Chapter Twenty Two: Echoes in the Static
672 Words
Writer’s POV
The voice lingered even after the screen went black — low, mechanical, echoing like it had crawled out of a nightmare.
Neither of them moved for a full minute.
Finally, Xavier spoke. “What the hell was that?”
Mila swallowed hard. “A warning. Or… a message.”
He knelt in front of the hidden device, tracing its edges. It wasn’t standard school tech — sleek metal casing, no visible brand. Government-grade, maybe. Or worse — experimental.
“It’s encrypted,” he muttered. “Whoever set this up didn’t want anyone finding it.”
“Except us,” Mila said quietly.
*****
Mila’s POV
I grabbed my phone and took a few photos of the device, zooming in on the small serial number near the corner.
“Maybe I can trace it,” I said, pulling up a search.
No results.
I frowned. “It’s like it doesn’t exist.”
Xavier leaned against the wall, arms crossed. “Then whoever put it here isn’t some random hacker. This is organized.”
He sounded angry — not the usual teasing, lazy tone. Real anger.
I looked at him. “You think our parents are involved?”
He hesitated, jaw tight. “I think they know more than they’re saying. And I think Rowan’s just a piece on someone else’s board.”
*****
Writer’s POV
They packed up quickly — photos, audio clips, everything.
But as they were about to leave, Mila noticed something strange near the floor — a faint flicker, like a tiny projection glitching in and out.
“Wait.” She crouched, pressing her palm to the wall.
The flicker stabilized — a holographic symbol appeared for a second, glowing faint blue.
It wasn’t a logo she recognized, but a sequence of letters:
E.D-3.N : File Log — M.H.S. Student Access Granted — User: L. Gray
“L. Gray?” she read aloud.
Xavier blinked. “Who’s that?”
“I don’t know.” She looked up at him, heart pounding. “But that means someone in this school has access to Project Eden’s files.”
He stared at the projection, then at her. “And they’re not done watching.”
*****
Xavier’s POV
We left the west wing through the back door again, sticking to the shadows.
The sky was bleeding orange into dusk, the kind of light that made everything look too calm to be real.
Mila walked fast, focused, her phone clutched in her hand like it was a weapon.
I couldn’t stop replaying that voice in my head.
> If you’re hearing this, they failed to erase you.
Erase.
That wasn’t just a figure of speech.
Someone had tried to wipe our memory.
And it didn’t work.
I didn’t know if that made us lucky — or next on their list.
*****
Writer’s POV
Back at Mila’s house, the two sat at her desk, laptop open, searching the school’s student directory.
No “L. Gray.” No initials that matched.
“Maybe it’s fake,” Xavier said.
“Or maybe,” Mila murmured, “they’re using a fake identity.”
Before she could type another word, her screen flickered — just for a moment.
Then a chat box appeared.
No sender ID. No trace.
> Unknown: Stop searching.
They both froze.
> Unknown: Some things are meant to stay buried.
Then the message vanished — the file, the window, everything.
*****
Mila’s POV
My hands were cold. “They’re watching us,” I whispered.
Xavier leaned in, eyes scanning the now-empty screen.
“Yeah,” he said quietly. “But they just made one mistake.”
I looked at him. “What?”
“They told us to stop.”
He glanced at me, a hint of defiance in his grin.
“And that means we won’t.”
For the first time, I smiled — a small, dangerous smile that matched his.
Because whoever “L. Gray” was…
they had just started a game neither Mila Miller nor Xavier Reed planned to lose.
- Writer
