(Viera tracks the past. Kade begins therapy. And the scars they both carry start to speak louder than ever.)
"Some people hate what's soft because they know it won't survive in them."
– Unknown
Viera (Four Days After the Hospital)
She didn't go to school.
She hadn't slept.
Her laptop screen glowed like an open wound in the dark.
The cursor blinked over government archives. Employee directories. Court transcripts.
Name: Elias Delan
Alias: Unconfirmed
DOB: Unknown
Educational credentials: Forged.
Employment history: Minimal, altered.
The man who nearly killed Kade didn't exist before 2021.
She tracked the IP address from an email to a P.O. box in New Hampshire.
She sent it to someone who owed her a favor.
Enter: Delphi Keller.
Twenty-two. Hacker. Activist. Ghost.
Met Viera online two years ago when they doxxed a senator who made laws against trans kids.
They'd never met in person.
But Delphi didn't ask questions.
Just said:
"Give me three days."
Meanwhile, Viera began watching again.
Not the school this time.
The faculty.
The board.
The shadows that let Delan slip in under a false name.
She'd thought it was over after Logan.
She'd thought she was the monster they feared.
But now…
There were others.
Real ones.
Kade (First Therapy Session)
The room smelled like mint tea and fake lavender.
Kade sat on the couch, knees close together, eyes on the floor.
Across from him sat a woman in her 50s.
Crooked smile. Braids.
Sweater with a frayed sleeve.
Name: Dr. June Marrow.
"I'm not here to fix you," she said on day one. "I'm just here to listen until you start talking."
It took him ten minutes to say a word.
It was:
"…I'm not broken."
She nodded.
"Good. That's a start."
By the third session, he said this:
"He said I was too soft. That's why he chose me."
Dr. Marrow leaned in.
Not pitying.
Just… ready.
"Do you believe that?"
"I used to."
"And now?"
He hesitated.
"…I'm scared to stop believing it. Because then I'll have to be angry. And I don't know what to do with that."
She told him this:
"People who hate softness aren't strong. They're just cowards dressed in armor they don't understand."
That sat with him for hours after he left.
New Character: Ezra Cadell
Student teacher. Mid-20s.
Tall, lean. Scar over his left eye.
Used to be military. Discharged for "ethical defiance."
Now teaches social ethics part-time.
He notices Kade sitting quietly during discussion.
Always listening. Never talking.
One day after class, he sits beside him.
"I know what trauma looks like," Ezra says.
Kade tenses.
"I'm not offering pity," Ezra continues. "Just… experience. From someone who had to rebuild a self that got torn apart."
Kade says nothing.
Ezra offers him a book:
"The Myth of Toughness: Why Sensitivity Saves Us."
Kade reads it in two days.
Viera (Friday Night)
Delphi sends her a message:
"Delan isn't the root. He's a recruiter. Underground ring. Exploits gifted minors. Likely paid to 'break' you and Kade for someone else. I'm still digging."
Viera goes still.
Then cold.
Then absolutely, methodically lethal.
She stares at the screen for a long, long time.
She says aloud, to no one:
"You came for the wrong boy."
Kade (Therapy – Two Weeks Later)
"I think I'm angry now."
Dr. Marrow nods. "That's okay."
"I think I'm scared of what I'll do if I let it out."
She pauses.
"Would you like to scream?"
He blinks. "What?"
"I have a soundproof room in the back. Designed just for that. You can scream. Punch pillows. Shred paper. Whatever you need."
He stares.
Then, almost laughing: "Seriously?"
She smiles.
"You'd be surprised what a scream can do."
Viera (That Night – Watching Ezra)
She sees the way Ezra watches Kade.
Not predatory.
Not cruel.
Just aware.
A protector, maybe.
But she doesn't trust anyone.
Not anymore.
Not unless they bleed for it.
She watches him leave the building and follows him for five blocks before she steps out from behind the lamppost.
He doesn't jump.
Just says, "You're the infamous Viera."
She doesn't speak.
Just watches.
Ezra holds up both hands.
"I'm not your enemy."
She steps closer.
"No," she murmurs. "But you're standing too close to someone I love."
Ezra nods. "Fair."
"I'm watching."
"I know."
She starts to walk away. Then pauses.
"You hurt him," she says, not looking back, "and I'll bury you beneath this city's silence."
Ezra exhales.
Not afraid.
But definitely warned.
Kade (Later That Week – With Viera)
They're walking home. It's snowing lightly.
She's quiet.
He's humming.
Then he stops and says softly:
"I want to know what you found."
She doesn't answer.
"I want to know how deep this goes, Vi."
Still silent.
"You can't protect me from everything."
"I can try."
"But you'll destroy yourself."
She stops walking.
The streetlamp above them flickers.
And she turns.
For the first time, her voice cracks.
"I don't care if I do."
He steps forward.
Holds her face in his hands.
"I care."
"I can't lose you."
"You won't."
"You almost died."
"I'm still here."
He leans his forehead to hers.
"You don't have to keep turning into a weapon just to love me."
Silence.
Then she whispers:
"But I don't know how else to love."
He wraps his arms around her.
Tight.
Safe.
And says into her hair:
"Then I'll teach you."
End of Chapter 17
Next: Chapter 18 – The Mirror Room