Chapter 7: The Broken Mirror
326 Words
Julian stood frozen as the Ravens retreated and the Bastion members began to clear the scene. He didn't hear Miller’s praise. He didn't feel the adrenaline. All he could see was Ivy’s face, pale and horrified, as she lowered her phone and vanished into the darkness of the alley.
He broke protocol. He didn't wait for the extraction van. He sprinted into the night, tearing off his helmet and vest, throwing them into a sewer grate as he ran toward her apartment.
He reached her door, gasping for air, his clothes torn and covered in grease. He pounded on the wood. "Ivy! Ivy, open up!"
The door cracked open, held by the security chain. Ivy looked at him, her eyes red from crying. "Who are you?" she whispered.
"It’s me, it’s Julian."
"No," she said, her voice trembling. "I saw you. I saw what you did to those men. You weren't a student. You were... you were a monster."
"I was protecting you! I was protecting the campus!"
"By breaking bones in a garage? By living a lie for months?" She threw something at him through the gap in the door. It was a printout of a search she’d done—a blurred photo from a decade ago of a similar "military frat" that had been shut down for a near-fatal hazing incident. "Is that what the Bastion is, Julian? A cult? A g**g with better clothes?"
"It’s not like that," he pleaded.
"Then tell me the truth. Tell me everything."
Julian opened his mouth, but the words wouldn't come. He thought of the Ledger. He thought of Miller’s warning: If you are spotted, do not bother coming back. We don't harbor ghosts.
If he told her, he’d put a target on her back. The Bastion didn't allow witnesses.
"I can't," he choked out.
"Then don't come back," she said, and the door slammed shut. The sound was louder than the shotgun blast in the garage.
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