I didn't sleep at all that night.
Every time I closed my eyes, I saw something I hadn't chosen.
A man in a suit walking down a hallway I'd never seen.
A girl sitting alone in a dark room, whispering something I couldn't hear.
And then—me.
Standing in front of a screen, watching something terrible unfold.
And smiling.
I woke up shaking.
By morning, I wasn't sure what was real anymore.
"Did you get any sleep?" Ava asked when I met them outside school.
I shook my head. "They're still in there."
Lena didn't look surprised.
"They do that," she said quietly. "Once they plant something, it doesn't just go away."
I looked at her. "How do you know so much about this?"
She hesitated. Then said, "Because I had a friend who refused them too."
Ava frowned. "What happened to her?"
Lena's voice dropped. "She thought she got away. Just like you."
I swallowed hard. "What aren't you saying?"
"She started seeing things," Lena said. "Things she didn't want to see. Things that weren't hers."
Her eyes met mine.
"And then one day… she walked back inside that building."
I stared at her.
"No," I whispered. "She wouldn't—"
"She didn't have a choice," Lena cut in. "Not really."
Just then, another flash hit.
But it wasn't mine.
It was cold.
Clinical.
Like someone else was feeding me what to see.
This time, I saw Ava.
Standing in a room.
Crying.
And someone standing over her.
Whispering:
"We don't lose people. We just let them think they're free."
I gasped as I came back to reality.
Ava looked at me, alarmed. "What? What did you see?"
I stared at her.
And realized something terrifying.
They weren't just in my head anymore.
They were showing me her now.
Like she was next.