Chapter 1: Where Did He Go?
The faucet was still running.
Cold water hit the white porcelain sink in steady drops, mixing with the thin trail of red that refused to wash away completely. Jay-jay stood frozen in Drew's cramped kitchen, her heart hammering so loud she could hear it in her ears.
Yuri had just been here.
Two minutes ago—maybe three—he had shoved her and Drew behind him when the debt collectors burst through the door. She still smelled the cheap cologne of the biggest guy, still heard the crack of Yuri's fist against bone. She had seen the glint of the knife in the man's hand, had screamed when Yuri took the slash meant for her.
Then he had turned, blood dripping from his knuckles and the cut on his forearm, eyes wild but strangely calm.
"Stay here," he'd said, voice low, almost gentle. "Don't follow me."
And he had walked out the back door like he was just going to buy cigarettes.
Now the door was still open. The night air smelled like rain and alley garbage. The sink kept dripping.
Jay-jay's legs moved before her brain caught up.
"Yuri!" Her voice cracked in the darkness. "Yuri, you idiot—come back!"
No answer. Only the distant bark of a dog and the hum of a passing motorcycle somewhere down the street.
Drew stumbled out of the living room, one hand pressing a towel to the bruise already blooming on his cheek. His eyes were wide, the same terrified look he'd worn when the collectors first kicked the door.
"Jay… he's gone."
"I know he's gone!" She spun on him, tears burning but not falling yet. "He's bleeding, Drew! He took a knife for us and just—walked away like it was nothing!"
Drew swallowed hard. "He said not to follow."
"Since when do we listen to him?" Her laugh came out broken. "He's part of the barkada now, whether he likes it or not. Whether Keifer likes it or not."
The name slipped out before she could stop it. Keifer. The thought of him made her chest twist in a whole different kind of pain. The last time they had spoken—really spoken—he had looked at her like she was the reason his world was ending. Because maybe she was. Because he had used her. Because she had still fallen anyway.
But right now, all she could think about was red hair and blood and the way Yuri had looked at her before he disappeared. Like he was saying goodbye.
She grabbed her phone with shaking fingers and dialed the only number that might still work.
It rang. Once. Twice.
Then a voice—low, rough, familiar—answered.
"Jay-jay."
Her knees almost gave out.
"Yuri? Where the hell are you? Are you okay? Tell me you're okay—"
A soft, tired chuckle. The kind that used to make her roll her eyes back in school when he was being an arrogant flirt.
"I'm fine, Mutya. Just… cleaning up."
"Cleaning up what? Your blood? Come back here right now. Drew's house. We'll fix the cut. We'll—"
"Can't."
The single word dropped like a stone.
Jay-jay's throat closed. "What do you mean, can't?"
Silence stretched. She could hear him breathing, slow and careful, like every inhale hurt.
Then he said the words that would haunt her for the rest of her life.
"Tell Keifer… the debt is paid. All of it. Tell him the game is over."
Click.
The line went dead.
Jay-jay stared at the screen. The call had lasted forty-seven seconds.
Drew was watching her, face pale. "What did he say?"
She didn't answer. Couldn't. Because her mind was spinning too fast—flashing back to every secret, every lie, every moment in Books 1, 2, and 3 that had led them here.
The revenge plan.
The revenge that started everything.
The revenge that was supposed to destroy Aries… and somehow ended with Yuri bleeding in the dark for her.
A new sound cut through the night—footsteps on the gravel outside. Heavy. Familiar.
She turned just as Keifer stepped into the doorway, chest heaving like he had run the whole way from wherever the hell he had been hiding his guilt tonight. His eyes locked on hers, then dropped to the blood still smeared on the sink.
His face went white.
"Jay-jay… what happened?"
She opened her mouth, but no words came.
Because in that moment she realized something that terrified her more than any debt collector or knife.
Yuri hadn't just disappeared.
He had sacrificed something bigger than blood.
And whatever it was… it was only the beginning.
The faucet finally stopped dripping.
But Jay-jay's heart never would.
To be continued…
(End of Chapter 1)
Word count: ~1,620