Kellan Martell leaned against the bookshelf like he owned the night.
And maybe, in a way, he did.
The projector flickered behind him, casting Theo's final image like a ghost on the wall.
Ezra's fists clenched at his sides.
"Kellan," he said, voice barely above a whisper. "You were supposed to be his friend."
"I was," Kellan replied, eyes glittering under the dim light. "But friendship doesn't survive fear. Or ambition."
Kai stepped in front of Ezra, his voice low. "You ran the Dare System, didn't you? You created it."
Kellan's laugh was soft, like a tick of a time bomb.
"No. I inherited it," he said. "But I refined it. I made it cleaner, smarter. Selective."
Ezra took a shaky breath. "Theo never stood a chance."
"He did," Kellan said calmly. "He had a choice. We all do. He just made the wrong one."
The silence that followed was suffocating.
Kai pulled the photo from his jacket—the one from the vending machine.
"You were in this picture. Weren't you? Behind Theo. Watching."
Kellan tilted his head. "That depends. Are you planning to turn that into the police? Or just hang it over your bed like a moral trophy?"
Ezra stepped forward now, trembling with fury.
"You dared him to kill someone, Kellan. You were going to throw him away like trash."
"No, Ezra." Kellan's voice turned cold. "I gave him a chance to become untouchable. To rise. He refused. Cowards always romanticize their failures before they die."
Kai gritted his teeth. "Then what are we? More names on your kill list?"
"No," Kellan replied, smiling now. "You're the finale."
Same Night – Jun's Dorm
Jun paced the room, still gripping the printed files with white knuckles.
Theo's name. Dominic's IP pings. Ezra's redacted status. Kai's name buried under layers of logs—like he'd been watched long before he arrived.
He pulled out a USB drive and copied everything.
His phone buzzed.
A blocked call.
He let it ring once, twice… then answered.
Nothing.
Then a distorted voice:
"Stop digging, Jun. Or you'll end up like Theo."
The line went dead.
Jun sat down, hands trembling.
But he didn't stop copying.
He just picked up a second USB—encrypted—and slipped it into an envelope.
If I disappear, someone will know.
Dominic – On the Hunt
Dominic's rage had fermented into something sharper.
He had followed the IP trail back to Ezra's dorm.
But tonight, his curiosity turned to suspicion.
There were people gathering at the old gym—late at night. Students who had nothing in common before… now whispering like cultists in the dark.
He recognized two.
Both had been in the Dare roster.
Both had broken after.
One had tried to throw himself off a balcony last semester.
The other hadn't been seen since Christmas.
Dominic followed the whispers.
And what he found behind the gym wasn't just disturbing.
It was an altar.
Concrete. Cracked. Spray-painted with dares and names.
Above it: a projector playing surveillance footage from months ago.
Dares. Completed.
Punishments. Administered.
Dominic snapped a photo—and ran.
Back at the Library
Ezra didn't flinch when Kellan pulled the small black device from his coat pocket.
A trigger. Wireless.
"This ends here," Ezra said quietly. "You're not going to win."
Kellan raised an eyebrow. "I already have."
He pressed the button.
Nothing happened.
Kai blinked. "That… that was anticlimactic."
Kellan frowned. Clicked it again. Still nothing.
Then a voice rang out—tinny, from an old speaker near the shelves.
Jun's voice.
"Nice toy. But I disabled your signal jammers. And your trigger? Intercepted the frequency."
A camera light blinked above them—hidden in the exit sign.
Jun's voice again:
"This whole conversation? Recorded. Streaming to five locations."
Ezra let out a slow breath.
"You always underestimated Jun," he said, lips curling into a smirk.
Kellan's smile faltered.
For the first time, uncertainty crawled onto his face.
Kai stepped forward, slow and deliberate.
"Game over, Kellan."
But Kellan wasn't done.
He dropped the trigger—and ran.
Ezra and Kai bolted after him.
Through the stacks. Down the stairs. Across the quad, into the darkness.
The Rooftop – Moments Later
The wind on the top floor of the west building was brutal.
Kellan stood at the edge, breathing hard, his suit jacket flapping behind him.
"I didn't want it to end like this," he called over the wind. "But maybe this is how it was always supposed to end."
Ezra stepped onto the rooftop, chest heaving.
"Kellan, don't be dramatic. You're not a tragic hero. You're just a coward."
Kellan laughed. It echoed off the concrete like a dare.
"I made the system. I kept it clean. I made the decisions no one else would. You think burning it down makes you a hero?"
Kai appeared beside Ezra.
"No," he said softly. "But it makes us free."
Jun's voice came again—from Ezra's phone.
"The cops are on their way. Kellan, you don't have to jump. Just stop running."
Kellan turned.
And for a second, they saw something crack in him—something human.
But it was too late.
He backed up, heel at the edge.
"Tell them whatever you want," he said. "But they'll never stop playing. The system's in their blood now. You just lit the fuse."
He fell backward.
Ezra lunged—too late.
Kellan disappeared over the ledge.
A soft thump echoed seconds later.
Aftermath
It took three days for the investigation to wrap.
The files Jun provided opened everything.
The Dare System. The recordings. The list of victims.
Ezra was cleared. So was Kai.
Dominic published the story anonymously. It went viral within hours.
Kellan's death was ruled a suicide.
But some whispered it was a dare.
Final Scene – Dorm Rooftop
Ezra sat with Kai on the edge of the dorm roof, legs dangling in the cool night air.
Silence stretched between them.
Then Ezra turned.
"You never told me why you joined the game."
Kai looked up at the stars.
"I didn't," he said softly. "I was born in it."
Ezra frowned. "What?"
Kai smiled—just barely.
"My brother… he was one of the original Dare Masters. Before Kellan. Before it became a game."
Ezra blinked.
"So this was personal."
Kai nodded.
"I had to see it end. And I didn't trust anyone else to get close enough."
Ezra leaned back on his palms.
"Why me?"
Kai turned.
"Because you cared. And that made you dangerous."
Ezra smiled.
"For the record… I'm glad it was you."
Kai's hand brushed his.
"I dare you," he whispered, voice low, heat between them rising again, "to kiss me and not think about everything that came before."
Ezra's smile widened.
"I never back down from a dare."
Their lips met beneath the stars—soft, slow, but ignited with something raw and real.
Not just survival.
But the beginning of something they never dared to want before.