Zara watched Lyra's video—shot two years prior on the school roof. Isaac stood at the edge, Vince holding his journal.
"Admit you're a freak, and I'll give it back," Vince sneered, shoving him forward.
"I didn't do anything wrong!" Isaac cried, grabbing the rusted railing. It snapped cleanly. He fell backward, his body hitting the concrete below with a wet thud.
The group stood frozen—then Vince laughed. "Good riddance. Now nobody will know what's in that journal."
But the video kept rolling. Nora stepped out from behind a chimney, holding a camera. She'd filmed the whole thing.
"Thank you," she'd whispered to the camera. "Now I have everything I need."
Zara's blood ran cold. Nora hadn't just been avenging Isaac—she'd planned to use his death as leverage.
That night, Vince hosted a party at his mansion to "cope" with Miguel's death. Zara and Kairos snuck in, finding Vince, Jazz, and a dozen other students in the basement theater.
The screen flickered to life. Nora's face appeared, wearing the oni mask. "You thought you could get away with it," she said. "You thought nobody would care about a nerd. But I care. And I've prepared a show just for you."
The lights went out. When they came back on, Jazz was gone. Her phone lay on her chair, a video playing: Jazz stumbling through the mansion's wine cellar, where the floor had been rigged with pressure plates. She'd stepped on one, triggering a trap that dropped her into a vat of fermenting grapes—her screams cut off as the lid slammed shut, and dark liquid began seeping through the cracks.