[Palm – Rooftop – 7:40 a.m.]
The air tastes like rust.
Like we're breathing in the metal of our own fear.
Kao's words still hang over us. Naïve. Intelligent zombie.
Half the group doesn't move. Half wants her gone. And me—
I don't know which half I belong to.
[7:42 a.m.]
"Can we… just sit?" I mutter, forcing the words out. My voice sounds steadier than I feel. "We can't tear each other apart right after surviving last night."
Win nods faintly, grateful, though his hands keep twitching at his side. Best glares but doesn't argue.
It's not peace. Just a shaky truce.
[7:50 a.m.]
We gather by the broken chairs and boxes like nothing's wrong. Like Kao didn't just say she was half-dead. Like Lin didn't—
…no. Don't think about Lin.
Not now.
Namtan doesn't stop staring. Eyes sharp. Distrust dripping.
And Kao? She's quiet. Too quiet. Like every movement costs her.
Finally, she speaks. Her tone doesn't waver.
"I'm not the only one here."
My head snaps up.
"What?" Best barks.
Kao's eyes move—not at us, but past us.
They land on Dean.
[7:55 a.m.]
Dean doesn't flinch. His lips curl into something halfway between a grin and a sneer.
"Took you long enough," he says. His voice is calm. Cold. Older than twelve.
Like he's been waiting for this moment.
My stomach knots.
"You're—" Kao starts, but Dean cuts her off.
"You were always slow, Kao. I was wondering why it took you so long to notice me. Now I know." His head tilts, almost playfully. "You're defective. Flawed. You still… feel."
The word feel sounds poisonous in his mouth.
[8:00 a.m.]
Win steps forward, fists tight. "Dean, what the hell are you talking about?"
Dean ignores him. His gaze never leaves Kao.
"You won't escape Him. You should know that."
"Escape who?" Kao demands. For the first time, her voice cracks.
Dean just laughs. A small, sharp sound that doesn't belong on the face of a child.
"You'll see. Soon. We all will."
[8:05 a.m.]
And then, without warning—
Dean runs. Straight for the rooftop's edge.
"DEAN!" I shout, my legs moving before I think.
But he's faster. Too fast.
His small frame vaults the railing in one motion.
For one impossible second, I see his face over the edge—calm. Smiling.
Then he speaks.
Words none of us understand.
Words that feel like ice slipping down my spine.
"He's waiting for Kao."
And then he's gone.
[8:10 a.m.]
Silence.
The rooftop is nothing but silence.
Nobody moves. Nobody breathes.
Even the morning wind feels dead.
I clutch the railing so hard my knuckles bleed.
Not because Dean jumped.
But because I know—
Whatever he was, wherever he's gone…
He isn't done with us.
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