The light in the Harrington basement was dim and flickering—bare bulbs swaying on rusted chains, casting long, shifting shadows on the concrete walls stained with soot and blood. Machinery hummed with life, metallic and menacing, like something breathing in anticipation.
Marque and Wrath stood over the bed now chained to a track, slowly moving toward the center tube. Slick, wide-eyed, squirmed violently against the restraints, his screams choked by thick tape stretched across his face. His chest heaved. His eyes darted to the side—
And saw it.
Lukas's pale, decomposed body lay inside a sealed glass chamber, surrounded by wires and black fluid. His skin was ghost-white, patches of hair missing, lips slightly parted. His lifeless eyes were sewn shut—yet somehow, watching.
Slick screamed louder. Wrath turned slowly toward the boy, claws twitching.
"He's the one?" Michael said, stepping into the light. His lab coat was soaked in grime, burned in places, blood crusted at the sleeves. His face was gaunt—less human every day, veins blackened like ink seeping through paper. "The one who laughed while my son died?"
Marque nodded without even looking at him. "He's the spark. The last crack before everything breaks. He was the one who whispered jokes after they punched Lukas. The one who said nothing when Lukas cried."
Slick thrashed. Tears ran down his cheeks. His eyes pleaded.
"You'll be the vessel," Michael said, walking toward him with a scalpel in one hand and a memory chip in the other. "We don't need your life. We need your shell."
"I've cleaned it," Marque said softly, staring at Slick's face like it was nothing more than a glass doll. "His fear has primed the body. The memory of betrayal soaked in."
Wrath stood behind them both, silent.
Michael reached over and pressed a button on a rusted console. Sparks burst from the panel, and the tube in the center hissed open. Thick smoke poured out, revealing pulsing wires and a swirling core of corrupted energy—the very thing he had used on himself.
A twisted resurrection device.
"Put him in," Michael said, his voice low, reverent.
The bed clicked into the center track. Gears turned. Metal screamed.
Slick was rolled directly beneath the open cylinder. Arms descended—mechanical, barbed, twitching. They seized his limbs and held him in place. He let out one final, horrified scream before a needle jabbed into his neck.
He passed out.
Michael sighed. "Finally. No more noise."
Marque drifted to the side of the tube where Lukas's corpse floated in another tank. She pressed her hand to the glass.
"My baby… you won't be alone anymore."
For a moment, Lukas's fingers twitched.
The resurrection machine roared to life. The room was shaking. Lights turned red.
Michael stood in awe.
Energy surged through the tube, filling Lukas's body with corrupted data, anger, trauma, and Lukas's memories. The pain was necessary. The terror was fuel.
Marque whispered something ancient, a curse or a prayer.
Wrath turned away. Even he couldn't watch this.
Then—Lukas's eyes snapped open. But they were not his eyes anymore. They were pale. Cold. And full of something that didn't belong in this world.
The machine hissed to a stop. Lukas lay still, then slowly—very slowly—sat up. His mouth opened.
"…Dad?"
Michael's eyes filled with tears.
"Lukas?"
Slick blinked. Looked at his hands. He laughed.
"No," the voice said. "I'm not Lukas."
Marque tilted her head. "Then what are you?"
The boy smiled. A long, stretched grin filled with pure malevolence.
"I'm the Boy."
The lights in the room exploded.
Michael stumbled backward. Marque narrowed her eyes.
The boy stood. "You. are. nothing... to me, you didn't save me!"
"Forgive me, my child. I have failed you. But look, you're back again! You came back from the pain you have suffered. Your tears will never fall again."
Elizabeth entered the basement for what noise she has heard. She saw Lukas once again.
"M-Michael... W-what is this? What is all of this?!"
"Forgive me Elizabeth, I want to bring back Lukas again."
The walls inside the basement cracked and Lukas's hand pointed at his poor mother. All the rocks flew to her and blood splashed everywhere in the rocks. She was covered with enormous rocks.
"That's what you get for asking too much." Lukas said.
Michael teared up for what she saw. The love of her life was killed... the worst part was she was killed by his son.
"I can handle all this pain." He said confidently.
They blew the house down and all of them ran towards the remaining gang members.
"We're coming in your way now. BangBangs." Lukas yelled while he was riding Wrath.
"Fuck those cool wannabes! Haha!"
The end of Volume 4: The Boy Incident 1925 Part 1
Characters:
Michael Harrington
Lukas Harrington
Elizabeth Harrington
Mark Thomas
Missy Kirk
Ali Morris
Cheese Heather
Kevin Mason
Nara Lee
Enzo Murry
Bee Sin
Dina Montana
Marco Wall
Freddie Ray
Slick Ross
Tino Shaw
Entities:
Lukas Harrington/The Boy
Wrath
Marque