Chapter Eight — Number Six Knows
The next few days crawled by like the world had slowed down just to make me nervous.
Every time I walked into a classroom, I felt eyes on me.
Every whisper sounded like my name.
Halden didn't mention what happened in the records room.
He acted normal — too normal.
That scared me most.
---
River met me behind the gym after school.
He looked like he hadn't slept in days.
Dark circles under his eyes, jaw tight, that same restless energy that came after every note.
"I think I found Number Six," he said quietly.
I turned to him. "Already?"
He nodded, pulling a crumpled paper from his hoodie pocket.
It wasn't one of the blue notes — it was a torn page from Eli's notebook.
> Number Six — The Witness.
He saw it all, but he won't speak. Find him before they do.
I frowned. "Who's 'they'?"
River's gaze darkened. "Whoever's been keeping this quiet."
---
We followed the lead to a boy named Kyle Aster, a senior who used to be on the school's photography team.
He'd dropped out right after the fire, stopped talking to anyone, and started working nights at a mechanic's shop on the edge of town.
When we found him, the sun was sinking, the world painted in orange and rust.
He was leaning against a car, cigarette hanging from his mouth, music blasting from an old radio.
River stepped forward first. "Kyle Aster?"
Kyle turned, narrowing his eyes. "Who's asking?"
"Zara Myles," I said. "Eli's sister."
The cigarette froze halfway to his lips. His expression shifted — from suspicion to something almost like fear.
He tossed the cigarette aside. "You shouldn't be here."
---
I took a step closer. "You were there that night, weren't you? The fire?"
He didn't answer.
He just looked over my shoulder, scanning the street, then muttered, "You people never quit, do you?"
"What people?" River asked.
Kyle glared at him. "Whoever sent you. You think I don't know I'm being watched? They want to clean up loose ends, and you're just walking right into it."
He started to walk away, but I grabbed his arm. "Please. My brother is gone. I need to know what happened."
For a moment, something cracked in his eyes — guilt, maybe grief.
He hesitated, then said in a low voice, "Your brother was brave. Too brave. He wanted to tell the truth, but the truth doesn't save people here. It burns them."
I frowned. "Then why the notes? Why the numbers?"
Kyle looked past me, like remembering something that hurt too much to speak.
"He called it the list. Thirteen names. Thirteen people tied to the night the art building went up in flames. He told me I was Number Six — the one who saw it happen. But I didn't talk. Not then."
"Why not?" River asked.
Kyle's voice trembled slightly. "Because one of them threatened my sister. Said if I ever opened my mouth, she'd end up like him."
---
Silence.
The air felt thick, heavy.
I couldn't breathe for a moment.
River clenched his fists. "Who was it?"
Kyle hesitated, then whispered, "Someone you wouldn't suspect. Someone who walks these halls every day. Number Seven."
"Then tell us their name," I said.
He shook his head. "I can't. If I do, they'll know I talked to you. You want answers? Find Hannah Veer. She's the key."
I blinked. "You know her?"
"Everyone on that list knew her," he said softly. "She's not who you think she is."
---
Before we could ask more, a car screeched around the corner.
Headlights flashed, blinding us.
Kyle's eyes widened. "Go!"
River grabbed my wrist, pulling me behind a dumpster.
The car slowed beside Kyle, windows tinted.
A single sound — the crack of something breaking — echoed in the alley.
Then the car sped off.
When we ran back out, Kyle was gone.
Only his camera lay shattered on the ground, its lens cracked, the memory card missing.
River picked it up, voice rough. "He's gone."
I stared at the broken camera, my chest tightening. "Number Six knew too much."
---
That night, I replayed his words over and over:
> "She's not who you think she is."
Hannah Veer.
Number Four.
The only survivor of the fire.
If Kyle was right, she wasn't just a victim — she was the key to everything.
And maybe… the reason Eli disappeared.