The sound of heavy boots echoed off the damp corridor walls as the masked men shoved them forward.
"Keep moving," one barked, gripping Vansh shoulder hard.
Pearl stumbled, her injury flaring again, but she didn't cry out. She wouldn't give them that satisfaction.
They were herded into a small concrete room—bare, silent, and suffocating.
Two metal chairs sat bolted to the floor, directly under a single flickering light.
Before either could react, the men forced them down.
Thick straps snapped tight across their wrists and ankles.
Pearl's breath came short, chest rising and falling. The room reeked of cold steel and control.
One masked man leaned in close to Vansh."Comfortable? You should be. You'll be here a while."
Then the door slammed shut behind them, the lock clicking like a final sentence.
Pearl turned her head slowly to look at Vansh, her voice hollow."This... is what they wanted all along."
Vansh didn't look at her. His jaw was clenched, hands twitching against the restraints."No. This is just the beginning."
The lock clicked again.
Pearl's heart jumped.
The heavy metal door creaked open, and soft footsteps echoed in. No mask. No gun.
Just... her.
"Mayra?" Pearl's voice cracked—confused, breathless. "What—what the hell are you doing here?"
The girl from her class. The one who used to share notes. Sit beside her during lunch. Laugh at stupid memes. Her friend.
But now, Mayra stood in front of her—different. Calm. In control. Her school uniform traded for sleek black. No fear in her eyes. Just cold calculation.
Vansh expression darkened. "Of course. You're Love_Peace."
Mayra smirked, tilting her head. "Took you long enough."
Pearl's chest tightened. "You were behind the messages? All of them?"
"The warnings. The games. The threats." Mayra nodded. "That was me."
"But why?" Pearl's voice cracked with betrayal.
Mayra stepped closer, her voice low and lethal."Because I wanted you to wake up, Pearl. To stop pretending you were just an ordinary girl. You were marked from the beginning. Just like the rest of us."
Pearl's voice trembled. "We were friends."
"No," Mayra whispered. "We were players. In a game you didn't even know you were part of."
She turned to Vansh. "And you? You broke the rules the second you fell for her."
He glared at her, voice like steel. "You don't get to decide how this ends."
Mayra smiled. "Oh, but Vansh... I already have."
The door closed behind her with a hollow boom, locking them in again.
And in the silence that followed, Pearl finally understood:
This wasn't just a mystery anymore.
It was a war.
Pearl's breath trembled, her fingers straining against the restraints.
She stared at the door Myra had just walked out of, her voice breaking into a whisper of disbelief."She lied to me. This whole time."
Then, louder—sharper—like something inside her cracked open:"She played me."
Vansh didn't speak. He just watched her, jaw tight. He knew that look.It was the beginning of a storm.
Pearl twisted in the chair, wrists burning against the leather straps."She sent those messages. Scared me. Threatened me. Watched me. And I trusted her."
She turned her head to Vansh, eyes blazing with betrayal."And you knew. You always knew it was someone close."
"I suspected," he said quietly. "But I didn't want to believe it was her. Not after how much she knew."
Pearl let out a bitter laugh, eyes wet."She knew everything. My secrets. My family. You."
A buzz echoed from a speaker above them. Then Myra's voice, calm and smooth:
"Welcome to the next level."
Both Pearl and Vansh stiffened.
"You want answers?" Myra continued. "Earn them. Survive this room. Trust each other. Or die doubting."
Then silence.
A faint click. A new door sliding open in the wall beside them.
Pearl's pulse thundered.
She turned to Vansh. "Get me out of this chair."
Vansh met her gaze—intense, steady. "Are you ready for this?"
Pearl nodded once."Let's end her game"
The rain outside pounded against the old facility walls like war drums.
Inside, the silence shattered.
Myra stepped into the room again — no games this time, no riddles, no mask.
Just a gun.
And rage in her eyes.
She stalked toward Pearl, each step a blow, each word sharper than the next.
"You know what, Pearl? I hate you. I always have."
Pearl's breath caught. She didn't move. Didn't blink.
"I wanted you to die in that fire," Myra hissed. "And every damn day since."
Vansh shifted in front of Pearl, but Myra lifted the gun with a warning glare.
"Don't. Not this time."
Her voice trembled, but it wasn't weakness — it was fury held too long.
"You lost your memory at nine. That fire? It wasn't just an accident. Let me give you the truth since everyone else is too scared."
Pearl stared at her, frozen.
"My father. Your father. Vansh's father — they all worked for the same secret organization. Raised to serve it. Bleed for it."
Her voice cracked. "We were a team. You, me, Vansh. Friends. Closer than anyone."
She swallowed the lump in her throat.
"But then your father betrayed the Order. He sold out information. Turned his back on everything. And to save himself, he blamed my father."
Pearl's mouth parted slightly. "What...?"
"They believed him," Myra said bitterly. "The Order came for us. My father suffered for crimes he didn't commit. And you—"
Her eyes went wild with grief.
"Your house burned. You forgot it all. And your father? He ran. Left the wreckage behind. Left me behind."
She took another step, gun lowering slightly but not gone.
"And the worst part?" Her voice dropped. "Even after all that... you still had everything."
Tears finally broke loose down her cheek.
"Vansh. He was mine. But he only ever looked at you. You—who forgot everything. You—who walked away from the past like it never happened."
Pearl couldn't speak. Her throat had closed.
"You were the golden one, Pearl. The 'elegant pearl of life,' right? That's what they called you."
Mayra scoffed.
"I hate that name. I hate everything it stands for."
The gun trembled now in her grip.
"I lost everything. And you just forgot."
She raised the gun again, slower this time — not in fury, but in pain.
"And now you remember."
A beat of silence. Rain hammering outside.
Pearl's voice finally broke through the air, quiet, pained.
"Then shoot me."
Vansh head snapped to her. "Pearl—"
"No," she said, eyes locked on Myra. "You think I had it all. But I had nothing either. I just didn't remember losing it."
Another pause.
Then Mayra's hand wavered.
And for the first time, she looked... tired.