything hurt.
Not physically.
That part healed.
It hurt in places even his power couldn't reach.
Sara…
Would you hate me if you knew what I've done?
If you saw what I've become?
His thoughts were slow.
Distorted.
As if he were talking to himself from far away.
Maybe this is what I deserve.
Not redemption. Not punishment. Just... to disappear.
But something inside him — weak, almost broken — still refused to die completely.
⋆⭒✧༺༻✧⭒⋆
Sara held the phone with both hands.
She wasn't looking for information anymore.
She just held it — as if that could somehow keep her connected to him.
The cab reached the last allowed checkpoint.
"This is as far as I can take you," the driver said.
"Thank you."
She got out without a second thought.
She would walk the rest of the way if she had to.
Even if they arrested her.
Even if they turned her away.
She had to see him.