The video ended.
For several seconds no one spoke. The only sound in the locker room was the quiet buzz from the phone speaker and the distant hum of the gym ventilation system. Detective Harris stared at the screen as if it might change if he waited long enough. It didn't. Lily Lin's terrified face remained frozen on the last frame.
Harris finally exhaled.
"Jesus."
Officer Park took the phone from my hand carefully, as if it might break.
"This was recorded here," she said quietly.
"Yes."
"When?"
"January ninth."
She glanced toward Harris.
"That's the day Lily disappeared."
Harris rubbed his forehead.
"You didn't mention this earlier."
"You didn't ask."
"That's not how this works."
"Seems like it should be."
Harris shot me a look that could have cracked concrete.
"Where did you find the phone?"
I pointed toward the ventilation duct.
"Up there."
Park looked up.
"Hidden."
"Looks like it."
"Why didn't you tell us right away?"
"I just found it."
Harris folded his arms.
"You expect me to believe you walked into an active crime scene and accidentally discovered the missing piece of evidence in a murder investigation?"
"Yes."
"That's convenient."
"Not for Olivia."
Park ignored the exchange and replayed the video. This time she watched it like a forensic analyst—studying every movement, every sound, every frame. When the video ended again, she paused it and zoomed in.
"There's someone else here."
Harris stepped forward.
"Where?"
She tapped the screen.
"The camera is handheld. But look at the shadow near the lockers."
I saw it now—a long distorted silhouette stretching across the floor. Too tall to be Lily. Too still to be Olivia or Madison. Someone standing near the door.
Watching.
Harris muttered,
Stolen novel; please report.
"Whoever filmed this wasn't alone."
Park looked at me.
"You said someone texted you."
"Yes."
"Show me."
I handed her my phone. She read the messages quickly and her expression changed.
"'Someone who was there that night.'"
Harris frowned.
"That's not a confession."
"No," Park said slowly. "It's worse."
She turned the screen toward him.
"Whoever sent this knows about the locker room and Lily's murder."
Harris's jaw tightened.
"Which means they've been sitting on evidence for months."
Park nodded.
"And now they're talking."
Harris looked back at me.
"Why you?"
I shrugged.
"You heard the message."
"You were the only one who fought back."
He studied my face for a long moment before sighing.
"Damn it."
He turned toward Park.
"This changes everything."
"Yes."
"We need to reopen Lily's case."
"We never closed it."
"You know what I mean."
Park nodded as Harris ran a hand through his hair.
"Olivia Carter wasn't the first victim."
"No."
"But she might not be the last."
The words hung in the cold locker room air.
Almost as if the universe wanted to prove him right, Harris's phone rang. He stepped aside to answer.
"Detective Harris."
A pause.
"Where?"
Another pause.
"How long ago?"
Park watched him closely.
"What is it?"
Harris lowered the phone slowly. His face had gone pale.
"There's been another incident."
My chest tightened.
"Where?"
He looked at me.
"The roof."
"The school roof?"
"Yes."
Park frowned.
"What happened?"
Harris exhaled slowly.
"Emma Carter jumped."
The room seemed to tilt slightly.
Emma Carter. Olivia's twin sister. The second girl in the video.
"Jumped?" Park repeated.
"That's what witnesses say."
"Witnesses?"
"Half the sophomore class."
"Is she—"
Harris didn't finish the sentence. He didn't need to.
Dead.
Park grabbed her jacket.
"We need to move."
They both turned toward the door. Harris paused and looked back at me.
"You're coming."
"Why?"
"Because if Emma Carter just died," he said quietly, "you're the last person who saw Olivia alive."
"And now the second person connected to Lily Lin is dead."
He stepped closer.
"Which means you're either very unlucky... or standing in the middle of something much bigger than we thought."
The rooftop was chaos.
Students crowded behind temporary barricades set up by campus security. Teachers shouted for people to move back while police tape fluttered in the wind. I arrived with Harris and Park just as paramedics lifted a stretcher into an ambulance.
A white sheet covered the body.
But I didn't need to see the face.
I already knew.
Emma Carter had died less than twenty hours after her sister.
Two deaths.
Same school.
Same group of people connected to Lily Lin.
That wasn't coincidence.
Park spoke with one of the campus officers.
"What happened?"
"Witnesses say she climbed the railing."
"Did anyone see her jump?"
"Yes."
"Did she say anything?"
The officer hesitated.
"Actually..."
"What?"
"She kept repeating something."
Park frowned.
"What?"
The officer checked his notes.
"'The game isn't finished.'"
My heart skipped.
Because I had heard those words before.
On my phone.
No one leaves the locker room until the game is over.
Park looked at Harris.
"This isn't suicide."
"No."
Harris scanned the crowd of students—faces pale, phones raised, fear spreading quickly through the school.
"This is escalation."
I slipped my hands into my jacket pockets as my phone vibrated again.
Another message.
I opened it.
One of them is gone.
Another appeared.
Two more left.
My pulse slowed.
Because now the rules were clear.
Olivia.
Emma.
Madison.
Three girls in the video. Three girls responsible for Lily Lin.
Two of them were already dead.
Which meant only one remained.
Madison Blake.
I typed quickly.
You're killing them.
The reply came instantly.
No.
Another message appeared.
They're finishing the game.
I looked up at the roof of Redwood Hills High School. Wind rattled the metal railing where Emma Carter had climbed minutes earlier.
My phone buzzed again.
And Madison Blake is next.
Across the courtyard I saw her.
Standing among the students.
Pale.
Shaking.
Looking directly at me.
Like she already knew what was coming.
