Ethan knox - October 2120
My feet move before my mind has time to catch up.
One second I'm standing there, the weight of the videos crushing the air out of my lungs, and the next I'm running. My body makes the decision for me, propelling me forward across the field toward the school as fast as my legs will carry me.
Cold night air rips into my lungs with every breath. It burns, sharp and unforgiving, but I barely notice. My vision blurs as tears spill over, streaking down my face, and the ground beneath my feet feels uneven as my pace becomes reckless.
Still, I don't slow down... I can't.
Every step forward feels like my chest is splitting apart from the inside.
The videos won't leave me. They just keep replay in my mind again and again, cruel and relentless.
Kai on his knees.
Blood covering his hands.
The way his entire body trembled as he forced the shadows to obey him, even while they tore through him from the inside.
And then the dagger.
My stomach twists violently as the memory hits me again with brutal clarity. I almost stumble, my foot catching awkwardly against the grass, but I force myself upright and keep moving.
I can still see it... Kai collapsing... The blood spreading across the floor beneath him.
My beautiful Kai.
The thought tears through me like a blade. I choke on a breath as another sob rises in my throat.
How could anyone break him so completely that he tried to kill himself?
Tears fall freely now, blurring the world in front of me, but I don't even bother wiping them away. Nothing else matters except getting to him. I need to see him with my own eyes. I need to know he's real... Alive... Breathing.
Halfway across the field I hear footsteps behind me.
They fast and heavy... Noah.
I don't have to look to know it's him. He's trying to catch up, pushing himself just as hard as I am.
But I can't slow down for him... I can't wait.
Every second feels unbearable.
The school building grows larger as I approach, its tall windows casting pale yellow light across the grass. The familiar structure feels strangely distant, like I'm looking at it through water.
When I finally reach near the entrance to the basement, my pace falters slightly as my lungs struggle to pull in enough air.
That's when I notice them. Two figures stand just outside the door.
They're half hidden by the darkness, leaning casually against the wall beneath the dim glow of the school lights. For a moment all I really see is the small orange glow of a cigarette burning in the night.
Then one of the figures lifts it to his lips.
Kai exhales slowly, the faint cloud of smoke drifting into the cold air as he stares down at the ground like something is irritating him.
The sight of him is so painfully normal that it makes my chest ache.
His hair falls loosely across his face. His shoulders are slightly slouched in that familiar way he has when he's annoyed or bored.
He's just standing there.
Alive.
My entire body freezes. For a moment I can't move. I can't breathe.
It is Finn who notices me first.
He straightens slightly and nudges Kai with his elbow before nodding toward my direction.
Kai glances up and the moment our eyes meet, the cigarette slips from his fingers.
It hits the ground and he crushes it beneath his shoe without even looking, already pushing himself away from the wall.
"Ethan?"
Concern floods his face instantly as he walks toward me. His brows knit together, confusion and worry replacing the irritation that had been there only seconds ago.
"What's wrong?"
The sound of his voice shatters whatever fragile control I had left.
My breathing turns heavy and uneven, my chest tightening painfully as emotion crashes through me all at once.
Before I even realise what I'm doing, my knees give out and I collapse onto the ground.
A broken sob tears out of my chest, loud and raw in the quiet night.
Kai reaches me almost immediately. His hands grasp my face firmly, lifting my head so that I have no choice but to look at him.
"Hey," he says quickly, panic creeping into his voice. "Hey, what's wrong?"
His eyes move over me rapidly, scanning my face, my shoulders, my arms like he expects to find blood somewhere.
"Please tell me."
Finn steps closer as well, his expression tightening with concern. His gaze flicks between me and Kai, clearly trying to understand what's happening.
Then his attention shifts past me.
"Noah?" he calls out.
I hear Noah before I see him.
His footsteps are heavy against the pavement as he reaches us, his breathing ragged from the run.
But I can't look away from Kai.
My hands clutch desperately at the front of his shirt, gripping the fabric like he might disappear if I let go. His heartbeat pounds fast beneath my fingers.
"How…" My voice cracks badly as I try to force the words out. "How could they be so cruel to you?"
Kai's body goes completely still.The muscles beneath my hands tighten as his entire posture stiffens.
"What?" he asks quietly.
Hesitation creeps into his voice as confusion flickers across his face.
"What do you mean?"
Before I can answer, Noah steps forward beside us.
"We saw your file, Kai" he says.
His breathing is still uneven, and his voice sounds wrong somehow. Strained and unsteady.
I lift my eyes back to Kai's face. Shock flashes across his features first... Then hurt... Then anger. Then something deeper that I can't quite place. But he still doesn't say anything.
"Why didn't you tell me you tried to kill yourself?" Noah demands suddenly.
His voice sharpens, the calm edge he usually carries disappearing beneath raw emotion.
"How could you do that to yourself?" He steps forward and grabs the front of Kai's shirt.
The sudden movement makes my chest tighten, but Kai doesn't react. He doesn't pull away, he doesn't argue, he just looks at Noah.
Silent.
"Say something!" Noah snaps.
For a brief moment Kai's arms tighten around me, giving me one small squeeze before he moves.
Then he slowly rises to his feet.
As he stands, his hand brushes gently across my face, wiping away tears I hadn't even realised were still falling. The touch is soft and familiar. But it's gone too quickly.
I reach for him instinctively, but his hand slips away before I can catch it and he steps back.
His gaze moves slowly between all of us.
Me, Noah, Finn and then something changes.
The emotion drains from his face as if someone flipped a switch. His expression becomes completely blank.
Empty.
And somehow that terrifies me far more than anything else tonight.
"You weren't supposed to see that."
Kai's voice is quiet, almost flat, but the words hit me like a punch to the chest. My stomach twists violently.
For a moment, no one moves. The night feels heavier, the silence pressing down.
Beside me, Noah exhales sharply.
"You don't get to say that."
His voice is steadier than it was a moment ago, but I hear the tension beneath it, like glass already cracked and waiting for the slightest pressure.
Kai's eyes move slowly toward him.
Noah steps forward, his breathing still uneven from the run across the field, but his posture straightens, his gaze sharp. I can see the familiar rhythm snap into place, calculation, analysis, control.
"You deliberately withheld critical information" Noah says, his tone calm now, too calm.
Kai's expression tightens faintly.
"I doesn't matter anymore."
"It matters," Noah replies immediately, sharp and precise.
Then he says the word that makes my chest sink, makes me want to grip Kai's shirt so tight until my knuckles ache.
"You attempted suicide."
Even saying it out loud makes my stomach twist.
Kai stiffens but Noah doesn't stop. His voice quickens, running ahead again.
"You were placed under extreme psychological coercion. Father deliberately destabilised your emotional state by falsely informing you that Ethan was dead. Under those circumstances, your decision-making process would have been compromised-"
"Noah," Finn interrupts softly, but the edge of urgency in his voice only half-reaches him.
Noah continues, relentless.
"If Thomas had not intervened within approximately three minutes, the rate of blood loss shown in the footage indicates that you would have died. Your survival probability was extremely low. The risk variables were unacceptable. The outcome-"
"Noah," Finn says again, stepping forward and placing both hands firmly on his shoulders.
"Take a breath."
Noah shakes his head, but his eyes are still locked on Kai, wide and intense.
"You almost died," he says, voice breaking through its calm mask. "You almost died and you didn't tell me."
Kai doesn't answer. He just stands there, looking at Noah with the same blank expression that chills me to my core.
"Kai… " I whisper, my voice catching. "Say something... please."
Something in Noah's face twists and Finn steps between them, blocking him.
"Noah. Look at me," Finn says firmly.
For a second, Noah resists, but finally his eyes flick to Finn.
"Breathe" Finn instructs.
"Did you take your medication?" he continues, calm, precise.
Noah nods.
"Good, just breath. Your brain is just trying to sprint ahead of itself."
Noah presses a shaking hand to his temple. "I saw it," he mutters. "He was smiling."
Kai doesn't respond. His face is still empty, completely blank. And yet I see the tension in his body, muscles tight, coiled, as if he's bracing himself against something he won't let us see.
Noah slowly releases Finn's grip. His breathing steadies.
"Kai," he says quietly now, voice heavy.
Kai lifts his gaze.
"You are not allowed to do that again."
Kai stares at him, eyes narrowing slightly. "Not allowed? You sound just like father"
Noah flinches at that "No... it's just you are a critical variable to me."
Finn exhales behind us. "Noah" he mutters.
But Noah doesn't look away from Kai. He isn't just angry... he's terrified.
And the only way he knows how to say I can't lose you… is with logic.
"I think you should go home now, Noah." Kai's voice is sharp, cold, like ice cutting through the night air.
"No," Noah says immediately, his tone firm, almost desperate. "You can't just push me away."
Kai scoffs, the sound sharp and dismissive. "don't make me ask you again"
And without another word, he turns his back to us and begins walking away. My chest tightens, and I feel the urge to run after him, to grab him, to make sure he's really here, really safe.
"Kai!" I shout, my voice cracking over the distance, but he doesn't slow.
Noah steps forward, clearly not finished, his voice rising over mine. "Don't walk away from us!"
"How can you act like nothing happened to you?" he demands. "Father has gone too far, and I will not stand for it!"
Kai stops suddenly, then spins around with a sharp, controlled motion. Anger flashes across his face, and my stomach drops.
He waves his hand out, and a wave of shadows lashes forward, striking the ground with such force that it cracks deeply. The jagged fissures spiderweb across the concrete and Noah halts mid-step, eyes wide as he takes in the display.
"Go home. Now." Kai says again, this time his anger threading through every word. The shadows around him pulse and grow, dark tendrils curling in the faint light. I can feel the heat of them, the raw energy vibrating in the air, and for the first time, I am genuinely afraid of him.
He turns on his heel once more and walks away, and none of us move. Even Noah's defiance falters under the weight of that quiet, dangerous power.
After a long, tense silence, Finn steps forward, calm and deliberate as always.
"Let's go home. You both need to cool down."
Noah opens his mouth to argue, but Finn cuts him off, his voice firm. "We'll come back soon."
After a pause, Noah nods reluctantly. Finn turns to me and holds out his hand. I take it, letting him help me to my feet.
"Just let him have some space" Finn says gently, his grip steadying me. "I'm sure he'll talk to you when he's ready."
I nod, but the relief is fleeting, tiny, like a flickering candle in the darkness. My mind is still on Kai, on the sharp glint of anger in his eyes, the shadows curling and slashing at the ground.
I know he's alive. I know he's here. But right now, he feels like he's slipping further away, and there's nothing I can do except wait, and hope.