Zara stared at the note like it might vanish.
Theo was gone.
Not a word. Not a trace. Just that chilling line taped to a USB drive.
If you're reading this, it's too late.
Jaxon paced the room behind her, jaw tight, fists clenched. "Damn it, Theo."
She closed her hand around the drive. "We need to see what's on this. Now."
They rushed back to her dorm, locked the door, drew the curtains. Zara plugged the USB into her laptop with trembling fingers.
The screen flickered. Then, a video file popped up.
She clicked.
Theo's face filled the screen, lit by a desk lamp, eyes wild with urgency.
"If you're seeing this, it means they found me," he said. "I don't know how long I've got. But I found something. Something huge."
Zara leaned in.
"They've been running this program for over a decade. Not just at Blackthorne Academy. All over. Connected schools. Hidden donors. A web that leads straight to the Blackthorne estate and deeper into the elite society they call The Foundry."
Jaxon flinched. "The Foundry…"
Theo continued, his voice lower now. "They profile students. Recruit some. Eliminate others. Especially those who try to expose them. Like Isla. Like Zara."
Zara's throat tightened.
"I left encrypted files in a cloud drive," Theo said. "Password is your favorite conspiracy, Z. You know the one. The flying cats."
She almost laughed Project WhiskerJet. A dumb joke they made freshman year.
The screen glitched. Then Theo's final words:
"Be careful who you trust. They have eyes everywhere."
The video ended.
Silence settled like fog.
Jaxon sat slowly on the bed. "This goes higher than I thought."
Zara clutched the USB, her mind racing. "Then we take it public. The files. The names. We blow the whole thing open."
He looked at her, dead serious. "That'll make you a target."
"I already am."
But that night, Zara couldn't sleep.
Every creak of the hallway sounded like footsteps. Every buzz of her phone felt like a warning.
She rolled over to see Jaxon still awake, sitting on the edge of her bed, staring out the window.
"Can't sleep either?" she whispered.
He didn't look at her. "I thought I could protect you. Keep you out of this. But now…"
She sat up, her voice soft. "I don't want to be out of it. Not if it means hiding while they erase people."
Finally, he turned.
His eyes were darker than usual. Haunted.
"You have no idea what this world is capable of, Zara."
She touched his hand.
"I'm not leaving you."
His lips twitched. A flicker of a smile.
"I think that's what I'm afraid of."