Tiffany's piercing blue eyes studied him. "Explain… how do you know so much about it?"
Jayce's stomach sank. (Oh shit… look at her analyzing every word I say. Truly the leader of the club… my favorite character… and the author killed her at the end. Darn you, author…)
"Hmm…" Tiffany said thoughtfully, letting the silence stretch.
Jayce swallowed. "Um… I fought him… two years ago."
Tiffany's eyes narrowed. "What do you mean, two years ago?"
(Time to lie… sorry, but I gotta do it. It has to be believable… sorry.)
"You… do you know the twins that disappeared two years ago?" Jayce asked, forcing calm.
Tiffany glanced at Lila. Both nodded.
Lila's green eyes were distant. "I heard… voices back then… asking for help."
Jayce's eyes widened, pretending to be shocked. "Wait… you have powers?"
Lila nodded softly.
(I need to pretend I don't know about her abilities…)
"Cool." Jayce said, keeping his tone casual.
Tiffany blinked. "You just accepted that?"
"Well… yeah," Jayce said quickly. "I mean… I read a lot of comics. You know… mutants and stuff."
Tiffany sighed, shaking her head slightly. "Continue. What you were saying."
Jayce cleared his throat. "Okay… those twins… they were my friends. We were a trio. Not until…"
He clenched his fists tightly.
He wasn't technically lying. In his memories, he and the twins were friends. The accident that killed them had left him traumatized. Twisting the story slightly making the Grinner responsible
"You mean… those two were killed by the Grinner?" Tiffany asked, her voice low but sharp.
Jayce nodded.
(Sorry for lying… huhuhu…)
He let the silence hang, hoping Tiffany wouldn't probe further.
"I'm sorry for that," Tiffany said quietly. "It must've been… heartbreaking."
Jayce nodded, his gaze dropping to his trembling hands. "They died. And I'm the only one who knows they died. They didn't just disappear… I buried them with my own hands."
His hands shook visibly as he spoke, gripping his knees to steady himself.
(I did bury them with my own hands… fearing their parents would find out… I didn't know this side character had such a deep background. Wait… my heart and my hands are shaking… this must be the original body's trauma surfacing.)
Tiffany leaned forward slightly, curiosity sharp in her gaze. "So… you fought him. How? Who exactly is he?"
Jayce swallowed hard, forcing himself to meet her eyes. The truth was dangerous, too dangerous but half-lies were easier to manage.
"He's… something else," he said slowly, carefully. "Not human. Changes shape. Feeds on fear. And if you let it… it'll take everything from you."
He paused, letting the weight of his words settle.
Tiffany's expression didn't waver. If anything, it sharpened. "You mean… like a monster?"
Jayce hesitated, then nodded. "Yeah. Like that."
(Time to tell them who this Grinner is…) Jayce thought, his stomach twisting with nerves and determination.
"I've been investigating this monster for two years… since that incident," he said, leaning forward, voice low but steady.
Lila's green eyes widened. "You… you've been investigating it?"
Jayce nodded again, hands clenching slightly. "Yes. I've watched its patterns, studied what it does… and how it feeds."
(They need to understand… they need to survive.)
Tiffany leaned closer, arms crossed, eyes narrowing. "Patterns? Feeds? What do you mean?"
Jayce took a deep breath. "The Grinner… it feeds on fear. The more scared you are, the stronger it gets. It can manipulate reality, make illusions, distort what you see, even warp your memories."
Lila shivered, wrapping her arms around herself. "It… it's real, isn't it?"
Jayce nodded firmly. "Real. And it's dangerous. But there's one way to survive… if it never marks you, it can't touch you. Not yet, anyway."
(I have to make them understand without terrifying them too much… they're counting on me.)
Tiffany's blue eyes locked onto his. "So this… monster. You've fought it before?"
Jayce swallowed hard, jaw tight."Once… and barely survived. That's why I've been preparing. Watching. Learning. We have to stay ahead of it… or it'll pick us off, one by one."
Lila looked down at her trembling hands. "And if it catches us?"
Jayce's gaze hardened. "Then… we die. Or worse… we become part of what it wants."
(It's time they understand the stakes… no more secrets.)
Tiffany exhaled slowly, her fists clenching. "What about my brother…" Her blue eyes darted toward Lila.
Lila hugged her knees, voice barely audible. "I… I don't know. I just… heard his voice in the sewer."
Jayce's expression tightened. "Your brother—"
"No! It can't be!!" Tiffany interrupted, shaking her head. She turned to Jayce, eyes fierce, demanding answers. "Tell me… does anyone survive from that monster?"
Jayce's throat tightened. (I have to be careful… can't make her panic more than she already is.)
"I'm… sorry," he said slowly, carefully. "If your brother is missing, then it means he…"
His voice trailed off, heavy with unspoken possibilities. The silence that followed pressed down on them all, cold and suffocating.
Lila's small frame shook as she buried her face in her hands. Tiffany's fists remained clenched, jaw tight, but her gaze didn't waver. She refused to let despair take her.
Tiffany slammed her fist against the wall. "That monster!!!"
Anger burned in her eyes, raw and unfiltered.
Jayce stepped forward instinctively. "It's better for you to calm down… and don't rush in."
She spun on him. "I need to kill that monster!!"
Jayce shook his head. "No. We can't kill him." He paused, choosing his words carefully. "More accurately… he can't be killed. Not unless—"
"Unless…?" Tiffany demanded.
Jayce took a slow breath. "We need five people to activate the relic."
Tiffany blinked. "What do you mean?"
"The relic that sealed that monster," Jayce continued. "If we activate it properly, instead of sealing him again… we can kill him. But it needs five of us."
Tiffany's mind raced. "So… there are two more."
Jayce nodded.
Tiffany studied him closely. "You really did your research… hmm."
Jayce met her gaze, eyes steady. "I told you. I fought this monster two years ago. And I want to kill him too."
Tiffany looked away for a moment, thinking.
(His eyes are sincere enough… he might be telling the truth.)
The decision settled in her chest like a weight.
(If what Jayce said was real, then this wasn't just about my brother anymore.)
To be continue