A heavy silence fell over the room. All eyes were locked on Léna, whose expression shifted between amusement and something unreadable.
Loïs, still in shock, took a small step back, trying to make sense of what she was seeing.
— "Lila…?"
Léna raised an eyebrow, crossing her arms, her smile stretching wider.
— "No. Lila is dead. Now, it's Léna," she declared sharply, her eyes scanning the room as if to gauge their reactions.
Amber furrowed her brows, her instinct to regain control kicking in despite the chill crawling down her spine. She crossed her legs and leaned against the armrest of the couch, trying to mask her unease behind a detached expression.
— "What kind of bullshit is this?" she spat, her manicured nails tapping nervously against the leather.
Gary, who had been casually sipping a drink, widened his eyes at the sight of Léna. His usual arrogance vanished for a moment, fear flickering in his eyes. He slowly set his glass down, as if a wrong move might trigger something unpredictable.
Liam, still full of himself, tried to compose himself. He arched an eyebrow, arms crossed in a fake show of confidence.
— "Honestly, you're kind of freaking us out. You were supposed to be dead, so what are you doing here? Some kind of tasteless joke?"
Véra, always the provocator, straightened in her seat and asked, her voice a little too sharp:
— "If you're here, it means you survived… But how, exactly?"
Harry said nothing. He had gone pale and was gripping the armrests of his chair tightly. He had never been a leader, always a follower. And now, he clearly didn't know what to do.
Loïs looked the most affected. Her mouth opened and closed as if she was trying to speak, but no sound came. Guilt shimmered in her averted gaze, her body rigid with tension.
Léna stared at her for a moment before bursting out laughing.
— "What, Loïs? You regret leaving me to die out there?"
The blow was sharp, brutal. Loïs lowered her head, unable to hold her gaze.
Amber shifted slightly, unease growing in her chest.
— "Why are you here, Léna? What do you want?"
Léna's smile widened further, and a mysterious glint sparkled in her eyes.
— "Oh, not much… Just wanted to see if my dear friends were worried about me."
The atmosphere became suffocating. They all knew this was just the beginning… and they weren't going to like what came next.
Gabriela entered the lounge, flanked by several soldiers in tactical gear, weapons at the ready for the slightest sign of danger. Her cold eyes scanned the room quickly, lingering on Léna, who still stood in the center with an amused smile.
Amber and the others didn't dare speak, frozen between fear and confusion. Gabriela remained impassive, though a flicker of suspicion crossed her gaze.
— "What's your game?" she asked in a firm voice, slowly approaching Léna.
Léna shrugged, clearly amused by the defensive posture of Life Corp's director.
— "The winds are shifting, Ms. Sanchez." She swept her gaze over the tense faces of the young people. "Your little bunker, your illusion of safety… it won't last forever, even with you in charge."
Her words, spoken with disturbing ease, rang out like a warning.
The soldiers tightened their grips on their weapons, ready to act. Gabriela, though stoic, could sense something slipping through her fingers.
— "Are you threatening us?"
Léna burst out laughing.
— "A threat? No… Just a fact. Things are changing, and you... you're not ready."
She paused for a moment, then added with a mysterious smile:
— "But they... they interest me."
Amber frowned.
— "Who are you talking about?"
Léna stared her down, then said, almost sing-song:
— "Hayden and his group, of course."
A thick tension settled in the room. Gabriela understood less and less of what was happening, but one thing was certain: Léna was no longer human… and she held crucial information.
Suddenly, her body began to glow with a brilliant white light.
— "See you soon."
In a blinding flash, she vanished.
A heavy silence fell over the room. Only the echo of her voice lingered in their minds.
Gabriela waited until the soldiers had left the room, once the threat was gone, before turning to the young people, her expression grave. She knew something important had just occurred—something that might change everything. Lila, or rather Léna, had returned, and her strange behavior hinted at serious complications.
The young ones, nervous and shaken, slumped onto the couches, their gazes avoiding one another, each taking a deep breath before recounting what had happened that fateful night—the night of the attack.
Amber, speaking first, sounded colder than ever, a barely contained anger in her voice.
— "It was during the attack. Chaos was everywhere, the zombies were outside the karaoke bar… Lila… she disappeared in the confusion." She paused, eyes drifting to nothing. "We heard her scream. We heard her cry for help, but… we didn't help her."
A heavy silence followed. The others exchanged awkward glances, each one feeling responsible in their own way. Véra, usually the first to speak up, lowered her head, unsure what to say. Loïs, normally more concerned with appearances, was strangely quiet, as if something inside her had cracked.
— "We couldn't… we were too busy trying to survive ourselves," Gary added softly, guilt lacing his tone. "We… we just decided to stay in the private karaoke room. She was too far. And everything happened so fast."
Liam crossed his arms, his gaze dark. "It was impossible to reach her. The zombies were everywhere. If we went, we'd have died too."
Gabriela listened carefully, her brows furrowed in concern. She understood their situation, but something didn't sit right. Why was Lila here, if she had been left outside to die? And why now, after all this time, had she returned in such a changed state?
— "Are you sure she died?" Gabriela asked coldly, her eyes piercing through each of them. "Are you certain she didn't survive?"
Amber shrugged, trying to minimize the gravity of the situation, but guilt was all over her face.
— "We didn't have time to check. She was already too far when we heard the noise. We thought it was too late." She lowered her eyes. "But it was too risky to save her. We thought… we thought she was already dead."
Another heavy silence. Gabriela remained standing, observing them closely. She knew their actions—or inaction—might have serious consequences.
— "And none of you tried to look for her afterward? Once things calmed down?" she asked, her voice gentler, yet still piercing.
Liam replied with a resigned tone, "No. Afterward, everything was chaos. We were all… panicked. We didn't think straight."
— "That's a mistake that might haunt you forever," Gabriela said firmly, without judgment. "Lila—or Léna, as she now calls herself—was killed by zombies and somehow brought back. But what she has become… I can't explain yet."
Amber, a flicker of worry in her eyes, asked:
— "Do you think she's… different? Still human?"
Gabriela shook her head. "I don't know. But what I do know is that she holds important information, and you'd better be careful."
She turned to the others, scrutinizing each face. "Lila—or Léna—might be a threat to you all. Stay alert."
Though shaken and disturbed by the revelation, the group nodded silently. They quickly realized that, even in this disastrous situation, they had lost something crucial that night.
The Weight of Regret and the Growing Fear
Léna had vanished in a burst of white light, leaving them alone in the oppressive silence of the bunker. Yet her laugh still echoed in their minds, a macabre reminder that trapped them in a whirlwind of fear and guilt.
Amber was the first to leap up, eyes scanning the room for some anchor, some support—but she found only pale faces, paralyzed by shock and dread.
— "That… that wasn't possible, right?!" Gary stammered, his voice trembling, his usual arrogance completely gone.
Loïs, usually vain and aloof, crossed her arms as if to compose herself, but her hands gripping her forearms betrayed her inner turmoil.
— "Shit… she was supposed to be dead!" she spat, her wild gaze darting around the room.
Véra, typically provocative, stood frozen, her lips trembling slightly. She wanted to speak, but no words came.
Harry, ever the follower, looked on the verge of breaking down. He didn't dare move, as though even breathing might trigger another nightmare. He turned slowly toward Liam, seeking reassurance—but found none.
Liam Wellington, normally so narcissistic and self-assured, had gone completely pale. His hands were clammy, and his gaze was fixed on the spot where Léna had stood seconds before.
— "We left her…" he whispered, barely audible.
Silence.
Those words hung over them like a crushing weight.
They had left Lila outside. They had heard her scream. They knew she was being devoured.
And they did nothing.
Amber clenched her fists.
— "She's going to kill us."
Her voice was cold, sharp. But beneath it, it was panic speaking.
Loïs suddenly snapped:
— "Shut up! We don't know that!" she screamed, but her tear-filled eyes betrayed her denial.
Véra slowly backed away, staring at the floor, arms wrapped around herself as if trying to shield from an unseen force.
— "She hates us… She's coming back…" she murmured, a terrifying truth settling over her.
Harry shook his head frantically.
— "No… no… Maybe she just wanted to scare us? Maybe she just wanted us to regret…"
— "Wake up, idiot!" Liam hissed. "You think she's just going to leave us alone after what we did?! She said our safety won't last. She wants us to suffer."
Their breaths quickened, the silence now filled with their ragged gasps.
They were on the edge.
And Léna had only just begun.