The next day, Saturday morning, sunlight spilled into Claire's room, bright but restless. She sat on her bed, phone clutched tightly.
The warning messages from last night wouldn't leave her mind.
Be careful with the Randy family.
Too late. He's already making his move.
Then, her phone buzzed again. Same unknown number.
UNKNOWN:
Meet me. Old library park. Come alone.
Her breath caught. Curiosity pushed harder than fear. She slipped on a jacket, gave her mother a casual excuse about wanting a walk, and headed out.
The park was quiet in the morning, the fountain glinting with a thin veil of water mist. And then Claire stopped short.
It wasn't a stranger.
It was Tasya.
Her chest tightened. Memories burned — the night Tasya cornered her, the cruel smile before her death in that past life. The betrayal she could never forget. But Tasya couldn't know that. Not in this life.
Still, seeing her here felt like a wound reopening.
Tasya stepped forward cautiously, scanning the area like she expected to be followed. "Claire."
Claire's voice came out sharper than she intended. "So it was you."
Tasya nodded, her expression serious, stripped of the mocking edge Claire remembered too well. "I sent the messages. Because you don't understand who you're dealing with."
Claire's laugh was short, bitter. The irony. She killed me once, and now she's warning me?
"Why should I believe you?" Claire asked coldly.
"Because Randy's family isn't safe," Tasya said quickly. Her eyes flickered with something Claire didn't expect — urgency, even fear. "They look perfect, respectable, but once they have no use for you… you'll see their true side. They'll destroy you."
Claire's pulse jumped, but her voice stayed even. "And you suddenly care what happens to me?"
Tasya hesitated, her jaw tightening. "Let's just say I've seen what they do to people. I don't want to see you next on that list."
The words twisted inside Claire. She wanted to scream that she remembered everything Tasya had done to her before, that she knew this sudden concern was just another mask. But she bit her tongue. That truth belonged to her alone.
Instead, she said, "If you expect me to trust you, you'll need more than warnings. Tell me exactly what you know."
For a moment, Tasya looked like she might. Then her phone buzzed. She glanced at it — her face drained of color.
"I can't stay," she whispered. Her eyes darted around. "Just… remember what I said. Be careful. Don't let Randy or his father pull you in too deep."
Before Claire could stop her, Tasya turned and walked quickly away, disappearing past the trees.
Claire stood frozen, the fountain's spray dampening her hands.
Her past screamed of Tasya's betrayal. Her present carried Tasya's warning.
And in between, the truth loomed darker than ever.
Sunday afternoon, the café on the corner was warm with the smell of roasted beans and quiet chatter. Claire slipped inside, her eyes sweeping the room until she spotted him.
Miko.
He sat near the window, headphones around his neck, scrolling through something on his phone. When he looked up and saw her, his usual grin faltered. "Claire. You look pale. What happened?"
She slid into the seat across from him, lowering her voice. "I need to tell you something, but you have to promise not to interrupt."
Miko leaned in, his expression sharpening. "Alright. Shoot."
Claire hesitated, then let the words spill. "Tasya found me. She's the one who sent those messages last night. She said Randy's family isn't what they seem… that I should stay away before it's too late."
For a long second, Miko just stared at her. Then he leaned back slowly, running a hand through his hair. "Tasya? You're serious?"
"I wouldn't joke about this," Claire whispered.
Miko's jaw tightened. "That doesn't make sense. Why would Tasya warn you about Randy? She's the last person I'd trust."
Claire's hands trembled around her cup. "I know. That's what makes it worse. I can't forget what she's capable of… but the way she spoke—" She broke off, shaking her head. "There was fear in her voice, Miko. Real fear. Not the Tasya we used to know."
Miko studied her carefully. "And you believe her?"
"I don't know." The words cracked out of her, fragile. "But if there's even a chance she's right… then I can't just ignore it."
The silence between them thickened, broken only by the hiss of the coffee machine in the background.
Finally, Miko leaned forward again, his voice low. "Claire, listen. If Tasya is scared, it means she knows something. And if Randy's family really is hiding something… you're standing in the middle of it."
Claire's chest tightened. "Then what should I do?"
"Keep your eyes open. Don't let Randy suspect you're doubting him." Miko's eyes darkened, protective. "And whatever you do, don't meet Tasya alone again. If she wants to talk—bring me with you next time."
Claire nodded slowly, her mind a storm.
Tasya's warning still echoed inside her.
Miko's concern pressed heavily on her heart.
And Randy's smile from the night before… now felt sharper than a knife's edge.
The house was still when Claire returned that evening. Her mother was in the kitchen humming faintly, pots clinking as dinner simmered, but upstairs in her room, it was just silence.
She set her bag down on the chair and sat on the edge of her bed. For a moment, she just stared at her hands, remembering how tightly she had gripped her coffee cup earlier.
Miko didn't dismiss me. He didn't call me paranoid.
But his words circled her mind like shadows: "If Tasya is scared, it means she knows something. And if Randy's family really is hiding something… you're standing in the middle of it."
Claire leaned back, eyes drifting to the ceiling.
In her past life, Tasya had been one of the faces she saw last — a sharp grin, a betrayal that cut deeper than any knife. She had sworn never to forget. Never to forgive.
And yet… today Tasya's voice had been different. Uneasy. Warning, not mocking.
Claire pressed her palms to her face. "Why now? Why me?" she whispered into the quiet.
Randy's smile flashed across her mind, smooth and practiced at dinner. The way his father's eyes had weighed her like a ledger. The silence of the unknown messages that had suddenly stopped.
Nothing fit together. But the pieces — Tasya's warning, Miko's concern, Randy's shadowed family — were all circling closer.
She got up and closed her window, pulling the curtains shut. A strange shiver went down her spine as she did, like the night air outside wasn't empty at all.
Back on the bed, she hugged her knees to her chest.
She wanted to believe she was safe here, in her room, in this life she'd been given a second chance to live.
But Tasya's words wouldn't let her.
They'll destroy you once you're no longer useful.
And deep down, Claire feared it wasn't just a warning.
It was a countdown.