The TV flickered blue in the corner of the hotel lobby.
News anchors talked over images of the wreckage—twisted railings, broken glass, bodies covered with tarps.
Leila sat on the edge of a velvet couch, motionless, her hands buried in her sleeves. She didn't blink.
"—the incident left at least many confirmed deadover 50 people. Witnesses say a young woman attempted to warn the crowd before the pier collapsed—"
Her own face flashed on the screen.
She turned away, tears already gathering. She hadn't expected to be right. Not really. Not like this.
A Hand on Her Shoulder
Brooke sat beside her gently, the scent of seawater and ash still clinging to her clothes.
"You okay?" she whispered.
Leila shook her head.
"I saw it all, Brooke. Before it happened. Every piece of it. The screams, the bodies, the fire... like I'd already lived it once."
Brooke nodded slowly. Her eyes were tired, red around the edges.
"Like Eva?"
Leila froze. The name struck a bell in the back of her mind. A story she read online weeks ago—one that haunted her so much she had buried it.
Eva, survivor of the first Pier Seven collapse.
She looked up at Brooke, her voice shaking.
"That's what this is, isn't it? It's happening again."
Brooke didn't answer.
She didn't have to.
The Others
In the adjacent room, the other eight survivors sat in strained silence—some pacing, some still in shock.
Luke hadn't said a word since the incident. Trey had retreated to the back stairwell to smoke. Isabel kept checking her pulse.
Omar was scrolling through his phone, finding the articles. Reading about the deaths that followed Eva's vision. One by one.
"You don't think… this is the same thing?" he asked out loud.
Cody scoffed, trying to keep the fear out of his voice.
"It was just bad luck. It's not some—some curse."
But even as he said it, he didn't believe himself.
Back in the Lobby
Brooke turned to Leila.
"We survived, Leila. That means something. We were supposed to die. But we didn't."
Leila whispered:
"What if we're still supposed to?"
Brooke gave her a tight hug, holding her like something precious and already slipping away.
"Then we don't wait around to find out. We fight it. We stay together. Okay?"
Leila nodded. But her eyes drifted back to the news.
A replay of the collapse filled the screen. In slow motion, she saw a cable snap… right where Brooke had been standing.
She shouldn't be alive.
None of them should.
End of Chapter 17