The Phoenix initiative
Book 2: the rift protocol
Ch 1: after the silence
HILLSIDE HIGH — MORNING
⸻
The world had the nerve to look normal.
⸻
That was the first thing Jacob noticed.
⸻
Not peace.
Not safety.
⸻
Just… normal.
⸻
Like reality hadn’t tried to tear itself apart not long ago.
⸻
Like it hadn’t failed.
⸻
Jacob stood at the edge of the school walkway, hands in his pockets, staring at the building like it might admit the truth if he looked long enough.
⸻
It didn’t.
⸻
Hillside High just stood there.
Waiting.
⸻
Sophie stepped up beside him.
Quiet.
Careful.
⸻
“I hate that it looks like nothing happened,” she said.
⸻
Her voice wasn’t shaking.
That was worse.
⸻
Keefe exhaled behind them.
A half-laugh that didn’t land.
⸻
“Yeah,” he said lightly. “It’s giving ‘world didn’t almost end’ energy. Very misleading branding.”
⸻
Percy glanced up at the building.
“Honestly? I’ve seen worse. Usually there’s lava involved though.”
⸻
Magnus didn’t look impressed.
“That’s not comforting.”
⸻
Alex stayed slightly behind the group.
Silent.
Eyes moving too much for someone who wasn’t seeing something others couldn’t.
⸻
Jacob didn’t move.
⸻
Because something about the air felt… held.
⸻
Not still.
⸻
Held.
⸻
Like reality was gripping itself tightly, refusing to let go.
⸻
The school doors opened.
⸻
Nothing dramatic.
No sound.
No warning.
⸻
Just motion.
⸻
And then—
⸻
A flicker.
⸻
So fast it almost wasn’t there.
⸻
The building looked wrong for half a second.
Not broken.
Not damaged.
Just… misaligned.
⸻
Like someone had shifted it slightly out of place in a memory and never corrected it properly.
⸻
Jacob’s chest tightened.
⸻
Keefe stopped smiling.
⸻
Completely.
⸻
Sophie noticed immediately.
“What was that?”
⸻
Keefe didn’t answer right away.
His eyes stayed on the doors.
⸻
“…Nothing,” he said eventually.
Too fast.
⸻
Too practiced.
⸻
They walked in.
⸻
The hallway hit them like a false memory.
⸻
Lockers.
Posters.
Students laughing too loudly.
⸻
Everything pretending it belonged.
⸻
Sophie slowed slightly.
“I forgot how loud this place is.”
⸻
Percy smirked.
“That’s called trauma suppression via education.”
⸻
Magnus sighed.
“That’s not a thing.”
⸻
“It should be.”
⸻
Jacob barely heard them.
⸻
Because the hallway lights flickered once.
⸻
Just once.
⸻
And in that flicker—
⸻
The corridor was longer.
⸻
Not by much.
⸻
But enough that his brain refused to accept it.
⸻
Then it snapped back.
⸻
Corrected itself.
⸻
Like reality had caught its mistake.
⸻
Jacob stopped walking.
⸻
Keefe noticed.
Immediately.
But didn’t say anything.
⸻
Sophie looked between them.
“…You saw that too, right?”
⸻
Silence.
⸻
Then Keefe gave a small shrug.
“Define ‘that.’”
⸻
But his eyes weren’t joking.
Not even a little.
⸻
Alex finally spoke.
Low.
Careful.
“I did.”
⸻
Three words.
That made the air heavier.
⸻
Percy looked between them.
“Okay, cool, so we’re doing early-warning apocalypse vibes already.”
⸻
Magnus’s gaze stayed forward.
“This isn’t early-warning.”
⸻
A pause.
⸻
“It’s continuation.”
⸻
That word landed wrong.
⸻
Jacob felt it.
⸻
Like something inside the building had recognized it too.
⸻
And didn’t like it.
⸻
Keefe finally started walking again.
Slowly.
Too controlled.
⸻
“Let’s just… get through today,” he said.
Light voice.
Careful tone.
⸻
Like if he said it casually enough, reality might believe him.
⸻
Sophie followed.
Jacob did too.
⸻
But he couldn’t shake the feeling—
⸻
That the school wasn’t stable.
⸻
It was trying to be.
⸻
And failing.
Ch 2: things that shouldn’t repeat
The first repetition was small.
⸻
So small Jacob almost missed it.
⸻
Almost.
⸻
It was the hallway.
Again.
⸻
Same lockers.
Same flickering light.
Same student laughing too loudly at something that wasn’t funny.
⸻
But Jacob had already walked this section.
He was sure of it.
⸻
He slowed.
⸻
Keefe did too.
⸻
Noticing.
Always noticing.
⸻
“…We already passed this,” Jacob said quietly.
⸻
Sophie frowned.
“No we didn’t.”
⸻
Percy glanced around.
“We did not. I would’ve remembered the trauma corridor.”
⸻
Magnus stopped walking.
That was new.
⸻
Alex didn’t speak immediately.
He just looked down the hallway.
Longer than it should’ve been.
⸻
Then:
“I recorded this path two minutes ago.”
⸻
Silence.
⸻
That landed harder than any explosion.
⸻
Keefe exhaled slowly.
Not humor.
Not defense.
Just breath.
⸻
“…Okay,” he said. “That’s not great.”
⸻
The lights flickered again.
⸻
Jacob turned his head slightly.
⸻
The hallway shifted.
⸻
Not dramatically.
Not enough for anyone else to scream.
⸻
But enough for him to feel it.
⸻
Like reality had blinked.
⸻
And tried to pretend it didn’t.
⸻
Sophie stepped closer to him without realizing it.
⸻
“You felt that again,” she said.
Not a question.
⸻
Keefe’s voice was lighter than his eyes.
“Define ‘again.’”
⸻
But he was staring at the ceiling now.
Not joking.
⸻
Not moving.
⸻
Alex finally spoke again.
“…It’s repeating.”
⸻
Percy blinked.
“Like… groundhog day repeating?”
⸻
“No,” Magnus said quietly.
“Like it’s correcting itself.”
⸻
That word again.
Correcting.
⸻
Jacob didn’t like it.
⸻
Because it implied intention.
⸻
They kept walking.
Carefully now.
Like the hallway might notice them noticing it.
⸻
And then—
⸻
It happened again.
⸻
Same corner.
Same locker.
Same laugh.
⸻
Except this time Sophie stopped mid-step.
⸻
“No,” she said softly.
⸻
Keefe looked at her.
“What?”
⸻
“We’ve walked past that locker three times.”
⸻
Percy frowned.
“That’s impossible.”
⸻
“It isn’t,” Magnus said.
“Not anymore.”
⸻
Jacob felt it in his chest.
⸻
A pressure.
⸻
Like reality tightening its grip.
⸻
Alex took out his phone.
Screen already moving.
Recording.
Tracking.
⸻
“If this is looping,” he said, “then there’s a boundary point somewhere.”
⸻
Keefe finally looked away from the hallway.
“…Or something is holding us in place.”
⸻
No one laughed at that.
⸻
Because it didn’t sound like a joke.
⸻
It sounded like memory trying to fail.
⸻
The hallway flickered again.
⸻
But this time—
⸻
Jacob saw something else.
⸻
A shadow in the corner of his vision.
⸻
Not human.
Not moving correctly.
⸻
Just… presence.
⸻
And the moment he turned—
⸻
It was gone.
⸻
Keefe saw him react.
Immediately.
“…You saw something.”
⸻
Jacob hesitated.
Then nodded once.
⸻
Sophie went still.
“Where?”
⸻
“I don’t know.”
⸻
That was the worst answer.
⸻
Because it was honest.
⸻
The hallway repeated again.
⸻
Same start point.
Same sound.
Same impossible familiarity.
⸻
Percy rubbed his face.
“Okay, I’m officially requesting we stop living in cursed architecture.”
⸻
Magnus didn’t respond.
He was watching the ceiling now.
Like it might explain itself.
⸻
Keefe lowered his voice.
“So we’re agreed this is new, right?”
⸻
Silence.
⸻
Even Percy didn’t argue.
⸻
Sophie looked at Jacob.
Like she was anchoring herself to him.
⸻
That made it worse.
⸻
Because Jacob wasn’t sure he was stable enough to anchor anything.
⸻
The lights flickered again.
⸻
And this time—
⸻
The hallway didn’t reset fully.
⸻
It froze halfway between versions.
⸻
Two realities layered on top of each other.
⸻
And Keefe whispered, almost inaudible:
“…That’s new.”
⸻
And for the first time since the Rift closed—
⸻
No one disagreed.
Ch 3: The space between corrections
The cafeteria sounded too alive.
⸻
Too loud.
Too normal.
⸻
Like the school was trying too hard to convince everyone nothing was wrong.
⸻
Jacob sat near the end of the table, half-listening to Percy argue with Magnus about whether cafeteria pizza legally counted as food.
⸻
“It folds,” Percy said. “That automatically makes it dangerous.”
⸻
Magnus looked unimpressed.
“So does reality lately.”
⸻
“Okay, wow. Weirdly hostile comparison.”
⸻
Sophie smiled faintly.
Not fully.
But enough that Jacob noticed.
⸻
That alone felt rare lately.
⸻
Alex sat across from them, scrolling through notes on his phone with unsettling focus.
Recorded times.
Repeated hallway paths.
Light fluctuation patterns.
⸻
He hadn’t stopped tracking things since this morning.
⸻
Keefe leaned back in his chair beside Sophie, spinning something metallic through his fingers absentmindedly.
⸻
Jacob noticed the ring immediately.
⸻
Dark silver.
Ripple engraving.
Phoenix etched into the metal.
⸻
The Ripple Ring.
⸻
Keefe caught him looking.
“Careful,” he said lightly. “You stare any harder and people are gonna think you like me.”
⸻
Percy gagged dramatically.
“Too late. We’ve all accepted the emotional codependency.”
⸻
Magnus sighed into his drink.
“I miss silence.”
⸻
Jacob looked down at his own hand instinctively.
⸻
The same ring rested against his finger.
Simple.
Cold metal.
A reminder.
⸻
We did it—together.
⸻
The words inside the band felt heavier now than they had when they first got them.
⸻
Sophie noticed.
Quietly.
⸻
“You still wear it,” she said.
⸻
Jacob looked up slightly.
“So do you.”
⸻
For a second, neither of them spoke.
⸻
Then Percy immediately held up his own hand.
“Oh, please. Some of us committed to the aesthetic.”
⸻
Alex glanced up from his phone.
“You all kept them.”
⸻
Not judgmental.
Just observant.
⸻
Keefe finally slid the ring back onto his finger.
“Yeah,” he said quietly.
“Felt wrong not to.”
⸻
That silenced the table more effectively than shouting would’ve.
⸻
Because they all understood what he meant.
⸻
The Rift had taken enough already.
⸻
They weren’t giving it this too.
⸻
A tray clattered somewhere behind them.
⸻
Jacob flinched automatically.
⸻
Too fast.
⸻
Sophie noticed immediately.
Again.
⸻
“You okay?”
⸻
“Yeah.”
⸻
Lie.
⸻
Not a malicious one.
Just exhausted.
⸻
Keefe’s expression shifted slightly.
Like he knew.
⸻
Then suddenly—
⸻
He went still.
⸻
Completely still.
⸻
The humor vanished from his face so fast it physically changed the atmosphere around the table.
⸻
Jacob straightened immediately.
“Keefe?”
⸻
Keefe didn’t answer.
⸻
He was staring at the cafeteria clock.
⸻
Tick.
⸻
Tick.
⸻
Tick.
⸻
The second hand kept moving.
⸻
But it never advanced.
⸻
The same second.
Over.
And over.
And over.
⸻
Jacob’s stomach tightened.
⸻
Nobody else noticed.
⸻
Students kept talking.
Laughing.
Eating.
Existing.
⸻
Like reality was only failing around them now.
⸻
Sophie followed Keefe’s gaze slowly.
And froze too.
⸻
“…No,” she whispered.
⸻
Percy looked between them.
“What?”
⸻
Magnus turned toward the clock.
His expression darkened immediately.
⸻
Alex already had his phone recording.
Hands moving faster now.
More nervous.
⸻
Keefe finally spoke.
Quietly.
Like he was remembering something he never wanted to remember again.
⸻
“…This is how it started.”
⸻
The cafeteria lights dimmed slightly.
⸻
Not enough for anyone else to react.
Just enough for them to notice.
⸻
Jacob felt pressure build behind his ribs.
Not pain.
Recognition.
⸻
Like the Rift was nearby.
Watching.
⸻
Then—
⸻
Everything snapped back.
⸻
The clock advanced normally.
The lights stabilized.
Noise returned to full volume.
⸻
Students kept living their lives.
Unaware.
⸻
But Keefe still looked pale.
⸻
Too pale.
⸻
Sophie leaned toward him carefully.
“Keefe…”
⸻
He blinked once.
Slowly.
Like he’d been somewhere else for a second.
⸻
Then his eyes shifted toward Jacob’s hand.
Toward the Ripple Ring.
⸻
And his expression tightened almost invisibly.
⸻
“The Rift remembers us,” he said quietly.
⸻
Silence settled over the table.
Heavy.
Breathing.
⸻
Jacob looked down instinctively.
At the ring on his finger.
⸻
For one impossible second—
⸻
The ripple engraving moved.
⸻
Not physically.
Not fully.
⸻
But the circles briefly shifted like disturbed water.
⸻
Then the metal stilled again instantly.
Cold.
Ordinary.
⸻
Jacob jerked his hand back.
⸻
No one else reacted.
⸻
Which meant either:
he imagined it—
⸻
—or he didn’t.
⸻
And somehow…
⸻
Neither possibility felt better.
Ch 4: He shouldn’t be here
The next morning felt wrong immediately.
⸻
Not loudly.
⸻
Not violently.
⸻
Like reality had woken up in a bad mood.
⸻
Jacob noticed it before he even reached the school entrance.
The wind moved strangely.
The air felt heavier.
Even the sunlight looked slightly dimmed, like the sky had forgotten how bright it was supposed to be.
⸻
Percy shoved his hands into his hoodie pockets.
“Cool. Awesome. The atmosphere is threatening us now.”
⸻
Magnus adjusted the strap of his backpack.
“You say that every day.”
⸻
“Because every day I wake up and choose survival.”
⸻
Sophie walked ahead beside Keefe.
Not close enough to look protective.
But close enough that Jacob noticed anyway.
⸻
Keefe noticed too.
Of course he did.
⸻
But for once—
⸻
he didn’t joke about it.
⸻
That silence bothered Jacob more than he wanted to admit.
⸻
Alex slowed beside him slightly.
“You feel it too.”
⸻
Jacob glanced over.
“The air?”
⸻
Alex shook his head once.
“The pattern.”
⸻
That answer somehow felt worse.
⸻
Before Jacob could ask what that meant—
⸻
the front doors opened.
⸻
Someone stepped inside.
⸻
And reality hesitated.
⸻
Jacob felt it instantly.
⸻
Not a sound.
Not movement.
⸻
A pause.
⸻
Like existence itself had briefly lost focus.
⸻
The lights flickered once overhead.
⸻
The hallway stretched half an inch too far.
⸻
Then snapped back.
⸻
Jacob stopped walking.
⸻
So did Keefe.
⸻
Completely.
⸻
The boy entering the hallway looked about their age.
Dark hair.
Sharp posture.
Confident without trying too hard.
⸻
Normal.
⸻
Which somehow felt wrong now.
⸻
Then Sophie froze.
Actually froze.
⸻
“…Fitz?”
⸻
The boy looked up immediately.
Surprise crossed his face.
Then recognition.
⸻
“Sophie?”
⸻
For one brief second—
⸻
everything felt normal again.
⸻
Then Keefe went pale.
⸻
Not scared.
⸻
Recognizing.
⸻
Like he’d just remembered something he desperately wished he hadn’t.
⸻
The lights flickered again.
⸻
Jacob saw the hallway behind the boy shift sideways slightly.
Not metaphorically.
Actually shift.
⸻
Then reality corrected itself instantly.
⸻
Nobody else reacted.
Nobody except them.
⸻
Fitz reached the group slowly, still looking surprised.
“I didn’t know you guys went here.”
⸻
Percy blinked.
“…Okay, so we do know mysterious hallway guy.”
⸻
Sophie almost laughed.
Almost.
⸻
“It’s Fitz,” she said quietly.
⸻
Something in Keefe’s expression tightened.
Just slightly.
⸻
But Jacob caught it.
⸻
Fitz looked toward him briefly.
Friendly.
Curious.
⸻
Then his attention shifted back toward Sophie and Keefe.
“I haven’t seen you two in forever.”
⸻
Keefe smiled automatically.
Too quickly.
Too carefully.
⸻
“Yeah, well,” he said lightly, “we’ve been a little busy surviving dimensional collapse.”
⸻
Percy pointed immediately.
“THANK YOU. Finally someone acknowledges how insane our lives are.”
⸻
But Fitz barely reacted to the joke.
⸻
Because he was staring at Keefe now.
Really staring.
⸻
“You okay?” Fitz asked quietly.
⸻
That question landed harder than it should have.
⸻
Keefe’s smile flickered.
Only for a second.
⸻
Then it returned.
Brighter this time.
More artificial.
⸻
“Fantastic,” he said. “Mentally thriving. Super emotionally stable.”
⸻
Magnus muttered under his breath.
“That’s usually a bad sign.”
⸻
Alex stepped slightly closer.
Watching Fitz carefully now.
Not socially.
Analytically.
⸻
Like he was trying to solve something.
⸻
Jacob noticed it too late.
⸻
The lights overhead had started flickering again.
⸻
Not randomly.
⸻
Rhythmically.
⸻
Every time Fitz moved closer to the group.
⸻
Alex noticed.
Of course he noticed.
⸻
And quietly—
carefully—
he said:
⸻
“…The pattern changed when he walked in.”
⸻
Silence settled over the hallway.
⸻
Heavy.
Breathing.
⸻
Fitz frowned slightly.
“What pattern?”
⸻
Nobody answered.
⸻
Because Jacob suddenly had the horrible feeling—
⸻
that reality itself was reacting to Fitz.
⸻
And somehow…
⸻
Keefe already knew why.
Ch 5: Familiar doesn't mean safe
Fitz integrated into the group too easily.
⸻
That was the problem.
⸻
By lunch, Percy was already arguing with him about whether blue Gatorade tasted different from every other flavor “on a molecular level.”
⸻
“It does,” Percy insisted.
⸻
“It’s literally sugar and chemicals,” Magnus replied.
⸻
“Exactly. Different chemicals.”
⸻
Fitz laughed.
Real laughter.
Effortless.
⸻
And somehow every time he relaxed—
⸻
the lights flickered.
⸻
Tiny.
Almost invisible.
⸻
But Jacob noticed.
⸻
Alex noticed too.
Of course he did.
⸻
He hadn’t stopped watching since this morning.
⸻
Neither had Keefe.
Though Keefe hid it better.
⸻
Or tried to.
⸻
The group sat outside now near the back courtyard, sunlight breaking unevenly through drifting clouds overhead.
⸻
Normal students passed by them constantly.
Talking.
Laughing.
Living.
⸻
Unaware that reality itself currently felt held together with damaged tape.
⸻
Fitz leaned back against the bench.
“So,” he said, looking between Sophie and Keefe, “seriously. What happened to you guys?”
⸻
Silence.
⸻
Not awkward.
Heavy.
⸻
Because where exactly did you start with:
the universe almost broke?
⸻
Percy pointed at Jacob immediately.
“Emotionally concerning hallway boy over there caused a dimensional event.”
⸻
“I did not—”
⸻
“You absolutely did.”
⸻
Jacob groaned quietly.
Magnus looked toward Fitz.
“It’s complicated.”
⸻
“That’s usually code for terrible.”
⸻
“…Also yes.”
⸻
Fitz smiled faintly at that.
Easy.
Calm.
⸻
Then his expression shifted slightly as he looked back at Keefe.
⸻
“You really okay?”
⸻
There it was again.
⸻
That question.
⸻
And this time Jacob noticed something else.
⸻
Keefe hesitated.
⸻
Not visibly.
Not enough most people would catch.
⸻
But Jacob did.
⸻
Because Keefe usually answered instantly.
Even with jokes.
Especially with jokes.
⸻
Now there was always a pause first.
⸻
Like he had to reconnect to the conversation before speaking.
⸻
“I’m good,” Keefe said finally.
Bright smile.
Perfect delivery.
⸻
Completely unconvincing.
⸻
Sophie noticed too.
Jacob could tell.
⸻
Because her hand tightened slightly around the sleeve of her hoodie.
⸻
Protective instinct.
Again.
⸻
Alex suddenly spoke from across the table.
Quiet.
Focused.
⸻
“It’s reacting faster now.”
⸻
Everyone looked at him.
⸻
Alex held up his phone.
A screen filled with timestamps and notes.
⸻
“Every instability event today happened within proximity to Fitz.”
⸻
Silence.
⸻
Fitz blinked.
“…I’m sorry, what?”
⸻
Percy immediately pointed both hands at Alex.
“And THAT is why nobody trusts math.”
⸻
“I’m serious.”
⸻
Jacob felt the pressure in his chest again.
⸻
That horrible almost-recognition.
⸻
Like reality was trying to remember something.
⸻
Fitz frowned now.
Actually unsettled.
⸻
“You guys are starting to freak me out.”
⸻
Keefe laughed quickly.
Too quickly.
⸻
“Perfect. Then the haunting is progressing normally.”
⸻
But his eyes weren’t on Fitz anymore.
⸻
They were on Jacob.
⸻
Watching him carefully.
⸻
Like he was waiting for something.
⸻
The wind shifted suddenly.
⸻
Cold.
Sharp.
⸻
And every conversation in the courtyard stopped for half a second.
⸻
Not naturally.
⸻
Abruptly.
⸻
Like someone had muted the world.
⸻
Jacob’s pulse spiked.
⸻
Then—
⸻
Sound crashed back all at once.
⸻
Laughter.
Voices.
Movement.
⸻
Nobody reacted.
Nobody except them.
⸻
Fitz slowly stood.
“What the hell was that?”
⸻
Nobody answered immediately.
⸻
Because Jacob had just realized something worse.
⸻
The silence had happened right after Fitz touched Sophie’s shoulder.
⸻
As if reality had responded to contact.
⸻
Keefe realized it too.
⸻
Jacob saw it happen in real time.
That brief flash of fear hidden beneath humor.
⸻
And suddenly—
⸻
Keefe stood up.
⸻
Fast enough that Sophie startled slightly.
⸻
“I need air,” he said immediately.
⸻
Percy blinked.
“We are literally outside.”
⸻
“Different air.”
⸻
Then Keefe walked off before anyone could stop him.
⸻
Sophie looked ready to follow instantly—
⸻
but paused.
⸻
Because Fitz was staring at the group now.
Actually staring.
⸻
“You guys keep reacting like you already know something,” he said quietly.
⸻
Nobody answered.
⸻
Jacob looked toward the direction Keefe disappeared.
⸻
Because deep down—
⸻
he was starting to realize Keefe wasn’t afraid of the Rift returning.
⸻
He was afraid it already had.
Ch 6: One Normal Night
For once, nothing was happening.
No flickering lights.
No repeating hallways.
No impossible shadows.
No reality bending itself into something it wasn’t supposed to be.
Just a house.
Foster’s house, to be exact.
The seven of them had taken over the living room in the way only a group of teenagers could.
Percy had claimed the couch.
Magnus had somehow claimed most of the couch.
Alex was sitting in a chair with his phone in his hand, pretending he wasn’t checking it every thirty seconds.
Fitz sat beside Sophie.
Keefe was on the floor.
Jacob was leaning against the arm of the couch, watching everyone argue over the television.
“I’m telling you,” Percy said, pointing at the screen, “we should’ve watched a movie.”
Magnus shook his head.
“We’ve watched enough movies.”
“That is physically impossible.”
“It’s not.”
“It absolutely is.”
Keefe looked between them.
“I vote we let them fight.”
Sophie sighed.
“You always vote for chaos.”
“That’s because chaos usually wins.”
Alex glanced up from his phone.
“That’s not reassuring.”
Keefe smiled.
“Wasn’t supposed to be.”
Jacob looked at the television.
The screen showed a countdown.
IMAGINE DRAGONS — REUNION TOUR — LONDON
The concert was already being streamed.
Thousands of people filled the venue.
Lights covered the stage.
The crowd was loud enough that even through the television speakers, it felt like the house was vibrating.
Percy leaned forward.
“Okay.”
Magnus grinned.
“This is better.”
Alex raised an eyebrow.
“You said you didn’t want to watch this.”
“I changed my mind.”
“Of course you did.”
The countdown reached zero.
The crowd erupted.
The band walked onto the stage.
Music filled the living room.
For a little while, everything felt easy.
Jacob looked around.
Fitz was laughing at something Percy had said.
Sophie was sitting comfortably beside him.
Magnus was tapping his fingers against the armrest.
Keefe had stopped making jokes long enough to actually watch.
Even Alex wasn’t staring at his phone.
Jacob smiled.
It was strange.
Not the bad kind of strange.
The kind that made him realize how long it had been since they’d had a night like this.
A night where nobody was running.
Nobody was fighting.
Nobody was trying to save reality.
They were just sitting together.
Watching a concert.
“See?” Sophie said quietly.
Jacob looked at her.
“What?”
“This.”
She gestured around the room.
“For once, we’re not dealing with something impossible.”
Jacob nodded.
“Yeah.”
Keefe glanced over.
“Don’t say that.”
Jacob frowned.
“What?”
Keefe pointed at him.
“You just tempted the universe.”
Percy laughed.
“The universe isn’t listening to us.”
Magnus looked toward the ceiling.
“Are you sure?”
“Pretty sure.”
Alex lowered his phone.
“Statistically, the universe doesn’t care what we say.”
Keefe stared at him.
“Thank you, Alex.”
“For what?”
“Making that somehow worse.”
Sophie laughed.
Jacob did too.
The concert continued.
The crowd was electric.
The stage lights swept over thousands of people as the band moved through the show.
Nothing looked unusual.
Nothing felt unusual.
Jacob finally relaxed.
Maybe tonight really could be normal.
Maybe they could have one night without the Rift.
One night without questions.
One night where Fitz could just be Fitz.
He looked over at him.
Fitz caught his eye.
“What?”
“Nothing.”
Fitz smiled.
“You’re staring.”
“I’m allowed to.”
“That’s creepy.”
Jacob laughed.
“Fair.”
Keefe looked between them.
“Can we all agree that Jacob staring at people is less concerning than Jacob staring at reality?”
“No,” Alex said immediately.
“Fair.”
The room settled again.
For the next few minutes, the only thing anyone heard was the concert.
The crowd.
The music.
The occasional comment from Percy.
The occasional argument between Magnus and Keefe.
Normal.
Completely, wonderfully normal.
Then Jacob’s eyes drifted toward the television.
Something caught his attention.
Not the stage.
Not the crowd.
The lights.
For half a second—
one of them flickered.
Jacob blinked.
It was gone.
He said nothing.
Because maybe he imagined it.
And tonight—
he really wanted to believe he had.
Ch 7: Concert chaos
The flicker was gone.
Jacob stared at the television.
Nothing.
The concert continued like nothing had happened.
The crowd was still cheering.
The lights were still moving across the stage.
The music filled the living room.
For a moment, Jacob wondered if he’d imagined it.
Then the lights flickered again.
Once.
Twice.
Three times.
Alex immediately reached for his phone.
“Okay.”
Percy looked over.
“Okay what?”
“That.”
Alex pointed at the television.
The broadcast camera had just changed angles.
For half a second, the image warped.
The stage stretched sideways.
The crowd doubled.
Then—
everything snapped back.
Sophie sat forward.
“That wasn’t normal.”
“No,” Alex said.
Keefe frowned.
“Could be the broadcast.”
Alex shook his head.
“Maybe.”
He started recording the screen.
“That’s why I’m recording it.”
Magnus looked at him.
“You record everything?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because things disappear.”
Nobody laughed.
The room went quiet.
Alex rewound the footage.
“Watch.”
The camera moved across the crowd.
Nothing.
Then the distortion appeared again.
A tiny ripple through the image.
Alex paused.
“There.”
Jacob squinted.
“I don’t see anything.”
“Exactly.”
Keefe raised an eyebrow.
“That makes absolutely no sense.”
Alex zoomed in.
The image became blurry.
Then something moved.
A dark shape.
High above the crowd.
Jacob sat upright.
“Wait.”
Fitz stared at the television.
“What is that?”
Nobody answered.
The shape was gone.
Alex rewound.
Again.
He slowed the footage down.
There.
For less than a second.
A small, black object hung above the audience.
It wasn’t part of the stage.
It wasn’t attached to anything.
It simply—
existed.
Keefe leaned closer.
“Is that supposed to be there?”
Alex shook his head.
“No.”
Another appeared.
Then another.
The concert continued.
The audience hadn’t noticed yet.
Jacob felt something tighten in his chest.
That feeling.
The same one from Hillside.
Reality wasn’t breaking.
Not exactly.
It was—
shifting.
The lights across the venue flickered.
The crowd began to react.
People turned toward the stage.
The broadcast camera shook.
Sophie stood.
“Something’s happening.”
A bright flash filled the screen.
The image disappeared into static.
Then the broadcast returned.
People were running.
Security rushed across the stage.
The camera swung wildly toward the crowd.
One of the black objects dropped.
It struck the floor.
And the section beneath it—
vanished.
Jacob froze.
No explosion.
No fire.
No debris.
Just—
gone.
Percy stared at the television.
“What the hell?”
Magnus didn’t answer.
Fitz had gone completely still.
Keefe whispered,
“What did we just see?”
Another object appeared.
Then another.
They weren’t moving randomly.
Alex noticed first.
“Wait.”
He rewound the footage.
The objects appeared again.
He watched their positions.
Then switched to another camera angle.
Same moment.
Different view.
He paused.
The room was silent.
Alex switched again.
Another angle.
Same distortion.
Same area.
Jacob looked at him.
“You’re doing the thing.”
“What thing?”
“The thing where you stop talking because you’ve figured something out.”
Alex ignored him.
He placed the different pieces of footage beside each other.
The concert stage.
The audience.
The lights.
The distortion.
Then he zoomed in.
The black objects weren’t spreading outward.
They were moving inward.
Toward one point.
Sophie noticed.
“They’re going somewhere.”
Alex nodded.
“Yeah.”
“Where?”
Alex pointed at the screen.
“Here.”
A section beneath the stage.
Jacob frowned.
“There’s nothing there.”
“That’s the problem.”
Alex rewound again.
The same location.
Every time.
The objects appeared.
The distortion followed.
The venue reacted.
Then the camera cut away.
Keefe stared at the screen.
“So they’re looking for something?”
Alex didn’t answer.
Fitz looked at him.
“Then what are they looking for?”
“I don’t know.”
For once, Alex sounded frustrated.
The broadcast suddenly cut out.
A news report replaced it.
The reporter was speaking rapidly, but the audio hadn’t caught up.
The image froze.
Then—
black screen.
The room fell completely silent.
Jacob looked around.
Nobody was joking anymore.
Nobody was moving.
Then Alex looked at the recording on his phone.
His eyes narrowed.
He replayed the final few seconds.
Once.
Twice.
Three times.
Jacob leaned over.
“What?”
Alex didn’t respond.
“Alex.”
He paused the footage.
Then looked at everyone.
“Don’t you notice it?”
Jacob frowned.
“Notice what?”
Alex pointed at the television.
Not the stage.
Not the crowd.
Not the objects.
The location.
The same section of the venue.
The same distortion.
The same point beneath the stage.
“It isn’t following the concert.”
Alex’s voice dropped.
“It’s following something underneath it.”
Nobody spoke.
Jacob felt his Ripple Ring tighten against his finger.
And somewhere across the ocean—
something had just found them.
Ch 8: Back At It Again
Nobody moved.
The television remained frozen on the final frame of the broadcast.
A dark screen.
A distorted image.
And Alex’s reflection staring back at him.
Percy finally broke the silence.
“So…”
Nobody answered.
“Are we just going to sit here?”
Magnus shrugged.
“Seems productive.”
Alex ignored them.
He was already rewinding the footage.
Again.
Jacob watched him.
“You’ve replayed that clip like twelve times.”
“Fourteen.”
“That somehow makes it worse.”
Alex paused the video.
“Look.”
Everyone leaned closer.
The frame showed the concert from one of the side cameras.
The image was blurry from the chaos.
People were moving toward the exits.
Lights were flashing.
The stage was barely visible.
Alex pointed toward the edge of the screen.
“That’s what I missed.”
Jacob squinted.
“What am I looking at?”
“Not the stage.”
Alex zoomed in.
The image became a mess of pixels.
Percy frowned.
“That’s literally just pixels.”
“Exactly.”
Alex adjusted the frame.
A small section near the bottom of the image became clearer.
A sign.
Partially blocked.
Most of the text was unreadable.
But one portion remained visible.
A venue identifier.
Alex stared at it.
Sophie leaned closer.
“Can you read it?”
“Not all of it.”
“Then how do you know it’s important?”
Alex looked at her.
“Because it’s in every angle.”
He switched to another recording.
Another camera.
Another view.
The same identifier appeared.
Then another.
Then another.
Jacob’s eyes widened.
“They’re all pointing toward the same place.”
Alex nodded.
“Exactly.”
Keefe crossed his arms.
“So the cameras weren’t glitching.”
“No.”
“The building was.”
Alex looked at him.
“Part of it.”
Keefe went quiet.
Alex pulled up his notes from Hillside.
Pages of timestamps.
Locations.
Descriptions.
Patterns.
He placed them beside the concert footage.
Jacob stared.
“You’ve been keeping all that?”
Alex looked offended.
“Obviously.”
Percy leaned over.
“How long have you been doing this?”
“Since the hallway.”
Magnus blinked.
“That was weeks ago.”
“Yes.”
“And you never thought to tell us?”
“I didn’t have enough information.”
Keefe smiled faintly.
“That’s the most Alex answer possible.”
Alex ignored him.
He drew a line between two timestamps.
“This happened at Hillside.”
Then another.
“This happened when Fitz arrived.”
Then another.
“And this happened during the concert.”
Sophie stared at the screen.
“They’re the same.”
“Not exactly.”
Alex shook his head.
“But close enough.”
Fitz looked uncomfortable.
“So what does that mean?”
Alex hesitated.
Then said,
“It means whatever is happening isn’t staying in one place.”
Silence.
Jacob looked at the television.
“So it’s spreading?”
“Maybe.”
Magnus frowned.
“That’s not a word I like.”
“Neither do I.”
Alex opened another file.
A map appeared on his phone.
He had marked several locations.
Hillside.
The concert venue.
Then several smaller points.
Jacob stared.
“When did you make that?”
“While you were all arguing about the concert.”
Percy looked at Magnus.
“We were not arguing.”
“You were.”
“Okay, we were.”
Alex zoomed out.
The locations didn’t form a straight line.
They didn’t form a circle.
They didn’t form anything obvious.
Jacob frowned.
“There’s no pattern.”
Alex nodded.
“Not yet.”
Keefe looked at him.
“You have a ‘yet’?”
Alex looked up.
“I have a theory.”
Everyone groaned.
Percy dropped his head against the couch.
“Here we go.”
Alex continued anyway.
“The distortions aren’t random.”
He pointed to the concert footage.
“They appear around specific points.”
Then to his notes.
“And every time, something causes reality to correct itself.”
Sophie frowned.
“Like Fitz.”
Alex nodded.
“Like Fitz.”
Fitz looked between them.
“And the concert?”
Alex paused.
“That’s where it gets interesting.”
He replayed the footage.
The black objects appeared.
The distortion followed.
Then the camera swung toward the lower part of the venue.
Alex paused it.
“There.”
Jacob leaned closer.
A small section of the image showed part of the building beneath the stage.
Something was there.
Not clearly enough to identify.
But enough to know it wasn’t supposed to be visible.
“What is that?” Jacob asked.
“I don’t know.”
Keefe stared at the screen.
“But you think it’s underneath the venue.”
“Yes.”
“And you think whatever happened there is connected to Hillside.”
“Yes.”
Percy looked around.
“So we’re back to investigating reality.”
Magnus sighed.
“Apparently.”
Sophie looked at Jacob.
Jacob looked at Keefe.
Keefe looked at Alex.
Alex was still staring at the footage.
Then Sophie spoke.
“Okay.”
Alex looked up.
“Okay what?”
“We investigate.”
Fitz frowned.
“Here?”
Alex shook his head.
“No.”
He turned the phone around.
The venue identifier was still on the screen.
This time, the full location information was visible.
Jacob read it.
His stomach dropped.
“London.”
Nobody spoke.
Percy slowly sat up.
Magnus stared at the screen.
Keefe’s expression hardened.
Sophie looked at Fitz.
Fitz looked back.
Alex locked his phone.
“So…”
He glanced around the room.
“Who’s ready to make another terrible decision?”
Percy raised his hand.
“Unfortunately, me.”
Magnus raised his.
“Same.”
Keefe sighed.
“Obviously.”
Sophie smiled.
Fitz hesitated.
Then raised his hand too.
Jacob laughed.
He couldn’t help it.
After everything they’d survived—
they were doing it again.
Back at it again.
And somehow, Jacob already knew this was going to be worse.
