Red and blue lights painted the wet street in rhythmic pulses as the police returned, once again, to question the surviving members of the Pier Seven group. The officers were growing more impatient now—more doubtful of the frightened teenagers who had seen too many deaths to call coincidence.
"We've told you everything," Valeria whispered to the officer, her eyes red. "It's not… normal. We know it's not."
"You keep saying that," Officer Kincaid replied, eyes narrowed, "but you also keep showing up around these freak accidents. Now someone explain what happened at that theme park."
Leila couldn't speak. Her vision of the ferris wheel still throbbed in her head. The screams. The splintering metal. The mangled bodies.
Kai took over. "We tried to stop them. We really did. They didn't listen."
The officer scribbled notes with a doubtful grunt and waved them off.
"You're not under arrest," he said, "but stay in town. All of you."
They were dismissed like liars.
The group walked home in exhausted silence. Cody's hoodie was soaked from the rain, and Isabel barely blinked as she walked with one arm wrapped around Valeria.
Leila's keys trembled in her hand as they entered her apartment.
"Luke?" she called.
No answer.
"Maybe he's asleep," Kai muttered, stepping ahead.
He pushed the bedroom door open.
Then froze.
The others piled in behind him, one by one falling into stunned silence.
Luke lay beneath the cabinet, the umbrella still resting near his bloodied hand. His face was pale. Lifeless.
Valeria screamed.
Isabel rushed forward. "He's breathing—oh my God—he's still—he's still breathing!"
They called 911. An ambulance came fast, almost too fast, and within minutes Luke was loaded onto a stretcher and wheeled into the back.
Leila, sitting beside Kai on the curb, clutched his arm tightly.
"He can't die," she said. "He just can't."
—
St. Helena Memorial Hospital – Room 304
Machines beeped softly beside Luke's bed. His face looked peaceful now, as if sleeping deeply.
Outside the room, Leila, Cody, Valeria, and Isabel waited.
The doctor came out.
"He suffered internal bleeding. Head trauma. But… he's stabilized."
The relief on Leila's face was visible. Her knees buckled. She sat down.
"Can we see him?" Isabel asked quietly.
The doctor nodded.
They entered the room slowly, watching the gentle rise and fall of Luke's chest.
Kai took his hand. "You idiot," he whispered, voice breaking. "You said you were just gonna nap."
Leila wiped her tears.
The heart monitor began to spike.
They all turned.
Luke's body jerked suddenly.
The screen flashed red.
The flatline shrieked.
"No, no—Luke—!" Valeria shouted.
Doctors burst in.
"Clear!"
His body jolted.
"Again!"
Nothing.
"Again!"
The line remained flat.
And just like that… Luke was gone.
Cody turned to Leila. "It's happening again. One by one."
Leila's eyes filled with tears, her fingers trembling over her lips.
"No," she whispered. "No, Death is speeding up."
The End of Chapter 28