The storm outside screamed as though the heavens themselves were leaning in to watch. Thunder crashed so violently the mill trembled on its foundations.
Inside the circle of candles, time stretched thin—Sam's gun pointed at Alex, Clara's voice still echoing, Maya's eyes glittering with expectation.
Then it snapped.
The First Shot
Sam's finger tightened on the trigger. Alex braced for impact.
BANG!
The gunshot roared across the hall—but it wasn't Alex who fell. Sam staggered backward, clutching his shoulder, blood seeping through his jacket.
Behind him, standing calm as a shadow, Marcus Flynn lowered a pistol, smoke curling from the barrel.
Everyone froze.
"You—" Alex choked. "You had a gun?"
Marcus smirked faintly. "I told you I wouldn't miss the story of the decade. Sometimes, Detective, you have to make sure you live long enough to write it."
The Mill Erupts
Chaos exploded.
Sam roared in fury, firing wildly, bullets sparking against rusted beams. Lila dove behind a pile of crates, dragging Clara down with her. Alex hit the floor, rolling, drawing his own weapon.
Maya didn't flinch. She stood within her circle of candles like a conductor directing the storm. Her voice cut through the noise:
"Burn it all down, Sam! Don't stop now!"
Lightning flashed through the shattered windows, illuminating the madness: Alex firing back, Marcus ducking behind a steel column, Clara screaming for her brother, Sam's gun shaking as he bled and raged.
The Confrontation
Alex crawled behind a support beam, heart hammering, rain dripping from the ceiling above. He shouted across the hall:
"Sam! Look around you! Is this the Ravenwood you want? Gunfire in the dark, more blood on the floor? You think this is justice?"
Sam, panting, half-delirious from blood loss, screamed back: "It's the only way to end it! Corruption doesn't die with words—it dies with fire!"
Another shot cracked, grazing Alex's shoulder. Pain seared through him.
He gritted his teeth, eyes locking on Maya. "And you—this isn't justice either. It's revenge. You're becoming the same monster you've been hunting."
For the first time, Maya's composure flickered. Just for a heartbeat.
The Breaking Point
Then Clara rose from behind the crates, rain-soaked hair plastered against her face, and screamed across the hall:
"Enough! Dad's shadow already took everything from us! It won't take Alex too!"
Her words echoed through the cavernous hall, louder than thunder.
Sam froze, his pistol trembling. His eyes darted between Maya and Alex, confusion tearing through him.
And that was the moment Alex moved.
He lunged from cover, knocking Sam's weapon aside. The gun clattered across the concrete. They grappled in the rain-slicked hall, fists and fury colliding.
Marcus fired another warning shot into the ceiling, showering sparks. Lila yelled for them to stop.
But it was Clara's sobbing voice that cut deepest:
"Please! No more blood!"
The Collapse
Finally, Sam sagged against Alex, breath ragged, strength fading from blood loss. His gun lay far away, forgotten. His eyes burned with shame.
Maya's candles flickered wildly in the wind rushing through the broken windows. Her jaw trembled.
"This isn't how it was supposed to end," she whispered, almost to herself. "The Circle was meant to fall… all of them."
Alex, panting, keeping Sam pinned, locked eyes with her.
"Then let it end. But not with bullets. With truth."
For the first time, Maya didn't look like the avenger, the mastermind. She looked like the young woman betrayed all those years ago—broken, desperate, haunted.
The storm raged on, but inside the mill, a different silence settled.
The silence of choice.