The apartment felt hollow now.
Three beds, three sets of clothes still damp from rain, and three survivors.
Only three.
Maya's death had shifted everything. Carmen vanished into the sea like she was never real. Zeke had tried to escape through the subway tunnels—and was found severed in half by a collapsing turnstile. They didn't talk about that. Not anymore.
Now it was Jonas. Then Imani. Then Eva.
Just like in her vision.
10:22 AM – Jonas's Spiral
Jonas paced, his eyes sunken and red.
"I should leave," he muttered. "I should get in a car and drive until I don't see anything familiar. If Death needs to follow a pattern, then screw the pattern—I'll make a new one."
Eva sat by the window, staring at the newspaper clippings and scribbled notes.
"You saw what happened to Carmen. You can't outrun it."
"But what if I can?" Jonas snapped. "What if the vision only works because we stay close? If I vanish, maybe it skips me."
Imani looked up from the floor, where she'd made a circle of salt and matches around herself like a shield. It was more spiritual than logical, but logic was a corpse now.
"I don't think it's about place," she said quietly. "It's about design. Like… it's part of a system. You don't break a curse by changing cities."
Jonas laughed bitterly. "We're quoting ghost rules now? Seriously?"
1:47 PM – They Prepare
Jonas rigged every outlet in the apartment with surge protectors.
Imani unplugged the stove, locked every drawer, taped every loose wire to the walls.
Eva watched them, numb.
When she looked at Jonas, she saw the shadow of his death again—part of a collapsing ceiling, splinters of broken glass. She remembered how in the vision, he was crushed while trying to shield Imani.
And Imani… flames. Gasping smoke. A closet door that wouldn't open.
Eva hadn't told them the details.
She didn't want to make it real.
3:11 PM – Jonas's End
Jonas refused to sit still.
He tore down the balcony curtain to "increase visibility," knocked over a lamp, and decided to climb onto the window ledge to install a camera.
"Don't be stupid!" Eva shouted.
He laughed, dangling by one hand as he drilled the small camera in. "If I go, at least I'll see it coming!"
The screw snapped.
The camera slipped.
Jonas reached to catch it.
And his foot slipped.
He fell back through the window, crashing through the glass coffee table, neck slamming against the sharp edge.
Blood soaked the rug in seconds.
He didn't even scream.
Imani collapsed beside him, sobbing.
Eva didn't move.
She just crossed Jonas's name off the list.
Now only two remained.
6:56 PM – The Fear Beneath Imani's Skin
Imani locked herself in the bathroom.
"Don't come in," she warned Eva through the door. "I just… I need to be alone."
Eva sat against the wall outside.
They didn't need to say it aloud.
Imani was next.
And then Eva.
The sound of water running filled the silence.
Then coughing.
Then—
Bang.
"Imani?" Eva stood, heart racing.
No response.
"Imani, open the door!"
She slammed her shoulder into it, once, twice—
The third time, the wood cracked open.
Imani was on the floor, covered in ash.
The small electric heater had caught fire.
Melted plastic bubbled near her legs.
She was still breathing—but barely.
Eva pulled her out, screaming for help.
But the city was too quiet.
Too late.
Later That Night – Alone
Eva sat by the window.
She hadn't slept.
She hadn't eaten.
Now it was her.
Last in line.
But what if she broke the line?
What if she ended it before it reached her?
Not death—but herself.
She stared at the knife on the table.
Then looked away.
Not yet.
She was going to face it.
And if it wanted her…
It would have to fight for her.
End of Chapter Eight