No one follows Lyrelle immediately.
The door shuts.
Soft.
Final.
And that somehow hurts more than a slam.
Kyra breaks first.
Not quiet crying.
Not controlled.
She drops to the floor like her knees gave up on her.
"I didn't mean for any of this to happen," she sobs. "I swear I didn't—"
Jake stands there.
Still.
But he doesn't go to her.
That's what breaks her more.
"It was one time," she says, voice shaking. "It was before you and me, before everything got serious—"
Jake lets out a hollow laugh. "You keep saying that like it fixes anything."
Kyra looks at him desperately. "I was confused, okay? Prince and Lyrelle were fighting a lot then, and I—"
She chokes on her words.
"I felt seen," she admits.
Silence.
Prince closes his eyes.
Kyra continues, forcing it out now. "It wasn't supposed to happen again. It didn't. But Saph… she found out."
Summer wipes her face roughly, already emotional. "Of course she did."
Kyra nods, crying harder. "She heard us arguing that night. She put everything together."
The memory starts forming again.
But this time—
Kyra tells it.
"She was angry," Kyra whispers. "Not just at me. At both of us."
"She said Lyrelle didn't deserve that. That I didn't deserve to call myself her friend."
Lyrelle's absence feels louder now.
Kyra's voice drops.
"We argued. Loud. Too loud."
Prince finally speaks, low. "Kyra—"
"No," she cuts him off. "I'm finishing it."
Her hands shake.
"She tried to leave. She said she was going to tell Lyrelle everything."
Jake's jaw tightens.
"And then?" he asks.
Kyra hesitates.
That hesitation is everything.
"And then what?" Ryan pushes.
Kyra's voice becomes smaller.
"She slipped."
Silence.
"She what?" Summer asks.
Kyra shakes her head violently. "It wasn't like that! We were outside, near the road, she was walking away and she turned back to shout at us and—"
Her voice breaks completely.
"A car didn't see her in time."
No one speaks.
No one moves.
"That's how she died," Kyra whispers.
The truth sits there.
Ugly.
Incomplete.
Still heavy.
Jake turns away first.
Not dramatic.
Just done.
Prince leans against the wall, like something inside him finally gave out.
Ryan mutters, "So all this… started from that?"
Aurora watches, quieter now.
"Not just that," she says softly. "From what you did after."
Kaida stiffens.
Then—
Summer suddenly looks up.
"Lyrelle."
Everyone freezes.
Jake curses under his breath. "She left."
Zyren straightens instantly. "She shouldn't be alone right now."
Kaida grabs her phone. "The game—"
Right on cue—
Every screen lights up.
"UNSTABLE PLAYER DETECTED."
"LYRELLE."
Lyrelle.
Summer's voice shakes. "That's not good."
"LOCATION SHIFTING," the screen continues.
"FIND HER."
Prince is already moving. "We're going."
Thorian grabs his keys without a word.
"Everyone stays together," he says.
Outside, the night feels colder.
Heavier.
Like something is waiting.
They split into two cars.
Thorian drives the first.
Prince beside him.
Kaida, Summer, Zyren in the back.
The second car follows.
Phones keep buzzing.
Coordinates glitching.
Changing.
Moving.
"She's not staying in one place," Kaida says, panicked.
"That means the game is moving her," Ryan mutters.
"No," Aurora says quietly from the back.
Everyone turns.
"She's running."
The car speeds up.
A sharp turn.
Another.
Then—
Suddenly—
Thorian slams the brakes.
The car screeches to a halt.
Everyone jolts forward.
"What the—" Summer starts.
Thorian is already staring ahead.
Frozen.
"Do you see that?" he says quietly.
In the middle of the road—
A phone.
Glowing.
Alone.
Kaida's breath catches.
"That's Lyrelle's."
Before anyone can stop him—
Thorian opens the door and steps out.
"Wait—" Prince starts.
Too late.
Thorian walks toward the phone slowly.
The streetlights flicker.
The air feels wrong.
He bends down—
And the moment his fingers touch it—
Every phone in the cars lights up at once.
"PLAYER THORIAN."
"INTERVENTION DETECTED."
"CONSEQUENCE INITIATED."
"Thorian—!" Kaida screams, jumping out.
The lights go out.
Pitch black.
A loud sound echoes—
Not clear.
Not visible.
Just enough.
Then silence.
The lights flicker back on.
Thorian is on the ground.
Not moving.