5:46 PM – Julian's Apartment
Rain spattered the windows as tension simmered in the small room. The group sat scattered across the couch, floor, and window sill — their bodies tired, but their minds electrified with fear.
Cole paced back and forth.
"It's me," he muttered. "I'm next."
"We're not letting it happen," Mark said firmly, his hands gripping a police file filled with past death incidents.
"You don't know that—" Cole started.
"I saw it," Mark interrupted. "The vision—your face was the last one I saw before it went black. You're next."
Julian stood beside the door with a fire extinguisher. "So we keep you safe. We fight it."
"Can you fight a force you can't see?" Leah asked, gripping the edge of her hoodie.
"Yes," said Mark. "With each other."
6:01 PM
They moved as one. Every outlet was unplugged. Every sharp object removed. They lined the floors with blankets and kept Cole in the center of the room, like a fragile relic in a museum.
Julian clutched the extinguisher like it was a sword. Leah had scissors just in case anything got tangled.
Cole sat cross-legged, silent. "I feel like bait."
"You are," Julian said. "But bait with backup."
The lights flickered.
Pop.
The bulb overhead burst.
Everyone jumped.
Mark shouted, "Stay back from him!"
Cole scrambled to his feet. "It's happening!"
The radiator in the corner began to hiss.
Steam whistled out in an unnatural pattern, curling in mid-air like invisible fingers.
Then the bookshelf—secure just moments before—tilted forward.
"MOVE!" Leah screamed.
Cole dove sideways as the shelf collapsed where he had been, books thudding like bricks.
An exposed nail shot out from the wood, zipping through the air—aiming straight for his neck.
Julian lunged with the fire extinguisher—
THUNK!
The nail embedded into the extinguisher instead.
Julian stared, wide-eyed. "Holy—!"
But it wasn't over.
The radiator exploded with a shriek, scalding steam blanketing the room.
"Get him out!" Mark yelled.
Leah grabbed Cole's arm. "We're running! NOW!"
But the floorboards beneath Cole cracked loudly.
He fell halfway through the splintering floor. "Help! I'm stuck!"
Mark and Leah grabbed each of his arms, pulling with all their strength.
The crack widened.
Beneath them — in the crawlspace — a cluster of jagged plumbing jutted upward, aimed like spikes.
"Come on, come on!" Julian grunted.
They pulled.
Snap!
The board gave way just as Cole was yanked free — and the floor caved in.
Everyone collapsed backward, panting.
Cole blinked at the gap below.
"Jesus."
"You were supposed to fall through that," Mark said, stunned. "And get impaled."
"But we stopped it," Leah whispered.
"Death had a plan," Julian muttered, looking at the nail still buried in the extinguisher, "but we rewrote it."
Cole finally exhaled. "I lived."
Mark nodded slowly. "The flow is disrupted."
For now.