The scream came from someone else.
Jack didn't realize that at first.
He was still staring at the empty space where Vance Harrow had been, chest heaving, the world feeling too bright and too thin. For a heartbeat, for a terrifying fraction of a second, he wondered if Harrow had never existed at all—if he'd imagined the smug face, the gold rings, the begging voice.
Then someone in the next booth screamed.
The sound ripped through The Vellum like a knife, sharp and raw. Chairs scraped. Glass shattered. The soft music finally cut out, replaced by chaos.
"What happened?"
"Where did he go?"
"Security!"
Crowe didn't wait.
He grabbed Jack under the arms and hauled him to his feet. Jack swayed, legs barely holding him.
"We're leaving," Crowe said.
Jack nodded, though his ears rang and his head felt hollow.
They pushed through the curtains of light and into the main floor. People were standing now, confusion spreading like a wave. Some had their phones out, trying to record. Others were backing away from Harrow's booth like it was cursed.
Crowe kept his aura tight, low, forcing a subtle pressure around them that made people unconsciously step aside.
No one wanted to get close.
Jack felt it.
He felt how wrong he seemed now, how the air around him didn't quite fit.
The voice inside him whispered softly.
"They know."
Jack swallowed.
They reached the stairs that led down to the private exits when the first security ward went off. A pulse of pale blue light rippled through the club.
Crowe swore. "They'll know someone used something illegal."
Jack's heart pounded. "Will they know it was me?"
Crowe hesitated. "Not yet."
That was not reassuring.
They burst through a side door and into a narrow service hallway. The noise of the club faded behind them, replaced by the hum of ventilation and the pounding of their footsteps.
Jack stumbled, and Crowe had to steady him.
"You okay?" Crowe asked.
"I…" Jack tried to find the word. "I feel… lighter."
Crowe looked at him sharply. "Lighter how?"
Jack searched inside himself.
"I don't feel sick," he said. "Or scared. Or guilty. I feel… empty."
Crowe's jaw tightened.
"That's the price," Crowe said quietly. "That's what it takes."
Jack's stomach twisted. "What if it never comes back?"
Crowe didn't answer.
They reached an emergency stairwell. Crowe shoved the door open, pulling Jack inside.
Down below, sirens wailed as security forces converged on The Vellum.
Crowe took the steps two at a time.
"People are going to notice Harrow is gone," Jack said, breathless. "Won't that cause trouble?"
Crowe barked a short, bitter laugh. "That's the point. Harrow wasn't just a criminal. He was a node. He moved money, people, favors. When he vanishes, everyone who touched him gets nervous."
Jack frowned. "So they'll start hiding."
"And making mistakes," Crowe finished. "That's how you dismantle something rotten."
Jack's mind spun.
They burst out into the rain-soaked alley behind the club. Neon light reflected off puddles. The night smelled like wet concrete and electricity.
Crowe stopped under a fire escape, pulling Jack into the shadow.
"Listen to me," Crowe said. "From now on, you're not just a survivor. You're a variable."
Jack blinked. "A what?"
"Something the system can't predict," Crowe said. "That makes you dangerous to everyone."
The voice inside Jack whispered, pleased.
"Yes."
Jack rubbed his temples. "I don't want to be dangerous."
Crowe met his gaze. "You already are. The question is who you're dangerous to."
Jack stared at his hands, remembering how easily Harrow had vanished.
"How many more?" he whispered.
Crowe didn't answer.
He didn't need to.
Sirens grew louder in the distance.
Crowe grabbed Jack's shoulder. "We have to disappear. Now."
Jack nodded.
As they slipped deeper into the maze of alleys, Jack realized something that made his chest ache.
Harrow's face was already fading from his memory.
And that scared him more than
They didn't go back to the safe room.
Crowe knew better.
Instead, he led Jack through rain-soaked streets and into the lower layers of the city, where the buildings leaned too close together and the lights never fully reached the ground. It was a place where people disappeared every day and no one asked questions.
That made it perfect.
They slipped into a derelict transit hub beneath a shuttered subway line. Old turnstiles rusted in place. Faded route maps peeled from the walls like shedding skin.
Crowe keyed open a maintenance door and guided Jack inside.
Only then did he let himself breathe.
Jack leaned against the wall, exhausted. His body ached, but it was distant now, like the pain belonged to someone else.
Crowe stared at him.
"You don't even look shaken," Crowe said.
Jack searched himself.
He tried to feel horror. Regret. Anything.
All he found was a quiet, hollow calm.
"I think something's wrong with me," Jack said.
Crowe nodded grimly. "I know."
Jack swallowed. "Is this how it starts?"
"Yes," Crowe said.
Before Jack could ask what that meant, Crowe's communicator buzzed.
Crowe glanced at the display.
His expression darkened.
"They've put out an alert," Crowe said. "Black-level."
Jack's stomach dropped. "What's that?"
"Kill on sight," Crowe replied.
Jack's blood went cold.
"For me?" he whispered.
Crowe shook his head. "For us."
Jack stared. "You too?"
Crowe's jaw tightened. "I lied to an SS-Rank. I obstructed a Council operation. I interfered with a system-controlled asset."
Jack's chest tightened. "You did that for me."
Crowe looked at him. "I did it because the system doesn't get to decide who deserves to live."
The voice inside Jack whispered, amused.
"How noble."
Jack ignored it. "What do we do?"
Crowe leaned back against the wall. "We run until we can't. Then we hit back."
Jack frowned. "Hit back how?"
Crowe's eyes hardened. "We expose them. Or we burn them. Whatever comes first."
Jack's pulse quickened.
Crowe's communicator buzzed again.
This time, Crowe froze.
"What?" Jack asked.
Crowe slowly raised the device so Jack could see the screen.
SS-RANK: ORION
Incoming call.
Jack's heart slammed.
"That's the one from the hospital," he whispered.
Crowe nodded.
The voice inside Jack was very quiet.
Watching.
Crowe hesitated, then answered.
Orion's face appeared on the screen — calm, unreadable, eyes reflecting a world that had already chosen its outcome.
"You moved fast," Orion said.
Crowe didn't bother with pleasantries. "You put a kill order on us."
Orion tilted his head slightly. "The system did."
Jack leaned closer. "You said there were two futures."
Orion's gaze flicked to Jack. "And one of them just took a large step forward."
Crowe clenched his fists. "Harrow was a criminal."
Orion nodded. "He was also a keystone. Remove one piece, the structure shifts."
Jack's stomach twisted. "So we were supposed to let him keep selling people?"
Orion's eyes were calm. "You were supposed to let us control him."
The words felt worse than any threat.
Jack felt the seam stir.
Crowe's voice dropped. "You're not hunting criminals. You're managing them."
Orion didn't deny it.
"We maintain stability," Orion said. "Even ugly stability."
Jack's chest felt tight. "You're no better than him."
Orion regarded him for a long moment.
"Perhaps," Orion said. "But I am honest about it."
The voice inside Jack whispered.
"He is dangerous."
Jack clenched his jaw.
Orion continued, "You erased Harrow. You didn't kill him. You removed him from reality. That leaves a hole. Holes attract attention."
Crowe frowned. "What are you saying?"
"I'm saying," Orion replied, "that something far worse than the Council will notice what you did."
Jack's blood went cold. "Worse than you?"
Orion's eyes darkened.
"Yes."
The call ended.
Silence filled the room.
Jack stared at Crowe. "What did he mean?"
Crowe's voice was low. "It means your power doesn't just scare the system."
Jack swallowed.
"It scares whatever lives beyond it."
And deep inside Jack, something smiled.