Alex sank into his chair, vanilla and coffee drifting through his nose despite knowing it wasn't real. The café froze around them, trapped in stolen time. Haley's hands folded neatly on the table, her face patient, stripped of its earlier mockery. The hungry look had melted away, replaced by something that might be real curiosity.
"You look drained," she said, and for the first time since falling into this nightmare, her voice carried no hidden tricks. Just plain truth.
"I am drained," Alex admitted, shocked by his own honesty. "Drained from fighting ghosts. Drained from pretending that burning everything makes me stronger. Drained from carrying you through my head like some sick poison."
Haley nodded slowly, as if this confession was exactly what she had waited for. "Do you know why I appear here, Alex? Not the deep reason, but the real one. What this maze truly wants to do."
