Reality overload

The encrypted line connected with a soft click, the kind only old‑school field operatives would recognize.

A heartbeat of silence.

Then Marcus’s voice, low and controlled.

”Vincent. Finally.”

Vincent exhaled shakily, leaning against the cold bark of a tree. The campus around him was dark, the air thick with the hum of strange sounds reverberating through the air.

”Marcus... you shouldn’t be calling me.”

”Too late for that,” Marcus said. ”Cross initiated a full lockdown. Level Black. He’s lost it. The rest of the dev team is going off‑grid. We’re regrouping at the rendezvous.”

Vincent closed his eyes. ”Yeah. That tracks.”

Marcus paused. ”Vincent... what happened out there?”

Vincent swallowed. He could still feel the echo of Hestia’s voice, the weight of her warning, the terror in Kris’s eyes.

”I can’t do it, Marc.”

”Do what?”

”Cross’s plan. Any of it.”

Another silence, heavier this time.

”Vincent,” Marcus said carefully, ”tell me you’re not about to say what I think you’re about to say.”

Vincent’s voice cracked, just a little. ”Hestia spoke to me.”

Marcus didn’t respond. Not immediately. When he did, his voice was barely above a whisper.

”...She reached you too.”

Vincent nodded even though Marcus couldn’t see him. ”She showed me what Cross refuses to see. Kris isn’t a threat. She’s a kid caught in something she never asked for.”

Marcus exhaled sharply, not angry, but relieved. ”Good. Because Cross is past the point of reason. He’s hunting you. He thinks you betrayed him.”

”I know,” Vincent said. ”And maybe I did. But I’m not letting him get to Kris.”

”You’re protecting him?”

”Yeah,” Vincent said. ”I am.”

Marcus’s tone softened, the way it only ever did with Vincent. ”Then you’re not alone. You hear me? Old team rules still stand.”

Vincent’s throat tightened. ”You’ll meet me at the rendezvous?”

”Of course I will,” Marcus said. ”But listen, Cross has teams sweeping the grid. He’s using the old tracking protocols. If you stay on the move, you can shake them.”

Vincent looked down the dark path ahead. ”I’ll make it. Just... don’t let Cross drag you down with him.”

Marcus huffed a humorless laugh. ”Please. I’ve been dragging Cross out of his own disasters for years. This time I’m choosing to let the bastard sink himself.”

Vincent stayed on the encrypted line a moment longer, listening to the static settle. He could hear Marcus breathing on the other end.

”Marc... there’s something I still have to do before I head to the rendezvous.”

Marcus’s tone sharpened. ”Vincent. What are you planning.”

Vincent rubbed a hand over his face, staring out into the dark. ”I need to make contact with Kris. She doesn’t know what Cross is about to unleash. She has no idea he’s mobilizing retrieval teams, or that he’s labeling her an active threat.”

Marcus swore under his breath. ”Vincent, if Cross catches even a whisper of you reaching out to... wait she?

”Yea Kris is a girl.”Vincent said.

”Well shit, now it make sense we couldn’t find her.” he half laughed.

”He already wants me dead,” Vincent cut in. ”What’s one more risk.”

Marcus went quiet again, the kind of quiet that meant he was weighing loyalty against survival, the mission against the man.

Vincent continued, voice low but steady. ”She deserves to know what’s coming. She deserves a chance to run, to hide, to fight, whatever she chooses. Cross is treating her like a weapon he lost control of. But she’s just a kid, Marc. A scared one. And if I don’t warn her, no one will.”

Marcus exhaled slowly, the sound heavy with old camaraderie. ”You always were the one who couldn’t walk away from the people who needed you.”

Vincent’s throat tightened. ”Hestia didn’t just talk to me, Marc. She showed me what Kris is carrying. What Cross is trying to twist into something else. I can’t let him blindside her.”

A beat. Then Marcus’s voice softened, almost resigned. ”Then do it. Reach her. But be fast. Cross has half the building tearing apart logs and comm traces trying to find you. Once you warn her, you get to the rendezvous. Understood.”

”Understood,” Vincent said. ”I’ll move as soon as I’m off this line.”

”Good,” Marcus replied. ”And Vincent... don’t die out there. I’m not explaining that to the rest of the team.”

Vincent managed a tired, humorless smile. ”No promises.”

The line clicked off, leaving Vincent alone with the weight of what he had to do, and the knowledge that every second he waited was another second Cross closed in on Kris.

Riley’s hand stayed locked around my arm, steadying me every time my legs threatened to give out. Reia hovered close on my other side, scanning every shadow like she expected something to leap out at us. The campus felt wrong, too quiet, too still, like the air itself was waiting for something awful.

My head was still spinning. My chest felt tight. Every breath tasted like frost. But it was slowly getting better.

We were halfway past the maintenance building when a figure stepped out of the darkness.

Riley yanked me behind her so fast my vision blurred. Reia’s hand shot into her pocket. My pulse spiked, frost flickering across my fingertips before I could stop it.

The man raised both hands. ”Easy...I need you three to listen. Right now.”

His voice was calm, but something underneath it was frayed, like he was barely holding himself together.

Riley growled tail bristling, ”Back up!”

”No,” he said, and the way he said it made my stomach twist. ”I can’t do that. You need to come with me. All of you.”

Reia scoffed. ”Yeah, that’s not happening.”

He took one slow step forward...not threatening, but urgent. Desperate.

”Cross has already sent a retrieval team,” he said. ”They’re on campus. They’re moving in from the east gate.”

My breath caught. Riley’s grip tightened. Reia’s eyes widened just a fraction, enough to tell me she believed him, even if she didn’t want to.

The man opened his jacket. 

”I ditched everything,” he said. ”Every tracker. Every piece of equipment he could use to follow me. I’m not with him anymore.”

Riley didn’t budge. ”Why should we believe you.”

He looked at me then. Really looked, and something in his expression made my chest tighten. Not fear. Not disgust. Something like regret.

”Because if I wanted to grab Kris,” he said, nodding toward me, ”I would’ve done it when she collapsed. Or when you were dragging her across the quad. Or when you were too busy arguing about whether she should go to the nurse’s office.”

Heat rushed to my face. Shame. Fear. Both.

Riley stiffened. Reia narrowed her eyes. I swallowed hard, frost fading from my hands.

”I’m not here to take her,” he said. ”I’m here to get you somewhere safe before Cross’s people sweep this place.”

Reia stepped forward. ”Where.”

He jerked his head toward the back gate. The one that led off campus, toward the old service road. ”There’s a diner a few miles up hilcrest street.. No cameras. No campus security feed. Cross can’t track us there. We talk there.”

Riley hesitated, and I felt her fear like it was my own.

I didn’t want to say anything. Didn’t want to need help from a stranger. But the words slipped out anyway, small and shaking.

”Riley... please. I think we can trust him

She exhaled sharply, then pointed at the man. ”Fine, but you walk in front.”

He nodded and moved ahead of us, hands still raised, like he knew one wrong move would get him tackled.

We followed him across the dark quad, then toward the back gate. My legs trembled. My chest felt tight. Every shadow looked like it was about to move.

And the whole time, he kept scanning the rooftops, the walkways, the treeline beyond the fence.

Like he knew exactly where Cross’s people would come from.

Like he knew they were already close.

We were almost to the back gate when he suddenly stopped.

His whole body went rigid, head tilting like he heard something we didn’t.

Riley whispered, ”What—”

Then I heard it too.

Boots.

Multiple.

Fast.

Coordinated.

Coming from the east side of campus.

He spun toward us, eyes sharp. ”They’re here. Go. Now!”

Riley grabbed my wrist. ”Come on—”

But figures were already emerging from between the buildings. Dark uniforms, visors glowing faintly, moving with the kind of precision that made my stomach drop.

The man stepped between us and them, hands going to his coat pocket, stance wide. ”I’ll hold them off. You three get off campus. Head for the diner. I’ll meet you there.”

Riley snapped, ”You’re insane—”

”GO!” The man barked, louder.

Something in his voice made my legs move before my brain caught up.

We ran.

But one of the retrieval agents broke formation, sprinting toward us.

My panic spiked, cold, sharp, instinctive.

Frost exploded from my palms.

A blast of shimmering ice shot across the pavement, freezing the ground in a jagged sheet. The agent skidded, lost balance, and crashed hard. Coming to a Halt as the ice enveloped him.

Riley yanked me forward. ”Zora...holy...okay, keep doing that if you can!”

Reia, breathless but focused, whispered something under her breath, a word that felt wrong and old and heavy.

The ground beside us shifted.

A hand,...skeletal, dirt‑covered clawed its way out of the soil.

I choked on a scream.

Reia didn’t even flinch. ”It’s fine. It will listen to me.”

The corpse dragged itself upright, empty eyes glowing faintly with green light. It stepped between us and the agents, shielding us with its body.

Riley stared at Reia, horrified. ”You can do THAT?!”

Reia’s voice shook with excitement. ”I couldn’t yesterday.”

Riley’s phone was already in her hand. She hit Charlie’s contact with trembling fingers.

”Charlie...Charlie, listen. Something’s happening, they sent people...Zora froze the ground..Reia raised a freaking zombie—yes, that Reia...yes a zombie—theres a diner a few miles away up hilcrest street we—just get here!”

Her voice cracked. I’d never heard Riley sound scared like that.

She paused, her face going pale.

She huffed, ”Charlie says... it’s not just us. People all over are doing things. Magic things.”

My heart thudded painfully.

Magic.

Unlocked.

Everywhere.

Riley swallowed hard. ”She thinks Earth’s magic just... turned fully on.”

Behind us, the man shouted something. A warning, maybe followed by the crack of rounds hitting pavement.

We didn’t look back.

Our footsteps slapped against the pavement as we sprinted across the courtyard, shadows stretching long under the flickering lampposts. The retrieval team was right behind us — boots pounding, radios crackling, voices sharp and getting closer.

Riley kept me in front of her, one hand on my back, pushing me forward. ”Zora, don’t stop. Don’t look back.”

”I’M NOT LOOKING BACK,” I said, tripping over a crack in the sidewalk. ”I’M LOOKING FORWARD!”

Reia darted ahead clutching her bag like it was a life raft. Riley ran behind me, ears flat, tail puffed.

Then—

A retrieval agent lunged out from behind a column.

He grabbed Riley’s arm.

She jerked back, trying to twist free, but he was strong ...too strong, dragging her toward him.

”RILEY!” I screamed.

She shoved me away. ”Zora, RUN!”

I didn’t.

I couldn’t.

My brain short‑circuited. My heart slammed against my ribs. My hands flew up on instinct..., no plan, just pure panic.

”LET GO OF HER!”

Frost exploded from my palms.

It hit him full force.

He froze instantly.

Not slowed.

Not stunned.

He froze to death instantly... a solid, unmoving statue of ice, still gripping Riley’s arm.

She ripped herself free, his arm coming with her, stumbling back, staring at him with wide eyes.

Riley gasped.

Reia stopped dead in her tracks.

I stared at the frozen man, my breath shaking.

”I didn’t mean to,” I whispered. ”I didn’t mean to do that. I just, he grabbed her...I panicked...I didn’t—”

Riley jerked the arm away, and grabbed my shoulders, voice low and urgent. ”Zora. Listen to me. We don’t have time. You saved me. We have to move.”

”But— he’s— he’s—”

”ZORA,” Riley snapped, pulling me forward. ”RUN.”

Another agent charged toward us from the right.

Reia didn’t hesitate.

She whispered a word that made the air vibrate.

The ground split open.

Another zombie clawed its way out, grabbing the agent and dragging him down before he could reach us.

Riley yelled, ”Reia, keep it up—”

”GOT IT !” Reia shouted, already running again.

Riley shoved me ahead of her. ”Zora, keep moving. Don’t look back.”

”Okay,” I cried, tears streaming sprinting away.

Behind us, the frozen man stood perfectly still under the lamplight, glittering like a terrible sculpture. Reia’s zombie sank back into the earth, pulling the second agent with it.

The retrieval team shouted, regrouping.

We didn’t stop.

We ran across the dark campus, hearts pounding, breath burning, the night swallowing our footsteps as the world kept changing under us.

We ran off campus, into the dark, toward the diner the man had told us.

And behind us, the world we knew was breaking open.

My own panic surged up my throat, sharp and cold. I grabbed my phone with numb fingers. I didn’t even think. I just hit Lucas’s name.

It rang once.

Twice.

Then—

”Zora?” His voice was warm, steady, familiar in a way that made my chest ache. ”Hey, are you okay? You sound—”

”Lucas,” I gasped, stumbling as my legs nearly gave out. Riley caught me. ”I—I need you to meet us. At the diner. Off campus. Hillcrest street. Do you know where... good. Please. Please just come.”

Instant silence on his end.

”What happened,” he said, voice low and tight.

”I can’t—” My breath hitched. ”Devs sent people. They’re after us. The man....he’s holding them off...Riley and Reia are with me...we’re almost there...just please come.”

I hated how desperate I sounded.

But I couldn’t stop it.

Lucas didn’t waste a second. ”I’m already on my way.”

”Zora,” he added, voice softer, ”stay with Riley. Don’t stop moving. I’ll find you.”

The line clicked off.

I stared at the screen, heart pounding so hard it hurt.

Reia’s voice cut through the night. ”Zora, move!”

I shoved the phone back into my pocket and ran.

Lucas was coming.

Charlie was coming.

Magic was waking up.

Cross’s team was hunting us.

A man I didn’t know was helping us.

And the world felt like it was cracking open beneath my feet.