The cleverest trap is the one your enemy thinks they've set first.
---
6:42 A.M.
Naomi's Apartment
The air is tense. Naomi fastens her bulletproof vest under her coat. No badge. No formal team.
This isn't sanctioned.
She takes one last look at the corkboard — victims, screenshots, symbols, and one central photo: Silas Creed.
There are two post-its beside it.
> "Too perfect."
"It ends today."
She speaks into the mic sewn into her collar.
"Comm check."
A voice crackles to life in her earpiece.
> "Loud and clear. Bodycam is live. Backup is waiting five minutes out. You sure about this?"
"No."
She pockets a flash drive and walks out the door.
"But it's the only way to find out what's behind that smile."
---
7:53 A.M.
St. Gabriel's High – Chemistry Lab
Silas stares at a dissection tray.
It's not real flesh. Just synthetic samples for a biology demonstration. He smiles at the irony.
A student beside him nudges him. "Dude, you're way too good at this."
He chuckles. "I've always had a steady hand."
But something's off. He senses it. Like a cold draft in a sealed room.
Then a knock at the lab door.
Naomi steps in.
"Sorry to interrupt. May I borrow Silas Creed for a few minutes?"
The teacher hesitates, then nods. "Go ahead."
Silas stands and follows Naomi wordlessly, his pulse a slow, measured beat.
---
8:01 A.M.
School Storage Room – Rear Building
She leads him to a dusty supply room. No cameras. No windows. Just shelves of paper and unused equipment.
He leans against the door, smiling. "Private again. I'm starting to feel special."
Naomi closes the door behind them. Locks it.
Silas's eyes track the click. His fingers twitch.
"You know why I brought you here," she says.
"Because you're running out of time."
She steps closer. "Because I know. I know what you are. I know what you've done."
He tilts his head, amused. "And yet… here we are. You. Me. No warrant. No gun. No witnesses."
Naomi holds up a flash drive.
"This contains a full reconstruction of your encrypted kill streams. Audio logs. Metadata. Traces only someone with your level of access could leave."
He studies her. Doesn't move. But something in his smile tightens.
She continues.
"None of it's on the system. Just here. In my hand."
Silas raises an eyebrow. "So what? You came to threaten me?"
"No."
She steps closer — now only a foot between them.
"I came to see how the devil reacts when someone turns on the lights."
For a moment, silence.
Then—
He smiles.
Not the soft schoolboy smile.
Not the friendly one.
The real one.
The first one.
The one that belongs in firelight.
"I was wondering how long you'd wait," he whispers.
Naomi's pulse stutters.
"You knew."
He steps forward, voice like silk wrapped around a knife. "You think I don't check every camera? Every network node? You uploaded that bait two nights ago. I rewrote the metadata before you finished your coffee."
She backs up, one step. "Liar."
He shows her his phone. An open live feed — her own bodycam footage. Playing in real time.
"I've been watching you… watching me."
---
8:03 A.M.
Outside the Storage Room – Surveillance Van
The tech operative monitoring Naomi's feed frowns.
"Uh… captain, we have an issue."
> "What kind of issue?"
"The footage Naomi's streaming — it's being altered. Real-time substitution. The file's looping every 12 seconds."
> "That's not possible."
"It is if someone's already inside our system."
A pause.
> "Pull her out. Now."
---
8:04 A.M.
Storage Room
Naomi moves first. She lunges — taser crackling in her hand.
Silas steps aside calmly, seizing her wrist and slamming it into the metal shelf. The taser falls.
His grip tightens, but he doesn't hit her. He whispers.
"I admire you, Naomi. You're not like the others. You actually believe in something."
She spits blood, defiant. "You won't win."
"Win?" He leans in. "Naomi, I've already won. You came here thinking this was a trap. It was. But not yours."
He steps back and unlocks the door just as her backup bursts in — too late, guns raised.
Silas holds up his empty hands.
"No harm done," he says sweetly. "She got a little aggressive. I just defended myself."
The officers freeze — unsure.
Naomi gasps for breath, against the wall, eyes burning with humiliation and rage.
And Silas walks out between them — calm, collected, golden-eyed.
---
9:45 A.M.
Naomi's Apartment – Later That Day
She tears her place apart. Laptop smashed. Router pulled. Every file wiped.
She knows now — she never had the upper hand. Not even once.
But she won't stop.
She can't.
---
Final Scene
Silas walks through the school garden, earbuds in, humming a quiet tune.
Students pass him. Laugh. Smile. Someone offers him a bento.
And beneath the surface of his perfect world, one thought simmers.
> "She's not giving up. Good."
"I want her to break."
"I want her to try."
---
Final Line:
> "The best part of the game… is watching your opponent think they still have a chance."
---