Runebelle tried to sit up, but she felt a dull ache in the back of her head. "What’s going on here?”

  Dr. Lorraine’s face remained placid, but there was a hint of something darker in her eyes. "You've been through a lot, dear. You fainted, and we had to bring you here for examination. Your well-being is our top priority."

  A sense of foreboding settled over Runebelle. She tried to recall the events leading up to this moment. The memories felt elusive, like fragments slipping through her fingers.

  "I need to remember," Runebelle insisted while speaking strained. “What happened before I fainted? Where am I really?"

  Dr. Lorraine's smile wavered for a moment. Then it returned. "You were undergoing a routine examination, dear. Sometimes these things can be overwhelming. It's natural to feel disoriented."

  Dr. Lorraine's tone became Somber. "My dear Milaca…She developed powers she couldn't control. They emerged by being near you."

  Runebelle focused within her mind trying to picture the figure. She managed to find Milaca’s red hair and her face within her mind.

  "Milaca," Dr. Lorraine continued, "or Milanna, the sweet girl you saw in college, was a Doppelganger. The real Milaca, the one who shared her childhood with you, has been taken away.”

  Dr. Lorrained approached Runebelle."But you don't need to be alone. I lost my daughter, and you've lost your mother. We can be each other's family. I can take care of you, just like I used to."

  Runebelle grew uneasy at Dr. Lorraine's words.

  "You need someone to guide you, Runebelle. I can be that guiding force in your life," Dr. Lorraine insisted.

  Runebelle's gaze flickered nervously between the door and the unsettling figure of Dr. Lorraine. Runebelle got up and took a cautious step back.

  "Runebelle, please," Dr. Lorraine implored with desperation. "Ignore my job; I can be the mother you need. I can fill the void left by Rune. You don't have to be alone."

  The insistence in Lorraine's tone mad Runebelle even more uneasy. Her mind flashed to the haunting memories of her mother's courtroom battles, revealing a side she hadn't fully comprehended before – a side marked by a certain madness, and it was all Mrs. Lorraine’s fault.

  "No," Runebelle said with her eyes narrowing. "You're from Shadowcroft. There's no way I can agree to that."

  Dr. Lorraine's eyes darkened with a hint of desperation. She stepped closer with her face twitching under the pressure of her growing frustration.

  “Runebelle, please, don’t do this,” Dr. Lorraine pleaded. “You don’t understand what you’re saying. I’m here to help you, to guide you through this difficult time.”

  Runebelle backed away. “You’re not helping me. You’re trying to manipulate me. I remember now—Shadowcroft, the Doppelganger Project. I remember everything.”

  Dr. Lorraine shook her head. “You’re mistaken. Your current memories are unreliable! I’m … I’m offering you a safe haven, a place to heal. Don’t let your distrust cloud your judgment!”

  Runebelle’s hand instinctively moved to her side, feeling for any weapon or means of defense. “I don’t trust you. Not after everything that’s happened.”

  Dr. Lorraine’s face twisted with fury. She sharply shouted, "You ungrateful child! I’ve done everything for you, and this is how you repay me?”

  Runebelle’s heart pounded. Her mind raced back to the memories she had tried so hard to suppress—the day her mother had lost her sanity. She remembered the wild look in her mother’s eyes, the way she cracked under the overwhelming pressure placed on her shoulders.

  "You’re just like her,” Runebelle said with a whisper. “You... reminded me of her... my mother... when she became insane... you're... just like her...”

  Dr. Lorraine’s eyes flared with indignation. “Your mother was weak! She couldn’t handle the truth, the responsibility of what she had created. I was the one who had to pick up the pieces!”

  Dr. Lorraine's composure shattered. She trembled. Desperation etched across her face ."If I can't have you as my daughter, then no one will. You won't leave this room."

  Runebelle's heart raced. She looked over at the door and tried to back up towards it. When she secretly tried to open it, it was unfortunately locked. Panic set in as Runebelle fumbled with the door handle.

  Dr. Lorraine, seemingly composed once more, moved to a corner of the room, producing a technologically crafted axe. Her unsettling calmness deepened Runebelle's sense of dread. With a sinister smile, Lorraine tossed a well-crafted sword toward Runebelle.

  "Pick it up if you want to live," Lorraine declared. "See how much I care about you?" Lorraine questioned while tilting her head.

  Runebelle's trembling hand reached for the sword. Dr. Lorraine watched with unsettling intensity.

  “What are you up to?” Runebelle demanded despite the terror coursing through her veins. “I don’t understand any of this.”

  Dr. Lorraine tilted her head. A sweet yet sinister smile came to her lips. “Oh, little Runebelle, it’s simple. We’re going to have a little game—a ‘fair fight,’ if you will. Try to stay alive as long as possible, and maybe there’ll be a reward for you at the end.”

  Runebelle knew that ‘reward’ was nothing more than a facade. She could see the madness lurking beneath Lorraine’s eyes.

  “This isn’t a game,” Runebelle replied. “This is insanity.”

  Dr. Lorraine laughed softly. “I’ve waited long enough to have you as my own. If you refuse, well, then no one else will have you either. Not Shadowcroft, not your friends, no one.”

  “You’re not going to win, Lorraine,” Runebelle said with defiance. “I won’t let you take control of my life like this!”

  The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

  Dr. Lorraine raised her axe. “We’ll see about that, my dear. Let’s begin.”

  The clang of metal echoed through the room. Runebelle swung her sword. She was fueled more by desperation than skill. The weapon felt foreign in her hands. Dr. Lorraine, for all her sinister intent, was no more skilled.

  Runebelle swung her sword, aiming for Dr. Lorraine’s midsection. The strike was clumsy, but she put all her strength behind it, hoping to land a decisive blow. Dr. Lorraine blocked the attack.

  “Not bad,” Dr. Lorraine taunted. “But you’ll have to do better than that.”

  Dr. Lorraine countered with a wild swing of her axe. Runebelle sidestepped the blow. Lorraine managed to recover quickly, swinging again to clash against Runebelle's blade.

  Runebelle swung again, aiming high this time. Lorraine blocked the strike.

  Runebelle’s mind raced while clashing with Dr. Lorraine. She knew she couldn’t keep this up forever. She needed a way out, a way to escape Lorraine’s twisted game. Her thoughts turned inward.

  "Mother... Sadie..." Runebelle whispered in her mind, hoping for some spark of inspiration or guidance. But there was only silence.She was on her own now.

  Determined to find a way out, Runebelle forced herself to sift through her memories, hoping to find something—anything—that could help. She remembered confronting the doppelgangers, their sinister grins and deceptive personas. Shadowcroft's endless information gathering, their eyes always watching, always calculating. These thoughts sparked a realization: she had something they didn’t know about.

  ‘The communicator!’

  A small device tucked away in her pocket. It was a way to reach out to Michigo and Sarah. Runebelle’s heart raced with renewed hope.

  During an evasion of the axe in Lorraine’s hand, Runebelle managed to slip her hand into her pocket. Her fingers brushed against the cold metal of the communicator. She pressed it discreetly and felt a surge of relief when the device activated.

  Runebelle smirked. “If I don’t make it out of this,” she murmured to herself, “Michigo and Sarah will have to carry on the investigation. Hopefully, those two will be able to save Roselle and Risebelle. As long as one of those two can make it out of here, hope does not die with me.”

  With her plan set, Runebelle stepped toward the door. Dr. Lorraine’s eyes narrowed. When Lorraine lunged, swinging the axe with lethal intent, Runebelle sidestepped gracefully. The axe missed its mark, slamming into the door with a ‘WHAM’. The combined metal and wood strained under the force.

  A small crack appeared in the door. Runebelle’s heart leapt with hope while Dr. Lorraine’s shifted to panic.

  “No!” Lorraine gasped.

  Dr. Lorraine's eyes blazed with desperation. She swung the Axe in a flurry of rapid strikes. Each swing was accompanied by a whoosh of air.

  Runebelle sidestepped with. Panic clawed at her mind upon narrowly avoided each strike. Lorraine moved with surprising speed and intensity. Each swing was more frantic than the last.

  “Stop running!” Lorraine screamed.

  Runebelle hadn’t expected Lorraine to move so quickly, but there was a cost to Lorraine's desperation—a cost Runebelle quickly noticed as Lorraine's swings became wild and unfocused.

  Breathing heavily, Lorraine's movements began to slow. Her speed waned after 10 quick blows. Her aim started to be far off from her mark. Lorraine soon stopped attacking altogether.

  Runebelle stepped forward with cautious position. Lorraine, drained and breathless, sank to one knee. Her face was flushed. “You think you’ve won?” Lorraine gasped.

  Runebelle’s eyes softened with pity as she looked down at Lorraine. Despite the woman’s previous aggression, the sight of Lorraine on her knees, exhausted and broken, stirred a sense of sadness in Runebelle.

  Lorraine's eyes, once fierce, now glistened with unshed tears. "Oh, I see," she rasped. "You’re trying to pity me. Just like your mother, you’re weak. Always trying to make me stop, always threatening to turn me in. She never understood me. She and I were supposed to be like sisters, but she tried to ruin my life."

  Runebelle listened with a conflicted look. “I…I didn’t know about all this.”

  Lorraine's eyes were filled with anguish. "You wouldn’t. She never let you see the truth. I wanted to believe that she could be family, but she turned out to be just another person who wanted to control me." She wiped her tears away with a trembling hand. "I did what I had to do to survive even if it meant crossing lines she couldn’t understand! Look at where her foolishness has led us!”

  Lorraine looked up at Runebelle. "I thought we could be family, Runebelle. I thought we could find happiness and love with each other, but she betrayed me. And now, you, just like her want to bring me down."

  Runebelle took a deep breath. “I’m sorry for what happened, but Shadowcroft is an evil organization that wants to replace other people. Who knows how many people you’ve killed yourself just for this company. I…I can’t let you go on hurting others. I have to stop you.”

  Lorraine’s face contorted with anger. “Then do it. Finish it. If you’re truly like your mother, you’ll do what you think is right. But remember this: the world isn’t as black and white as you believe. Sometimes, people do terrible things because they’re trying to survive.”

  Runebelle hesitated as Lorraine's words echoed in her mind. Lorraine was right—there was a complexity to the world that she couldn’t ignore. Runebelle closed her eyes, tears slipping down her cheeks. “I promise,” she whispered, “I’ll find Milaca and take care of her.”

  She raised her sword, but just when she moved in to strike, a sharp pain surged through her body. Runebelle gasped in shock. The blade in her hand was glowing red, and she realized with horror that she had been slashed—not by Lorraine, but by the very weapon she wielded.

  Lorraine’s laughter was cold and triumphant. “Did you really think I’d give you something that could hurt me?!” she taunted. “That sword is attuned to my DNA. If it senses an attack on me with lethal intent, it turns on the wielder. You never stood a chance!”

  Runebelle stumbled back. She clenched her side as blood seeped through her fingers. The weapon had betrayed her. Now she was the one on the brink of death.

  “You thought this was a fair fight?” Lorraine continued with scorn. “You’re just as naive as your mother was. Shadowcroft’s always been ten step ahead, Runebelle. Always.”

  Runebelle staggered back, clutching her wounded side. Despite the searing pain and the blood that stained her hands, she managed a defiant smile. “Shadowcroft may be ten steps ahead, but I’m eleven. Even if I die here, I won’t die alone. I’ll be taking Shadowcroft with me, one way or another.” Her tears mingled with the blood on her face.

  Lorraine’s face twisted in disbelief. “What are you—” she began, but her words were cut off as Runebelle’s.

  “I accept it,” she said. “All of the sadness from my entire team... everything we’ve been through... I’ll carry it with me.”

  With great effort, she shaped a faint, trembling heart with her hand. She managed one of her faintest smiles.

  “Even in this darkness,” she murmured, “I’m taking a piece of them with me.”

  Lorraine's techno-axe now hung in midair. She had enough of Runebelle’s words. Runebelle whispered. "I'm sorry, Roselle, Risebelle, and Jess….. within the heartache I feel, the burdens I bear, there's a beauty inside. In the next life, I promise the sadness that once bound me will set me free."

  The axe swung downwards. Runebelle's world plunged into darkness. The sound echoed in her consciousness, confirming the impact, but instead of the anticipated pain, Runebelle found herself transported back to the realm within her mind. The oppressive blackness surrounded her, and the echoes of her last moments lingered like distant whispers.

  Her system displayed a notification: "Project Rune Data Collection at 100%." A manifestation of Runebelle's Cheerful System materialized. With an upbeat demeanor, it took on the appearance of a cheerleader. She had pom-poms and an infectious smile.

  "Congratulations, Runebelle!" it exclaimed cheerfully. "You've reached 100% completion in the Project Rune Data Collection. You've faced trials, experienced heartache, and embraced the beauty within your sadness. Now, let me ask the customary question: Did this memory, despite its moments of sorrow, bring you some happiness or clarity?"

  Runebelle responded with a small smile. "Yes, it did. I underestimated the significance of my experiences and the connections I've made. Even in the face of darkness, there is a beauty within that I hadn't fully acknowledged before.”

  The Cheerful System nodded in approval. "Well done, Runebelle! Your journey has brought you to a point where you can now access the next stage. With 100% completion in the Project Rune Data Collection, you've unlocked Stage 2 Project Rune Transformation.

  You gained Stage 1 at 60%, but in reality, you could have accessed it at 50%. However, without direct communication back then, I couldn't guide you. Now, with Stage 2, your potential is expanded even further. Embrace the power that comes from your sadness, and let it be a statement of your growth!"

  "Waitaminute," Runebelle’s eyes widened “Stage…2?!”