Morning drags into afternoon.
No music.
No jokes.
Kaida's phone vibrates on the table.
Everyone freezes.
The screen lights up.
ROUND FIVE
MODE DARE
A name appears.
KYRA
Her breath stutters immediately.
"No. Please… no."
The text changes.
Spend five minutes alone in a dark room.
Your phone will show what happens outside.
Kyra's eyes fill instantly.
"I can't," she whispers.
"I can't do that. Please."
She turns to Jake, grabbing his sleeve.
"Jake… please. Come with me. Don't let me go alone."
Jake's jaw tightens.
He looks at Kaida's phone.
At Kyra shaking.
At everyone watching.
"I'm not letting this thing do that to her," he snaps.
"Jake," Lyrelle says quickly.
"Don't."
Prince steps forward.
"Bro, think."
But Jake is already moving.
He grabs Kaida's phone.
Kyra screams.
"Jake, stop!"
Ryan shouts,
"Don't, Jake!"
Thorian reaches out, panic in his voice.
"Jake, don't!"
Too late.
The phone hits the ground.
The sound is sharp. Final.
For one second, nothing happens.
Then every phone in the room lights up at once.
Even the ones that were off.
A single bold message fills every screen.
JAKE BROKE THE RULES.
EVERYONE MOVE OUTSIDE AND SEE WHAT HAPPENS TO JAKE.
Silence crashes down.
Kyra starts sobbing.
"No. No, no, no."
Jake swallows hard, trying to laugh it off.
"It's just trying to scare us."
The front door creaks open by itself.
Outside, the street is empty.
Then a car engine roars to life.
No one is inside.
"Jake," Thorian whispers.
"Move."
Jake reacts fast, backing away, trying to stay clear.
The car swerves.
Everything happens at once.
Shouts.
Screams.
Chaos.
When it stops, Jake is on the ground, breathing hard, his face pale.
He's alive.
But he can't stand.
Sirens wail in the distance.
Later, the words come quietly.
A broken leg.
Season over.
Basketball gone.
College dreams slipping through his fingers.
Kyra sits on the curb, shaking uncontrollably.
"This is my fault," she cries.
"I asked him. I begged him."
Jake reaches for her hand weakly.
"Hey… no. It's not you."
But the guilt sticks.
No one argues.
Because everyone understands now.
The Shadow Game doesn't bluff.
It doesn't forgive.
And it doesn't stop.
Round Five is over.
But the fear has only just begun.