Chapter One: Disguise of Hope

Chapter One: Disguise of Hope

The hallways of the compound were cold — not just from the steel walls or artificial lighting, but from the silence. The kind of silence that only exists in places where no laughter lives, only orders, fear, and secrets.

I pushed my mop across the spotless floor, pretending to care about the dirt that didn’t exist. Just another face in the shadows. Another cleaner. Another nobody.

But inside me, everything was burning.

She was here. Somewhere inside this fortress of abilities and cameras and men who could kill with a thought. She — the girl I once loved, maybe still did — had been taken by this organization.

She could see the future.

And they wanted her to be the core of something unthinkable — a machine that could see time itself. Past. Present. Future. But she wasn’t a machine. She was herself. Fragile. Human. Scared.

They didn’t see that. But I did.

I had searched for her for weeks in silence. Entered their world as a nobody — a cleaner. Hid my power. Played dumb. Waited. Watched. Hurt.

Until one day… I overheard something.

A group of girls were being brought in — caretakers, they said. For a “delicate subject.” Suspicious. Too suspicious. My heart knew. My gut screamed. It had to be her.

And so, I made a choice.

I used my gift. Morphing, shrinking, shifting. I became someone else. A girl. Soft voice. Slender hands. Disguise perfect. Just enough to pass their checks.

And it worked.

They sent me to the inner chamber — the castle. A place unlike any I had seen. Towers, rooms, guards with abilities. Cameras on every wall. Fear behind every smile. I was surrounded. One wrong move, and I’d disappear forever.

But then… I saw her.

Fragile. Pale. Eyes dull like a sky before a storm. She didn’t recognize me. Why would she? I looked different. Sounded different.

But my heart — it almost broke.

I wanted to run to her. Tell her everything. Scream, "It’s me! I’m here!" But I couldn’t. Not yet.

So I waited. I became her shadow. Her caretaker. I helped her walk. Sat beside her as she ate in silence. Watched her sleep, not in a creepy way, but in the way someone watches over someone they’ve already lost once.

I didn’t speak. Just protected.

One night, she didn’t come out of the bathroom.

I panicked.

Ran in.

She had collapsed. Naked. Weak. Breathing shallow.

Instinct took over. I covered her, carried her out, shouted for a doctor. Pretending to be someone else but feeling everything as myself.

That night, I sat beside her bed and watched her sleep. Just like old times. Except now, I wasn’t her boyfriend.

I was just the Cleaner.

 from the writer :-it's my first time writing so pls don't hate me and I have written from a boy ‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎perceptive so sorry and thanks for reading it

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