Chapter 236: 236 Lockdown

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236: Lockdown 236: Lockdown The emergency community meeting was called for eight o’clock in the morning, five days after the return from Montreal.

Every resident of Eldergrove was required to attend—no exceptions.

Julian had been adamant about that, and the grim set of his jaw suggested this wasn’t a request.

Bruce stood at the front of the community center beside Director Chen, who’d arrived from Montreal overnight with disturbing news.

Mishka sat in a wheelchair nearby, still too weak to stand for long periods, the collar around her throat a constant reminder of what Jean had done to her.

Emma was there too, her notebook clutched to her chest, dark circles under her eyes from working late into the night on collar modifications.

The community filed in slowly—the original Eldergrove residents mixing uneasily with the twelve rescued prisoners and the handful of delegates from other communities who’d sought refuge here after the summit attack.

Mikhail and Mrs.

Pemberton took seats near the front.

Gillian sat with Tom and Lila, all of them looking worried.

When everyone was assembled, Julian locked the doors.

That simple action sent a ripple of unease through the crowd.

“Thank you all for coming,” Director Chen began, her voice carrying authority that silenced the murmurs.

“I know you’re frightened.

I know the past weeks have been traumatic.

But we need to address a critical security issue that affects every person in this room.”

She nodded to Frank, who’d set up a laptop and projector.

Images appeared on the screen—surveillance footage from the summit attack.

“During the assault on the Covenant summit, Jean’s forces didn’t just capture delegates,” Chen continued.

“They also compromised several individuals using advanced collar technology and magical programming.

These people were returned to their communities as sleeper agents—supernatural beings who appear normal but have been conditioned to activate on command and carry out sabotage, assassination, or intelligence gathering.”

The room erupted in shocked exclamations.

“We believe,” Chen said over the noise, “that at least two sleeper agents are currently in Eldergrove.”

The exclamations turned to accusations.

People looking at each other with sudden suspicion, old neighbors wondering if the person sitting next to them was secretly working for Jean.

“This is exactly what Jean wants,” Bruce said, his voice cutting through the chaos.

“Fear.

Suspicion.

Turning us against each other.

We’re not going to give her that satisfaction.”

“Then what are you proposing?” Marcus Delacroix asked from the vampire section.

He hadn’t left with the other families, had chosen to stay despite his doubts about integration.

“We just trust that the person beside us isn’t secretly planning to kill us in our sleep?”

“We test everyone,” Emma said, standing up.

Her young voice carried surprising steel.

“I’ve been working with Frank on a detection method.

The collars used for programming leave a specific magical signature—one that I can detect using my Resonant abilities.”

She held up a crystal similar to the one she’d used to find prisoners in the Trois-Rivières warehouse, but this one glowed with a different frequency.

“This crystal is attuned to that signature,” Emma explained.

“If someone in this room is carrying a sleeper collar, the crystal will react when they’re within ten feet of it.”

“And what happens when you find them?” Mrs.

Pemberton asked quietly.

“We contain them safely, remove the collar if possible, and try to deprogram them,” Dr.

Reeves said from her position near the medical supplies.

“These people are victims, not traitors.

They didn’t choose to be compromised.”

“But they’re still dangerous,” Julian added.

“Which is why, until we’ve tested everyone, Eldergrove is going into full lockdown.

No one enters or leaves the community without Director Chen’s personal authorization.

All residents will be tested over the next forty-eight hours.

Those who test positive will be quarantined in the medical center under guard—for their protection and ours.”

“This is a violation of our rights,” someone called out from the back.

“You can’t imprison us in our own community!”

“We’re not imprisoning you,” Chen said firmly.

“We’re protecting you.

Jean’s sleeper agents don’t know they’re compromised.

They could be your best friend, your neighbor, your family member.

And when they’re activated, they won’t be able to stop themselves from carrying out their programming.

Would you rather we identify and help them now, or wait until one of them is commanded to poison the water supply or assassinate community leaders?”

The room fell silent as the reality sank in.

“We start testing immediately,” Julian said.

“Alphabetically by last name.

We’ve set up three testing stations—Emma will operate one, Mrs.

Pemberton another, and Dr.

Reeves the third.

The process takes about two minutes per person.

No one is exempt—not the rescued prisoners, not the delegates seeking refuge, not even Director Chen or myself.”

“I’ll go first,” Mikhail said, standing.

“To demonstrate there’s nothing to fear from the process.”

He walked to Emma’s station.

She held up the crystal, moved it in a slow circle around him, watching its glow carefully.

After ninety seconds, she nodded.

“Clear.

No sleeper programming detected.”

One by one, residents approached the testing stations.

The process was tedious but necessary.

Most people tested clear—the crystal remaining steady, showing no reaction.

But the tension in the room was palpable.

Everyone watched everyone else, looking for signs of guilt, of fear, of anything that might indicate compromise.

Tom tested clear.

So did Lila and Gillian.

The Hendersons passed without incident.

Mrs.

Pemberton tested herself and came up clean.

Then they reached the rescued prisoners.

The first one—a shapeshifter named David who’d been held by Jean for three weeks—approached Emma’s station nervously.

The moment Emma raised the crystal near him, it flared brilliant red.

David’s face went white.

“No.

No, I didn’t—I wouldn’t—”

“David, it’s okay,” Emma said gently.

“You didn’t know.

You’re not responsible for what they did to you.”

“But I’m dangerous,” David said, backing away.

“If I’m programmed, if they activate me—”

“We’re going to help you,” Dr.

Reeves said, moving forward with Julian.

“We’ll remove the collar, deprogram you.

You’re safe here.”

David let them lead him to the medical center, but Bruce could see the shame and fear in the man’s eyes.

Being identified as compromised, even involuntarily, marked him as a threat to the very people trying to save him.

Three more rescued prisoners tested positive for sleeper programming.

All of them reacted with shock and horror.

None of them had any memory of being programmed, which made the violation even more terrible.

The testing continued into the afternoon.

They broke for lunch, but the atmosphere in the community center was strained.

People were exhausted from stress and suspicion.

Then they reached the original Eldergrove residents—the families who’d been here since before the recent crisis, before Mishka arrived, before integration became a target.

A woman named Sarah Kowalski approached Emma’s station.

She was from one of the bound families, a quiet accountant who kept to herself but had always been friendly with her neighbors.

Emma raised the crystal.

It flared red.

Sarah stood frozen, her face a mask of confusion.

“That’s impossible.

I’ve never left Eldergrove.

I’ve never been captured by Jean.

How could I be—”

Understanding dawned in horrible clarity.

Bruce saw it the same moment Emma did.

“The mole,” Emma whispered.

“The traitor who broke into Mishka’s house.

Who gave Jean our security codes.

They didn’t just steal information—they programmed residents while they were here.

In their homes.

In their sleep.”

The room exploded into chaos.

People shouting, accusing, demanding to know who the mole was.

Sarah collapsed into a chair, weeping, protesting that she’d never hurt anyone, that she didn’t remember being collared or programmed.

“Everyone calm down!” Bruce roared, his werewolf nature lending weight to his command.

“This changes nothing about our procedure.

Sarah is a victim.

We’re going to help her, just like we helped David and the others.”

But as Julian and Dr.

Reeves escorted Sarah to the medical center, Bruce caught Mishka’s eye.

She couldn’t speak, but her expression communicated everything: ‘The mole is still here.

Still active.

Still watching us right now.’

The testing continued, but now everyone was looking at everyone else differently.

If the mole could program Sarah—a bound resident who couldn’t even leave Eldergrove—then they had access to people’s homes, to their most vulnerable moments.

Two more Eldergrove residents tested positive.

Both claimed no memory of leaving their homes or being collared.

Both were from families that had been here for years, that had no connection to Jean or the summit attacks.

By evening, they’d tested sixty percent of the community.

Seven sleeper agents identified—four rescued prisoners and three original residents.

All of them now quarantined in the medical center while Dr.

Reeves and Emma worked on collar removal and deprogramming.

The remaining forty percent would be tested the next day.

That night, Eldergrove felt like a prison.

Guards patrolled the streets.

Windows stayed lit as people were too frightened to sleep.

The wards Emma had strengthened glowed visibly, a reminder that they were locked in as much as threats were locked out.

Bruce sat in the medical center with Mishka, watching Emma work on removing Sarah Kowalski’s collar.

The process was delicate, dangerous.

One wrong move and the collar could activate, either killing Sarah or triggering her programming prematurely.

“Got it,” Emma said finally, and the collar fell away with a soft click.

Sarah gasped, her hands flying to her throat.

“I can feel it.

There’s something in my head.

Commands.

Waiting.

Oh God, what did they make me do?”

“Nothing yet,” Emma assured her.

“The programming hasn’t been activated.

We’re going to remove it safely.”

But as Emma began the deprogramming spell, Sarah’s eyes suddenly went blank.

Her body went rigid.

“She’s activating!” Dr.

Reeves shouted.

“Someone’s triggering the sleepers remotely!”

In the quarantine area, all seven identified sleeper agents stood simultaneously, their eyes vacant, their movements synchronized.

They turned toward the door with mechanical precision.

Julian hit the emergency lockdown, reinforced doors slamming shut, but the sleepers moved as one toward the exits, their supernatural strength enhanced by whatever programming controlled them.

“Stop them!” Bruce ordered, positioning himself between the sleepers and freedom.

But Sarah spoke, her voice not her own—layered with magical compulsion that made even Bruce pause: “Stand aside.

We have our orders.

We will complete our mission.”

“What mission?” Emma demanded, her wards flaring around the quarantine area.

Sarah’s programmed voice answered with chilling calm: “Eliminate the Resonant.

Neutralize Bruce.

Secure Mishka Classens for extraction.

Kill anyone who interferes.”

Then all seven sleepers attacked at once.

The medical center descended into chaos.

Bruce’s werewolf form erupted as he fought to protect Emma and Mishka.

Julian’s team engaged the sleepers with non-lethal force, trying to contain without killing.

Mrs.

Pemberton threw up barrier wards while Dr.

Reeves worked frantically to complete the deprogramming spells.

Emma stood her ground, her Resonant abilities flaring as she tried to disrupt the programming remotely.

The crystal in her hand blazed with light, throwing interference into the magical commands controlling the sleepers.

One by one, the sleepers faltered.

The programming was strong, but Emma’s power was stronger.

Within minutes, all seven collapsed, unconscious but alive.

“Did it work?” Bruce asked, bleeding from a dozen wounds.

Emma checked each sleeper carefully, her crystal moving over their prone forms.

“The immediate programming is disrupted.

They’re no longer receiving commands.

But the deeper conditioning…

that’ll take days to fully remove.”

“Who activated them?” Julian demanded.

“The trigger came from inside Eldergrove.

Someone sent the command.”

Frank’s voice crackled over the security comm.

“I traced it.

The signal originated from sector seven, residential area.

Narrow it down to…

three possible houses.”

“Lock them down,” Director Chen ordered.

“No one in those houses leaves until we identify who sent the activation signal.”

But as Julian’s team moved to secure the suspect houses, Bruce realized something that made his blood chill immediately.

“The activation was a test,” he said slowly.

“Someone wanted to see if we could detect and stop the sleepers.

Wanted to know our capabilities before the real attack.”

“Twenty-one days left on Jean’s countdown,” Emma said quietly.

“Whatever she’s planning, she’s gathering intelligence for it.

Testing our defenses.”

Mishka squeezed Bruce’s hand, her eyes fierce despite her inability to speak.

She pointed to herself, then to Bruce, then made a circular gesture that encompassed Eldergrove.

Bruce understood.

‘We’re the target.

All of us.

This community.’

When Jean’s countdown reached zero, Eldergrove would be ground zero for whatever demonstration she’d planned.

The false flag attack Frank had theorized about, the proof that integration communities were dangerous.

And they had exactly three weeks to figure out how to stop it.

The lockdown continued.

But now it wasn’t just about finding sleeper agents.

It was about surviving long enough to prevent Jean from turning Eldergrove into the graveyard where the integration movement died.