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> "Some secrets kill people.
Others?
They create monsters to protect them."
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š© Scene 1 ā The Letter
Myles woke up to find a sealed envelope under his pillow.
No sender. Black wax. Ancient symbol of an eye stabbed through with a dagger.
> Who the hell would leave this in a secure dorm?
He broke the seal.
Inside was a single sentence:
> "Ask Aric Vale what happened the night he died."
His hands trembled.
He looked around ā the room was untouched. No windows broken. No footprints.
No entry.
Justā¦ the message.
He gulped.
> How does anyone even know Aric died?
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šļø Scene 2 ā The Watcher
Later that day, Myles skipped class.
He pretended to relax in the courtyard, but kept his eye on Aric from across the quad.
Aric was reading.
Calm. Cold. Calculated.
> No normal kid acts like that.
No kid kills a beast, drinks a truth serum, and walks away smiling.
There's something wrong with him.
Myles activated his Mind Eye ā a forbidden psychic technique to peek into surface thoughts.
Usually, all he'd get was noise.
But with Aric?
He heardā¦
Nothing.
Just a blank wall.
> That's not possible.
Even trained telepaths leave noise.
He tried again.
Still nothing.
Thenā
Aric turned. Looked straight at him.
Smiled.
> He knows I'm listening.
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š§ Scene 3 ā Confrontation
That night, Myles cornered Aric behind the alchemy labs.
No crowd. No guards. Just steam from boiling cauldrons.
"I got a letter," Myles said. "About you."
Aric didn't look surprised. "And what did it say?"
"Ask you what happened the night you died."
Silence.
Then Aric said, "And did you?"
Myles frowned. "What do you mean?"
"Did you ask?" Aric leaned closer. "Because if you did, you'd be dead."
Chill ran down Myles' spine.
"I don't understandā"
Aric's voice dropped to a whisper.
> "Myles, what happens when a soul breaks?
What happens when a boy dies in the darkā¦ and something else gets up instead?"
Myles backed away. "You're insane."
"No," Aric replied. "I'm inhabited."
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š„ Scene 4 ā The Attack
Suddenly, the cauldrons around them exploded.
Smoke and fire erupted.
Out of the shadowsā¦ emerged a hooded figure.
Myles gasped.
"You!" he shouted.
But the attacker was fast.
Knives flew ā poisoned, silent.
Aric grabbed Myles, pulled him behind a stone pillar.
"You know them?" Aric demanded.
"IāI think they're from House Umbra," Myles stammered. "Secret society. Iājoined onceābefore I quitā"
Aric cursed. "Then they're here to clean loose ends."
"Like me?"
"Like both of us."
They fought together ā for the first time.
Myles unleashed mental shockwaves. Aric moved like shadow.
The attacker was fast ā but not ready for two monsters with secrets.
Aric knocked off the hoodā
And froze.
The face beneathā¦
> A dead man.
One Aric knew from his past life.
One who had diedā¦ with him.
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ā°ļø Scene 5 ā Truth Bleeds Out
Aric pulled the attacker's collar aside.
The skin was stitched. Rotten. Fake.
> This isn't a man.
It's a vessel.
Myles trembled. "What the hell is this?"
"A warning," Aric muttered. "Someone is sending me messagesā¦ through the dead."
He stood up. Looked toward the shadows.
> "I don't know who's pulling the strings yet.
But they know I died.
And worseā¦ they know I came back."
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š Scene 6 ā Notebook Update
Later that night, Aric added a new page:
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"Leak Detected ā Phase 5: Interference Begins"
Myles: Half-convinced, half-terrified ā
House Umbra: Active again
Possessed corpse = advanced necromancy
Possible link to VOX marking
Someone is watching me from the other side
> "Let them come. I've died once.
Now I'll kill for real."
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š§ Scene 7 ā Myles' Final Thought
In his own dorm, Myles didn't sleep.
He kept staring at the ceiling, whispering the same thing again and again:
> "He's not normal.
He's not Aric.
He's something else wearing his skin."
And stillā¦ part of him didn't hate it.
Part of himā¦ was fascinated.
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