Page 59 of Lost Echoes
“No names,” the woman with platinum hair snaps, her eyes flashing. “That’s how they catch us and bring us back in. I’ve come too far to risk returning.”
I shift in my chair. The imaginary weight of the spool presses on me. I can almost hear its whir, its echo in the basement.
From somewhere in the rafters above, a sound cuts through the silence. Not a creak or a gust of wind, but a voice, faint, distorted.
“The performance isn’t over.”
Every head jerks up. My skin prickles.
Florencia grabs my wrist, her nails digging in. “Did you hear that?”
The voice fades, but not before the last words reach us. “Phoenix is watching.”
The circle breaks, panic buzzing like electricity. Some rush for the exits, and others stay frozen in their chairs.
I can’t move. I just keep staring at the shadows in the rafters, heart pounding. The same Phoenix who Ember and Luke said suddenly went missing from their online chat?
Because if he is watching, then who’s pulling his strings?
The words hang in the stale air. Phoenix is watching.
My pulse slams against my ribs. I can’t just sit here, so I shove back my chair, the scrape ringing sharp through the silence.
Florencia grabs my arm. “What are you doing?”
“I need to find out who’s up there.”
Her eyes grow wide. “You can’t be serious.”
“This needs to end.”
“You don’t need to end!”
I square my shoulders. “I’m not scared of someone who has to hide in the shadows.”
“Don’t.” Florencia’s whisper is fierce. “Whoever’s up there, he wanted us to hear him, not see him. It’s a trap.”
But I can’t stay rooted. My body is already moving, angling toward the narrow stairwell at the back of the hall. “Then I’ll spring it.”
“Billa!” She jerks on my arm, trying to prevent me from doing this. “This is how they get us. They lure us with threads and shadows, and when we follow, we disappear.”
Her words make me think of Kenzi, of Fenna, of all the kids still trapped in those basements. If I don’t follow, if I keep sitting quietly in circles, then I’m no better than the ones who looked away.
I wrench free from her grip. “Then I’ll be the one who doesn’t disappear.”
The stairwell yawns open, its iron steps slick with condensation. Every creak is louder than my breath. My chest is tight, but my legs keep climbing. I have no other choice.
Behind me, Florencia follows. “You’ll blow everything we’ve built. Our cover, all survivors’ safety…”
Her words fade as I reach the landing. The rafters stretch above the circle like a skeletal spine. Shadows coil and break with the flickering light of a single hanging bulb.
“Hello?” My voice shakes, but more from anger than concern. “If you’re Phoenix, show yourself.”
Nothing.
Then, from deeper in the rafters, the faintest sound. Metal on metal. Possibly a retreat.
I lunge forward, ignoring the way the wooden planks shift under my weight. “Stop!” My voice cracks into the echo. “I know you’re there, and we need to put an end to all of this.”
