It hadn't been luck.
Rhea had stopped believing in luck days ago.
This...this was patience.
Careful. Silent. Watching.
Learning.
Every corner of the house had been memorized. Every sound, every creak in the floor, every shadow that moved when it shouldn't. There were no open windows. No unlocked doors. No blind spots. Kai hadn't just hidden her...he had designed her captivity.
An escape wasn't possible.
So she changed the plan.
If she couldn't leave…
She would reach out.
For days, she had been waiting.
Watching him.
Kai
The way he moved. The way he placed things. The way he never...never...left anything unattended.
Except...
Once.
Just once.
It happened in a moment so small it almost didn't exist.
His phone.
Left on the table.
Unlocked.
For less than a minute.
Rhea didn't think.
She moved.
Silent. Fast. Precise.
Her fingers grabbed the phone, her pulse thundering so loudly she was sure it would echo through the walls. Every second stretched, twisted...
Too long.
Too risky.
But she didn't stop.
She slipped into the bathroom and locked the door.
Her hands were shaking now.
Not slightly.
Violently.
Her breath came in uneven gasps as she stared at the screen.
No contacts saved under names she could trust.
Of course not.
But she didn't need them.
Because there was one number she knew better than her own.
A number she had dialed in her mind every three hours.
Every day.
Just to stay sane.
Her fingers pressed the digits.
One by one.
Carefully.
Fearfully.
Desperately.
The call connected.
"…Hello?"
Noah.
Rhea's breath broke.
"Noah…"
On the other end, silence shattered.
"Rhea?!"
Noah's voice cracked...sharp, disbelieving. "Rhea, where are you? Are you okay? Are you hurt? What happened.."
He didn't stop.
The questions came too fast.
Too many.
Like if he paused, she'd disappear again.
Rhea choked on a sob.
"I...I don't know…"
Her voice trembled uncontrollably. "I don't know where I am, Noah...I can't see anything outside, I..."
"Listen to me," Noah said quickly, forcing control into his voice. "You're okay. You're okay. Just breathe. I'm here."
"I tried....I tried to get out but there's no way...he..."
Her words broke again.
"Rhea," Noah said, softer now. "Tell me what you saw. Anything. Anyone."
A pause.
A sharp inhale.
And then
"Noah…"
Her voice dropped.
Fear turned into something colder.
Something certain.
"Hunter…"
Noah's grip tightened around the phone.
"…what about him?"
Rhea swallowed hard.
"Hunter is… none other than..."
At the exact same moment
Inside the dim room...
Evan sat frozen in the chair.
Eyes closed.
Breathing uneven.
But this time...
It was different.
"Can you see him?"
Dr. Graham asked quietly.
A pause.
Then...
"…Yes."
Noah's head snapped slightly.
Evan's voice was clearer this time.
Stronger.
"Where is he?"
"…Behind me."
Graham's gaze sharpened.
"Turn around."
Evan's fingers curled tightly.
"I..."
"Turn around, Evan."
Slowly…
Very slowly…
Evan turned.
His entire body tensed.
His breathing stopped.
"I'm… looking at him…"
"Do you see his face?" Graham asked.
Silence.
A long, terrifying silence.
Evan's lips parted slightly.
"…Yes."
His eyes...still closed in reality...tightened as if the image burned behind them.
"…He's..."
His voice trembled.
"…He's looking at me."
"Who is he?" Graham asked, voice steady but urgent now.
Evan's chest rose sharply.
His mind screamed at him to stop.
To look away.
To deny it.
But he didn't.
He opened his eyes.
And there
In that memory
Staring right back at him
Were eyes he knew.
Beautiful.
Familiar.
Trusted.
Evan's world shattered.
"…No…"
Back on the call
"Noah…"
Rhea whispered.
And this time
She said it.
And at the exact same second
Evan's voice broke into the room.
"Kai."
The word landed.
Everywhere.
All at once.
Noah froze.
The phone still pressed to his ear.
Rhea's voice still echoing.
Evan's voice still ringing in the air.
"Kai…"
Kai
Noah's hand trembled.
His body stumbled back slightly...his shoulder hitting the wall behind him as if it was the only thing keeping him upright.
A tear slipped down before he even realized it.
Not loud.
Not dramatic.
Just… quiet.
Broken.
He looked at Evan.
Evan looked at him.
And in that moment
Everything they knew collapsed.
But Noah didn't fall apart.
He couldn't.
Not now.
"Rhea," he said, voice shaking but firm. "Listen to me. Stay on the line. Tell me everything you can see. Anything. I'll find you."
"I—I don't know where I am," she whispered. "There's no windows...just walls...and a hallway...and..."
A sound.
Loud.
Violent.
A door slammed.
Rhea gasped.
"Noah..."
A crash.
Wood splintering.
The lock breaking.
"Noah!"
Her scream tore through the line.
And then
Silence.
Standing in the doorway...
Wasn't the person she once knew.
Wasn't the friend she trusted.
It was Kai.
Not the version she remembered.
Not the mask.
The real one.
The one the world didn't know.
The one they had been chasing all along.
Hunter.