The rain had turned violent by the time they reached the tree line. It came in thick sheets that swallowed the sound of everything behind them—gunfire, engines, the shouts that had followed them down the slope. Mud clung to their boots, slick and heavy, making every step a battle. Grey led the way, flashlight cutting through the dark, the narrow beam trembling with every breath he took.“Keep moving,” he said. “They’ll sweep the hill in minutes.”Lana stumbled after him, clutching the folder under her coat to shield it from the rain. “You think she’s still alive?”Grey didn’t answer right away. His jaw was set, eyes scanning the darkness ahead. “She’s Seraphine. If anyone walks out of that, it’s her.”But even he didn’t sound convinced.The forest opened into a stretch of dirt road, slick with water and strewn with leaves. A faint glow pulsed at the far end—headlights. Grey raised a hand, signaling her to stop. “Down.”They ducked behind a fallen log as a convoy rolled past: three veh

The highway cut through the fog like a blade, narrow and endless. Grey drove with both hands tight on the wheel, his eyes flicking from the rearview mirror to the empty road ahead. The silence in the car was heavier than the rain that chased them north.Lana sat beside him, her coat wrapped tight around her. The ledger lay across her knees — a single object that now seemed to hold the weight of the world. She hadn’t opened it again since they left the city. Every time her fingers brushed its edge, she felt Seraphine’s voice echoing in her mind: You were the proof that we could stop being one.The road signs blurred past — Baltimore, Wilmington, Philadelphia — ghosts of cities they didn’t dare enter. They stopped only once at a lonely diner where the lights flickered and the coffee tasted of tin. No one asked questions. No one met their eyes.By the time dawn began to bleed across the horizon, they had crossed into Pennsylvania. The world was pale and quiet again, washed clean by rain.

The sound came again — a door closing somewhere above them, followed by the faint scrape of metal against concrete. Grey’s head snapped toward the stairs. Lana didn’t move. Her eyes stayed on the envelope in his hand, as if the words might vanish if she looked away.“Grey,” she said softly. “We’re not alone.”He slipped the letter into his coat and extinguished his flashlight, plunging the room into half-darkness. “Stay behind me.”They stood still, listening. Silence, then the faint drip of water from the pipes overhead. A minute passed. Then two. No footsteps. No voices. But the air had changed — heavier now, as though someone else was breathing it too.Grey stepped toward the doorway and peered down the corridor. “We need to move.”“Where?” Lana whispered.“Back to the stairwell. If someone’s here, we need to control the exit.”He started forward, and she followed. Their boots made soft sounds on the damp concrete. As they neared the stairwell, the low creak of a floorboard stopped

The road stretched empty under the first light of dawn. Mist hung low over the valley, softening the edges of the trees and hills. Grey walked ahead with the journal tucked under his arm, his shoulders tight and his silence heavier than the cold air around them.Lana followed a few paces behind, her thoughts circling the same question that had gnawed at her since the night before — if Seraphine was alive, why leave clues instead of simply showing herself? Why play games while the world around them burned?“Grey,” she called softly.He slowed but didn’t turn.“What if this isn’t meant for us to find her?”He looked over his shoulder. “Then what is it?”“A test,” she said. “Maybe she wants to know if we’d still follow her.”Grey didn’t answer. He just resumed walking until the trees thinned, giving way to an old asphalt lane bordered by tall, broken fences. Somewhere beyond the fog, faint power lines sagged toward a cluster of forgotten buildings.They stopped by a weathered sign that r

The gunfire cracked through the chapel like a whip. Lana dropped low, heart pounding, as dust rained down from the ceiling. Seraphine pulled her sharply behind a stack of crates.“Stay down,” she hissed.Lana’s grip tightened on the pistol, her hand trembling. “Who are they?”Seraphine’s eyes darted to the staircase. “Havel’s men. I thought I’d bought more time.”Grey’s voice echoed faintly above. “Lana!”Lana started to move, but Seraphine grabbed her wrist. “If you go up there, they’ll use him against you.”Lana jerked free. “And if I stay, they’ll kill him.”Seraphine hesitated, then pressed a small flash drive into her palm. “If anything happens to me, this holds every record they ever erased. You’ll know why they did it.”“I don’t want your ghosts,” Lana whispered.Seraphine gave a faint, bitter smile. “Then burn them when you’re done.”Another burst of gunfire rattled the steps. Seraphine raised her weapon and fired once—clean, measured. The shot hit the first man through the do