POV: Marcus
The picture slipped from my shaking hands and hit the floor.
It was her. The hooded figure in the security video was definitely Aria.
I could tell by the way she moved—quick and careful, like someone who grew up watching every turn. I'd seen her walk that way a thousand times when we were kids in the Rust District.
My best friend. My first love. The girl I ruined.
"Well?" Celeste's voice came through my phone speaker. Cold. Sharp. "Do you recognize The Architect or not?"
I picked up the picture. My throat felt tight. "I... I'm not sure. Could be anyone—"
"Don't lie to me, Marcus." Her voice dropped lower. Dangerous. "Remember what happens if you lie to me."
My sister's face flashed in my mind. Emma, tied to that chair, tears running down her face. Celeste had shown me that movie six months ago. Right before she made me choose: betray Aria or watch Emma die.
I picked wrong.
"It might be Aria," I whispered. "The height matches. But I can't be certain—"
"That's all I needed to hear." Celeste hung up.
I stood alone in my tiny apartment, staring at the picture. Aria's figure, caught mid-step, fleeing into shadows. She'd always been good at disappearing. At being unseen.
Except now she wasn't invisible anymore. Now she was The Architect—the mysterious game creator whose horror games were making D-rank Warriors into A-ranks overnight. The person everyone was hunting.
And I'd just told Celeste where to find her.
Again.
My stomach twisted. I ran to the bathroom and threw up.
When had I become this person? This fool who sold out his friends to save himself?
No. Not himself. Emma. Everything I'd done was for Emma.
But was she even still alive?
I grabbed my phone with wet hands. Dialed Celeste's secret number. It rang four times before she answered.
"What now, Marcus?"
"I want to see my sister." My voice came out stronger than I felt. "You promised I could visit her. It's been three weeks since—"
"Your sister is fine."
"Then let me see her!"
Silence. Long enough to make my heart pound.
"She's sleeping," Celeste finally said. "The stress has been hard on her. You understand."
"No, I don't understand!" I was yelling now. Couldn't stop myself. "You said if I helped you, she'd be safe. You said if I gave you proof against Aria, Emma would go free. I did everything you asked! Everything! And you won't even let me talk to her!"
"Careful, Marcus." Celeste's voice turned to ice. "You're not in a position to make demands."
"I just want proof she's okay. One video call. Thirty seconds. That's all—"
The phone went dead.
I stared at the black screen. My mirror looked back at me—messy hair, dark circles under my eyes, the face of someone who hadn't slept properly in months.
What if Emma was already dead?
What if Celeste had killed her six months ago, and I'd been betraying Aria for nothing?
No. I couldn't think like that. Emma was living. She had to be living.
But doubt crawled through my brain like poison.
I opened my computer. My hands moved without thinking, typing orders I shouldn't know. Accessing things I shouldn't have.
Celeste thought I was just her stupid puppet. But I'd been an information dealer before she trapped me. I knew how to dig. How to find things people wanted hidden.
Three hours later, I found it.
Hospital records. Emma Vale, admitted four months ago to Sacred Heart Medical Center. Status: dead. Cause of death: Spirit poisoning. Time of death: two days after Celeste first showed me that movie.
My sister had been dead for four months.
Everything went cold. The room spun.
I'd ruined Aria for a corpse.
Celeste had been lying from the start. Emma was already dead when she showed me that video. Already gone when she made me choose. She'd used my sister's body like a doll to control me.
And I'd believed her. God, I'd believed every word.
The betrayal I made. The evidence I planted. The lies I told the Spirit Council. The way I'd looked Aria in the eyes and destroyed her image, piece by piece.
All for nothing.
All for a sister who was already in the ground.
Something broke inside me. Something that couldn't be fixed.
I stood up. Walked to my closet. Pulled out the old Spirit Warrior gear I hadn't worn since Celeste made me quit active service. She'd said it was "too dangerous" for me to keep fighting. Said I needed to focus on "helping her" instead.
Now I understood. She'd wanted me weak. Controllable. Cut off from other Warriors who might notice something was wrong.
But I wasn't weak anymore.
I was furious.
I grabbed my phone one more time. Not to call Celeste. To send a message to the only person who might understand what I'd done. The only person who might tell me how to fix it.
Lyric, it's Marcus. I know you hate me. I deserve that. But I need to talk to you about Aria. About Celeste. About everything. Please. I have knowledge that could save Aria's life.
I hit send before I could change my mind.
Then I started packing. Emergency goods. Spirit rocks. The illegal tracking device I'd stolen from Celeste's apartment last week—the one showing Aria's real-time location.
If Celeste was going after Aria tonight, I'd be there too.
Not to help Celeste.
To stop her.
Even if it killed me. Even if Aria never forgave me. Even if I died trying.
I owed her that much.
My phone buzzed. Text from an unknown number.
Your sister's death wasn't an accident, Marcus. I killed her myself. Slowly. She screamed your name at the end, asking you to save her. But you were too busy ruining Aria to notice Emma was already gone. How does it feel, knowing you picked wrong? —C
My view went red.
Another text.
PS: I'm going to love killing Aria the same way. Thanks for the location info, you pathetic fool. You just helped me finish what I started seventeen years ago.
The phone slipped from my numb fingers.
And then I heard it—a sound that made my blood freeze.
Footsteps. In my room. Behind me.
A voice I knew too well muttered from the darkness: "Did you really think I'd let you live after you found those hospital records?"
I spun around.
Celeste stood in my doorway. But her face was wrong. Shifting. Like skin stretched over something that wasn't human.
"Hello, Marcus," she smiled with too many teeth. "Let's talk about what happens t
o traitors who betray ME."
The door slammed shut.
And the screaming began.