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5. the first mistake

  CHAPTER 5

  The ke was waiting.

  Carmen didn't have to ask them to go. He barely had to speak at all.

  Noel had already been there that morning—he didn't know why. Said he went for a walk and his feet just took him there. Ezra wanted to get out of the house. Victor had been restless all day. Lilia felt like she needed fresh air, and Marina had a dream about water.

  They each had their reasons, but none of them felt like their own.

  -It wasn't an invitation. It was inevitability.

  The road to the ke stretches out in front of them, swallowed by the early evening haze. The dirt path curves zily between the trees, their leaves rustling in a wind that doesn't quite reach the ground.

  It's a familiar walk. Too familiar.

  Carmen has taken this route hundreds of times before, in every season, under every kind of sky. He knows the way by heart—the gnarled roots that jut from the earth, the fallen tree by the roadside, the way the air smells like damp wood and something distant, something unpceable.

  And yet, tonight, something feels wrong.

  He can't put his finger on it, but the wrongness is there, coiled beneath the surface, slithering between the cracks of our world.

  Lilia walks ahead, humming absently, her fingers tracing the air like she's painting something invisible. Marina nudges her, ughing about something Carmen doesn't quite catch. The boys follow behind—Victor kicking a loose rock, Noel smirking, Ezra muttering something under his breath.

  It's all so ordinary.

  And yet, there's a weight to the silence. A pressure that builds the longer they walk.

  A shadow that stretches just a little too far.

  The ke greets them the way it always does—still, gssy, mirroring the sky. It's too smooth, too perfect, like a frozen photograph of water instead of something alive.

  The air is thick with expectation.

  They came here with a purpose.

  They spend the next hour trying to recreate the déjà vu illusions.

  Marina stands in a specific spot, trying to remember if she's dreamed this before. Ezra closes his eyes and mutters something about time loops. Noel tosses a rock into the water, watching the ripples spread.

  They stand in familiar pces. Speak in familiar ways.

  Wait for something to happen.

  But nothing does.

  The wind moves. The trees whisper. The water breathes.

  Nothing.

  Minutes stretch into an hour. The group starts losing interest. Marina ys back on the grass, staring up at the darkening sky. Victor and Noel start roughhousing by the shore, their ughter sharp against the quiet.

  Carmen exhales slowly, his fingers flexing against the cold air. His breath feels heavier. He doesn't know why.

  Something is happening. He can feel it, thick and invisible, like the air before a storm.

  But no one else seems to notice.

  The moment is slipping. They're giving up.

  Then—

  Something tugs at his vision.

  A subtle shift. A glitch in the corner of his eye.

  His gaze drops to the ke.

  And his friends aren't there.

  His breath catches.

  The water is still. Unmoving. It reflects the trees, the sky, the world above—

  But not them.

  His hands curl into fists. A slow, creeping wrongness spreads through his veins, pooling at the base of his skull.

  He blinks. The world feels too still.

  His chest tightens like the air itself is too suffocating, pressing in on him.

  He looks away. A sharp inhale. A steadying breath.

  When he looks again—his friends are there.

  But he isn't.

  His stomach drops.

  His hands tremble.

  The reflection is clear. Unmistakable. He scans the water, searching—his own image is gone.

  He steps forward, barely breathing. His pulse hammers against his ribs.

  He looks again.

  And they're all smiling.

  Wide. Unmoving.

  And they're talking.

  All at once.

  The sound doesn't reach him. Their mouths move—too fast, too erratic, too much—ughter, conversation, words he can't understand. It's like watching a muted recording, sped up, voices lost to the void.

  His skin prickles. The air hums. The ground beneath him feels soft, like he might sink if he isn't careful.

  No. No, this isn't—

  He looks away. His pulse roars in his ears.

  Slowly, cautiously, he looks up—

  And they're all staring at him.

  No talking. No ughing. No moving lips.

  Just watching.

  His vision wavers. The world tips sideways.

  A static hum buzzes at the back of his skull.

  He blinks.

  And everything is normal again.

  Lilia tosses a rock into the water. Marina stretches. Victor and Noel bicker about something stupid. Ezra sighs, rubbing his temple.

  Carmen sways slightly, exhaling shakily. His pulse hasn't slowed. His lungs still feel too tight.

  The ke reflects them all.

  But something lingers.

  Something else was there.

  Something is still waiting.

  Carmen doesn't think it's finished with him yet.

  -and it isn't done with you either.

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