Jay POV
"Jay… wake up."
The voice cracked through the dark.
"Jay. Please."
I forced my eyes open.
Everything hurt.
Lights blurred into streaks. Smoke curled through the air, thick and burning my throat. My head pounded, each beat slow and heavy, like my skull was underwater.
"Keifer?" My voice came out weak.
"I'm here," he said quickly. Too quickly. "Don't move yet."
I tried anyway.
Pain tore through my leg so sharply I screamed.
Keifer caught me before I fell. "Hey—hey. It's okay. Your leg's injured."
Fragments of memory slammed back into place. The road stretching ahead. The teasing. The way he had stopped the car because of something I said.
Then headlights.
Too close.
Too many.
"The car… they were chasing us," I whispered.
Keifer nodded, eyes darting toward the front. Flames crawled up the hood, licking the night like it was hungry.
"We need to get out," he said. "Now."
The car hissed.
That sound sent a chill straight through me.
"I can't walk," I said, panic clawing up my chest. "I can't—"
He didn't answer.
Instead, his arms slid under me, strong and sudden, lifting me up.
"Keifer—wait—"
"I've got you."
His voice was steady, but his body wasn't. I felt the way his steps staggered, how his breath hitched as he carried me away from the car.
"You're hurt too," I said. "You shouldn't be carrying me."
"Not stopping," he muttered.
Footsteps echoed behind us.
Men.
Shadows moving fast.
"Stop right there!"
Keifer turned sharply, shielding me as he rushed toward a concrete wall ahead. Each step felt heavier than the last.
The explosion came without warning.
Heat slammed into us.
The sound ripped through the night, violent and crushing. Keifer twisted mid-step, turning his body so I took none of it as we hit the ground behind the wall.
My ears rang. The air shook.
When the fire settled, all I could hear was my own breathing and his.
He lowered me carefully, crouching beside me. His hands trembled as he pulled back.
"You okay?" he asked.
I nodded, dizzy. "Y-Yeah."
Then I saw them.
The men hadn't left.
They stepped out of the smoke slowly, calm, like this was exactly how they planned it.
One of them laughed. "Thought you could escape?"
Keifer stood despite the pain, positioning himself in front of me.
"What do you want?" he demanded.
"Your father sent us."
Keifer froze.
"No," he said flatly. "Not him."
The man smirked. "Kaizer Watson doesn't like being ignored."
My heart dropped.
Keifer's real dad.
The men moved in.
I screamed his name as fists flew. Keifer fought back, fast and furious, but there were too many. A blow caught his side. Another slammed him back against the wall.
"Stop!" I shouted, dragging myself forward despite the pain. "Please—!"
One man grabbed Keifer by the collar, lifting him like he weighed nothing, then threw him down hard.
Keifer groaned, trying to push himself up.
"Are you coming with us," the man asked calmly, "or do we make it worse?"
Keifer looked up, blood running down from his hairline, breath ragged.
"No," he said. "Not now. Not ever."
That's when I reached for him.
My fingers brushed his neck.
Something warm.
Wet.
I looked down.
Red.
My chest locked.
I couldn't.
The color swallowed everything.
My vision blurred, heartbeat roaring in my ears as the past surged forward, clawing, screaming, unstoppable.
My hands started shaking uncontrollably.
A memory scratched at the edges of my mind.
Loud.
Bright.
Terrifying.
I tried to pull my hand back.
But my gaze wouldn't follow.
It stayed glued to the blood sliding down his skin.
The world tilted.
Sound warped.