RIVAL’S POV
I didn’t sleep.
Didn’t even sit down.
The note stayed clenched in my fist for over an hour before I finally peeled it open again and re-read every word. Not because I didn’t believe it, but because I did.
North stairwell. Midnight. Come alone.
That wasn’t a threat. That was a trigger. Whoever left it didn’t know they’d just pulled the pin.
So I started prepping. Not loudly. Not obviously. Just the quiet, practiced ritual of someone who'd done this before.
Knife.
Needle wire.
A single pressure dart laced with immobilizer.
And a trigger capsule tucked under my tongue in case it went sideways.
Shadow taught me to always have a last move.
I pulled my hoodie low, left the lights off, and waited until the hallway camera blinked into its deadzone at exactly 23:56. Base Two
