Kyron:We know you left. We’re not angry. Just tell us you’re safe.
Rane:Please come back. Whatever happened, we canfigure it out.
Beckett:You okay?
Vaelor:You don’t have to talk. Just let us know you’re alright.
Locke:This isn’t funny anymore. Where are you?
Unknown Number:Hey. I don’t know if you’ll see this. I heard what happened. I’m sorry.
Unknown Number:Oh. This is Trey by the way.
Why would he… I don’t know how to add him to my phone. I should have listened better when Rane told me.
Rane:I’m not mad. I promise I’m not mad. Just please answer.
Kyron:If you need space, fine. But we need to know you’re alive.
Vaelor:We’re looking for you. Not to drag you back. Just to make sure you’re okay.
Locke:If it’s about… I’m sorry if I did something. If any of us did something. Just come home.
Beckett:We miss you.
(Trey):I told Silas to fuck off. He had no business saying anything to you. Whatever it was.
(Trey):I’m with them now, Vaelor and the rest of them. Looking for you. In case that helps. Or makes it worse. I don’t know.
Rane:Nova please.
Kyron:Wherever you are, whatever you’re thinking—you’re wrong. Come back.
Vaelor:There’s food in the fridge. Your plate. It’s still there.
Locke:I don’t know what to do. I don’t know how to fix this. Just tell me how to fix this.
Beckett:Come home.
The screen flickers. 2%.
I lock the phone and press it against my chest like that’ll keep it alive longer.
It won’t.
The gate wasn’t even hard. A gap behind the maintenance building, exactly where I would’ve put one if I’d designed this place. Some Academy architect clearly never slept on the streets—you learn to spot the weak points in any fence within the first six months.
That was two days ago.
I’m almost impressed with myself.
Now I’m back in the kind of places I know. Not the same streets I grew up on, but close enough. Same architecture, same instincts.
My kind of places.
The ones I don’t have to read or figure out because I already understand them. Streets and people who look at me like they should—like I’m an inconvenience. Not like they did. When they looked at me like I was…
I don’t know. Something.
