Ghost Traces

The rain fell in soft sheets as Agent Moon stepped out of SAPPHIRE’s main building that evening, now in civilian wear. Her black helmet concealed her face, and her movements were as fluid as ever. On the surface, she was calm.

But something about what that man said…

“They were going to be used… for experiments…”

“Red Wolves…”

The name clawed at something in her mind,  something she couldn’t reach.

She tightened her grip on her bike handle and revved the engine.

The road stretched long and empty, city lights blurring past as she raced toward the orphanage. Not out of protocol but out of instinct.

When she arrived, it was almost 7PM. Peace Orphanage stood quiet and warm against the cold night, yellow light spilling out from behind curtains.

She knocked lightly, and Alex answered, blinking in surprise.

“Lucy? You’re early…”

“I needed to see them,” Lucinda said softly.

Alex’s eyes searched her face. “Rough day?”

Lucy hesitated. “Just… weird.”

Inside, Zachary and Zoey ran to her like magnets.

“Mommy!”

“You’re really here!”

Lucinda dropped to her knees and hugged them both tightly, her heart thudding a little faster than it should.

Zoey touched her cheek. “You’re shaking…”

“Am I?” Lucy smiled faintly. “Just cold, baby.”

She stayed longer than usual , helped them brush their teeth, tucked them in personally. But as she watched them sleep, her eyes drifted to Zachary’s hand.

A small scar ran across his palm,  thin, diagonal.

She’d seen that mark before. But where?

Suddenly her mind flashed,  a vision, uninvited.

Blood. Screaming. A child’s cry.

Her chest tightened. She staggered slightly, her hand grabbing the doorknob for support. The memory vanished as fast as it came.

Alex, who had been watching quietly from the hallway, stepped closer.

“It’s happening again, isn’t it?”

Lucinda didn’t answer.

Back at SAPPHIRE HQ, deep in the lower levels, Carl stood in front of a large screen filled with code.

“I cracked the security footage from The Warehouse,” he said into the comms. “Boss… you’re gonna want to see this.”

The footage flickered , rame by frame, showing the moment SAPPHIRE stormed the place. But then, a blur.

A shadow in the back corner of the screen, just for a second. Tall. Wearing a long red coat. Not any of the hostiles.

And not any of theirs.

In her room later that night, Agent Moon stood in front of her mirror, brushing out her loose bun.

Then she froze.

On her collarbone… a faint, barely visible scar.

It hadn’t always been there.

The scar stared back at her.

Thin, pale, nearly invisible unless the light hit it just right. Lucinda reached up slowly, her fingers hovering over the mark.

She didn’t remember getting it. She didn’t remember much at all.

Her reflection felt foreign. Not just tonight,  always.

The longer she stared, the more distorted her face seemed. Like she was looking at someone else's skin stretched over her bones. Someone she used to be.

"Alice Perry. Lucinda Carell. Agent Moon… but who was I before all this?"

Her chest tightened.

She turned away from the mirror abruptly and walked to her desk, opening a locked drawer. Inside: a slim file marked “CONFIDENTIAL — RED WOLVES (ARCHIVE ACCESS DENIED).”

She'd pulled it months ago during an off-record investigation. Something about it had called to her.

She flipped it open.

Inside were grainy photos. Maps. Chemical diagrams.

And a document stamped with an old, faded crest, a red wolf head over a circle of thorns. Handwritten at the top, in someone’s scrawled script:

"Phase II initiated. Subject #A-047: status,  LOST."

She stared at that line.

Then below it, in a list of “associated civilians”:

Zachary Nolan Sinclair

Zoey Celeste Sinclair

The blood drained from her face.

“No…” she whispered.

Her hands trembled slightly as she turned the page. The last sheet was blackened ,  scorched partially, but one name was still visible at the bottom of the file:

Jayden

(the rest, burned out)

She mouthed the name unconsciously. Something about it rang inside her chest like an echo off a cliff.

Jayden…?

A knock jolted her.

“Lucy?” It was Carl’s voice over the comm speaker outside her door. “We’ve got something. Bert says it’s urgent.”

Moon quickly closed the file and slid it back into the drawer. Her face shifted into cold neutrality again, but her mind was spinning.

Moments later, she entered the SAPPHIRE situation room, now dimly lit with glowing monitors. Carl stood at the center table, others gathered around him; Rex, Magician, Morris, and Bert. Hawkeye leaned back against the wall, arms crossed.

Carl looked up.

“You’re not gonna believe this.”

He tapped a key, and the blurry footage from The Warehouse played again. But now, it was enhanced.

The figure in the red coat came into view clearer.

Face still obscured. But their posture… calm. Almost theatrical.

They weren’t running. They were watching.

From the back wall.

Until, just before the shooting started, the figure raised a hand and saluted the camera.

Then disappeared into the shadows.

“Who the hell is that?” Magician asked.

Moon’s eyes didn’t move from the screen. Her throat felt dry.

“We don’t know,” Carl answered. “But here’s the weird part.”

He typed again. Another file popped up. It was a photo , a surveillance image from a mission Moon had done six years ago. She didn’t remember it. But the mission log said she’d led it.

And standing in the background of that photo…

Was the same red-coated figure.

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