CTRL

dear dairy

🌑 CTRL 🌑

𝐶ℎ𝑎𝑝𝑡𝑒𝑟 𝐹𝑖𝑣𝑒.....

The only thing worse than being hunted....was not knowing when the trap would snap shut.

Tami sat in her room with Cassie that night, door locked, her jacket on the floor like discarded armor. Her vanity light glowed softly as Cassie typed.

Not an apology. Not a confession.

A diary entry.

A fake one.

Their plan was simple: fake a leak, bait the snake, catch CTRL slipping.

Simple, until....

Cassie typed;

"𝑆𝑜𝑚𝑒𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒𝑠 𝐼 𝑤𝑜𝑛𝑑𝑒𝑟 𝑖𝑓 𝐼 𝑚𝑎𝑑𝑒 ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑚𝑦 𝑏𝑒𝑠𝑡 𝑓𝑟𝑖𝑒𝑛𝑑 𝑗𝑢𝑠𝑡 𝑡𝑜 𝑘𝑒𝑒𝑝 ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑐𝑙𝑜𝑠𝑒....𝑡𝑜 𝑘𝑒𝑒𝑝 ℎ𝑖𝑚 𝑐𝑙𝑜𝑠𝑒𝑟. 𝑆ℎ𝑒 𝑛𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑟 𝑘𝑛𝑒𝑤. 𝐵𝑢𝑡 𝐼 𝑎𝑙𝑤𝑎𝑦𝑠 𝑓𝑒𝑙𝑡 𝑖𝑡. 𝑇ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑖𝑓 ℎ𝑒 𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑟 𝑠𝑎𝑤 ℎ𝑒𝑟 -𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑙𝑙𝑦 𝑠𝑎𝑤 ℎ𝑒𝑟 -𝐼'𝑑 𝑙𝑜𝑠𝑒"

She saved the document, changed the font to a hand written style, printed it and handed it to Tami. Tami stained the corner with foundation, folded it and slipped it into her notebook.

Tomorrow, she'd 'accidentally' drop it.

Right near CTRL's favorite hunting ground: the student lounge.

Let them bite.

Let them choke.

But little did Tami and Cassie know that someone had already gotten to the diary before it even hit the floor.

The next day, Friday, the air was electric - something about the lights, or the whispers, or the storm clouds piling in the distance.

Cassie watched from the library balcony, arms crossed. Something didn't feel right. The school felt rigged, like a stage before a twisted show.

At the lockers near the lounge, Tami let the diary entry fall - perfectly - like a feather. It landed just under the table beside the vending machine.

And two periods later, CTRL posted, exactly 2:04 p.m.

A page from a diary entry.

Lines underlined in red.

But one line wasn't Tami's.

"𝑊ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑖𝑓 𝐼 𝑢𝑠𝑒𝑑 𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑦𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝐼 𝑘𝑛𝑒𝑤 𝑡𝑜 𝑑𝑒𝑠𝑡𝑟𝑜𝑦 ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑡𝑜𝑜? 𝑊ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑖𝑓 𝑤𝑒 𝑑𝑒𝑠𝑒𝑟𝑣𝑒𝑑 𝑖𝑡?"

The caption:

"This girl's been playing victim. But now you see the truth . CTRL yourselves babies, Friday's not over yet"

#CTRLFriday#

People gasped in the halls. Some screenshots had been taken before Tami could even blink. And now, the trap she set was being used against her.

Whispers exploded.

"𝑆ℎ𝑒 𝑤𝑎𝑠 𝑔𝑜𝑛𝑛𝑎 𝑡𝑎𝑘𝑒 𝑑𝑜𝑤𝑛 𝐴𝑙𝑖𝑎 𝑡𝑜𝑜?"

"𝑊𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑦 𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑛 𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑙𝑙𝑦 𝑓𝑟𝑖𝑒𝑛𝑑𝑠?"

"𝑇ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑔𝑖𝑟𝑙'𝑠 𝑖𝑛𝑠𝑎𝑛𝑒!"

Tami blinked at her phone screen.

Cassie rushed up to her. "I swear that extra page wasn't mine," she said, flipping through her files.

"Someone got in."

"No," Tami whispered. "Someone's already in. They've been in since the beginning."

CTRL Encrypted Group Chat _ Extract #1

ctrlcommand.exe.

@RedQueen: She really thought she could bait us.

@CTRLxEYE: The original was weak.

@Mother: So we gave it teeth.

@RedQueen: She won't know what hit her.

@GhosType: Oh, she knows. She just won't admit it.

@CTRLxEYE: Next target is already burning up.

@GhosType: Stay sharp. Friday's only halfway done.

Tami sat alone on the window bench near the west wing, watching the rain drizzle over the courtyard. Her thoughts were all over the place.

Who added that line? Who had access to the fake diary entry?

The backlash was already building. People looked at her with fresh disgust.

Zayn approached from behind, his voice low.

"You dropped something."

She turned slowly.

He held up the note. The trap.

His eyes eyes were cold.

"What game are you playing, Tami?" he asked. "First Alia. Now this?"

"You think I wanted this? You think I wanted to be humiliated for the whole school? Believe me , Zayn, I didn't write that last line." she said.

"Does it matter?" He shot back. "You gave CTRL the mic, don't act surprised they ran with it."

She swallowed. "I was trying to catch -"

"You gave them bait," Zayn cut in. "And they turned it into a blade. I don't know who's worse ...them, or you."

Tami stepped back like he'd slapped her, and for the first time, tears welled up in her eyes.

"I'm trying," she whispered. "I'm just trying to survive."

Zayn hesitated.

His expression cracked. Just a little.

"I know," he said quietly. "But survival without a soul isn't worth much "

And he walked away.

CTRL Encrypted Group Chat _ Extract #2

ctrlcommand.exe

@GhosType: Eden Heights is ours now.

@CTRLxEYE: She's rattled. He's retreating.

@Mother: Good. He's too close to the fire.

@RedQueen: Next leak's ready.

@CTRLxEYE: Wait until she stops crying.

@GhosType: Tick. Tock.

That night, 10:01 p.m., CTRL dropped a final post.

A blurred photo.

Two silhouettes.

One seated. One standing close.

Too close.

But one figure had a familiar silhouette - tall, sharp jawed, effortlessly cool.

The caption read:

"He said he wouldn't choose. Looks like he already has."

The comments exploded:

"𝐼𝑠𝑛'𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑍𝑎𝑦𝑛?"

"𝐼𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑇𝑎𝑚𝑖 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ ℎ𝑖𝑚?"

"𝑇ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑙𝑜𝑜𝑘𝑠 𝑙𝑖𝑘𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑤𝑖𝑛𝑑𝑜𝑤 𝑏𝑒𝑛𝑐ℎ 𝑛𝑒𝑎𝑟 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑤𝑒𝑠𝑡 𝑤𝑖𝑛𝑔- 𝑜𝑚𝑔, 𝐼 𝑠𝑎𝑤 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑚𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒!"

"𝑊𝑎𝑖𝑡, 𝑖𝑠𝑛'𝑡 ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑡𝑖𝑙𝑙 𝑐𝑙𝑜𝑠𝑒 𝑡𝑜 𝐴𝑙𝑖𝑎?"

CTRL didn't confirm.

They never did.

But the school believed what it wanted to believe.