Sry for late update. I was busy these days. So yeah.
Happy reading.
I would have promoted my patreon, but no one is going to buy it, although it has a stable update.
Happy reading
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Chapter 8: The Anchor and the Flood
---
Everything vanished in a flash of white.
There was no pain, no sensation—just silence, like I had been pulled through the static between worlds. My limbs felt weightless. Time didn't exist. And then—
A heartbeat.
Not mine. Someone else's.
I opened my eyes.
Clear.
She was slumped beside me on the tiled floor of Tod's bathroom, gasping, her chest heaving like she'd just surfaced from deep water. Her skin glistened with sweat. Her eyes darted around wildly before finally landing on me.
"W-what happened?" she whispered, voice raw.
I swallowed thickly. "I anchored your thread."
The mirror above the sink was shattered completely now. Long fractures ran down its length like frozen lightning. The tub, once flooding with that dark, foul liquid, was now dry. Still.
As if the danger had passed.
Or been postponed.
> [Thread Anchor Established: Clear Rivers]
[Status: Anchor Stable – Fate Sync at 78%]
[New System Upgrade: Threadbearer – Lv. 1 Activated]
[New Skill Unlocked: Sight of the Loom]
[Fate Points +100]
"What did you do?" Clear asked, eyes wide.
"I made you an anchor," I said softly. "The system needed something stable to latch onto. Something resistant to death's pull. You were the best candidate."
"But what does that mean?"
"It means Death has to work harder to reach you now. Maybe… it means we have a fighting chance."
She sat upright slowly, hand trembling as she wiped at her face. "I felt it. Like something was trying to rip me apart."
"It was. That's what a thread cascade looks like."
Clear's gaze hardened. "Then let's never do that again."
I gave a shaky laugh. "Agreed."
The door creaked open behind us. Alex stood in the doorway, face pale and eyes haunted. "What was that?"
"An almost-death," I said simply, pulling Clear to her feet. "But we're still here."
He nodded once but said nothing more.
---
Back at the cabin, things didn't settle. If anything, they became worse.
Alex paced the living room like a caged animal. His paranoia, once simmering, had begun to boil over.
"Don't you get it?" he snapped. "Every time we 'save' someone, things get worse. Valerie dies anyway. You're pulling new people into this—people who weren't even supposed to be here yet. We're not beating Death—we're feeding it."
Clear stepped between us. "Alex, stop. We're trying to help."
He turned on her. "And what if we can't? What if the only way to win is to let it happen?"
I spoke calmly, trying to hide the unease curling in my gut. "That's not happening. I'm not letting more people die."
He scoffed. "You think you're some kind of hero because you've got your fancy 'system'? This isn't a game."
"No," I said, stepping closer. "It's a war. One I plan to win."
Alex stared at me for a long, heavy second, then turned and left without another word.
---
Later that night, Clear and I sat on the cabin's porch. The sky above was cloudless, but the stars gave no comfort.
"You okay?" she asked.
"No. But I don't think any of us are."
She leaned her head against my shoulder. "I've never felt this close to anyone before."
I blinked, surprised. "Even Alex?"
She shook her head. "He was… a kindred soul. But you? You walked into this with your eyes open. You chose this."
"I didn't choose to die," I muttered.
"No, but you chose to fight after."
There was a long pause.
"I don't want to lose you," she whispered.
"You won't."
I turned toward her slowly, and her lips were just a breath away. For a moment, the horrors faded.
And then my system flared red.
> [Incoming Event: Accidental Death Branch – Thread Conflict Imminent]
[Target: Alex Browning]
[Estimated Time to Fatality: 00:03:47]
[Event Description: Road Hazard – Impalement via debris field]
"Shit."
I stood up, nearly knocking the chair over.
Clear followed. "What's wrong?"
"Alex. He's in danger."
We bolted to the car. I gunned the engine, burning rubber as we tore through the forest road. My eyes flicked to the system map, a red dot blinking rapidly at a location half a mile ahead.
> [Road Hazard: Improvised Reaper Pattern]
[Kill Chain Begins in 00:01:58]
"Hang on!" I shouted as we rounded a bend.
And then I saw him—Alex's figure illuminated by a streetlight, walking aimlessly down the roadside. Too close to the highway's edge.
And coming down the road—
A semi-truck. Fast. Headlights bright.
But it wasn't the truck that would kill him.
It was the unsecured metal beam flying off a construction rack on the opposite side—hurtling toward Alex like a spear.
"NO!"
I reached out instinctively, activating the system.
> [Skill: Sight of the Loom – Activated]
[Slow-Motion Thread Distortion Initiated – Temporal Perception Increased]
Time slowed.
The beam spun midair, slicing through the wind.
Alex turned—eyes wide.
I moved.
Barreling out of the car as everything crawled like molasses. I reached him, tackled him hard to the ground.
The beam whistled overhead—missing him by inches—and embedded itself in a street pole, splitting it with a deafening clang.
Time snapped back.
Alex gasped for air beneath me.
"You—" he coughed, "you saved me."
I stood, panting. "Yeah. You're welcome."
Clear reached us seconds later, eyes wide with disbelief. "That was too close."
> [Thread Saved: Alex Browning]
[Fate Points +150]
[Temporal Echo Detected – Unknown Outcome Branch Forming…]
We helped Alex to his feet. He seemed shaken—no longer angry, but afraid.
"You really can stop it," he said quietly.
"We can slow it down," I corrected. "But I think we're running out of time."
---
Back at the cabin, the system opened again on its own.
> [WARNING: Fate Acceleration Detected]
[Time Until FD2 Convergence: 7 Days]
[High-Risk Thread Detected – Kimberly Corman (Thread Displaced)]
[System Prompt: Seek Early Intervention or Face Double Sequence Overlap]
Clear looked over my shoulder. "Who's Kimberly?"
"She's part of the second cycle. She wasn't supposed to show up for months. But Death's fast-tracking the timeline."
"So what do we do?"
I stared at the screen.
"We find her. We figure out why her thread pulled early. And we stop the next chain before it starts."
Alex frowned. "Where do we even begin?"
I clicked on her name.
A map lit up.
> [Location: White Plains, New York]
[Thread Status: Fractured – Awaiting Trigger Event]
Clear's brow furrowed. "That's hours away."
"We leave in the morning."
The system pinged again, quieter this time.
> [New Title Available: Threadbearer]
[Ability Unlocked: Loomstrike – Disrupt a Single Death Chain (Cooldown: 24 hours)]
"Useful," I muttered.
Clear looked at me with determination. "If she's next, we save her."
But even as she said it, I felt it again—that creeping pressure. The invisible hand of Death adjusting its pieces on the board.
And then—
My phone buzzed.
An anonymous message.
One sentence.
> "You're not the only one playing with fate."
---
To be continued…