Chapter 5 - Chapter Five

A/N: Anyone knows how to make a website, where I can post my chapters while u guys can read it for free? Even the advance chapters. I plan on making such website, but being tight on budget I have no idea how to do so. So help me out guys🙂

Happy reading

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The silence after Billy's death was worse than the sound of the impact.

No screams. No shouts. Just a low, steady drip of blood from twisted metal onto cracked concrete. Time didn't feel like it had stopped—it felt like it had left us behind.

Clear stared blankly at the pool of red spreading under the transmission block. Alex sat against the wall, trembling, arms wrapped around his knees like a child hiding from thunder.

And me? I just stood there.

Staring at the system window floating in front of me.

> [Billy Hitchcock – DECEASED]

[+1 "Survivor's Regret" Status]

[Death Thread Splintered – Adjusting Pattern…]

[Next Target: Alex Browning – Status: VULNERABLE]

[Estimated Trigger: 17 Hours, 46 Minutes]

I clenched my fists. That -100 Fate Points penalty stung harder than I expected. It wasn't just a number—it felt like I'd failed a test. A test where the cost wasn't a grade... it was someone's life.

Billy was gone.

One more thread severed.

---

"I should've stayed home," Alex muttered, voice rough.

"No one could've known," Clear replied softly.

"I could've," he snapped. "I saw signs. The screws. The chain. Everything. I should've done something. Anything."

He wasn't wrong.

But neither was Clear.

I sat down beside him. Not too close—just enough for him to feel I wasn't judging.

"I know what it's like," I said. "The helplessness. The guilt. You replay it over and over. Try to convince yourself that if you'd stood a little faster, shouted a little louder, moved a second earlier… you could've changed it."

His eyes turned toward me. Haunted. Hollow.

"And could you?"

"No," I said. "But I still try."

He didn't answer. But he didn't turn away either.

Small victories.

---

Later that night, we returned to Clear's house. She insisted we didn't split up.

Alex was too shaken to argue. I wasn't about to leave either of them alone—not while Death was getting more aggressive.

Clear's place was quiet. Isolated. No curious neighbors. No prying eyes.

I sat in the corner of her living room, system window open in my vision. The list had rearranged. Carter was off. Billy now gray. Alex's thread glowed an uneasy yellow-orange.

> [Alex Browning – Thread Stability: 42%]

[Projected Cause: Blunt Force Trauma – Window, Falling Object, or Road Accident]

[Prevention Difficulty: High]

[Optional Objective Unlocked: "Secure Shelter – Delay Death's Path by 24 Hours"]

Clear came back into the room wearing an oversized hoodie and holding two mugs of instant coffee.

I took one with a quiet thank you.

She sipped hers, watching the rain begin to tap against the window.

"This can't keep happening," she said.

"I don't think Death cares how tired we get."

She looked over at Alex—he'd passed out on the couch, still fully dressed, one arm over his face.

"He's not strong enough for this."

"He's still alive. That counts for something."

She nodded but didn't smile. "You're too calm."

"I'm used to chaos."

She studied me for a long moment. "You said this wasn't your world. That you were from somewhere else. Was your world like this?"

I hesitated.

"No," I said. "Not even close. We had horror movies, sure. Scary stuff. But it was all fiction. Final Destination was one of them. I watched it... the last thing I saw before dying."

Clear's lips parted slightly. "You… watched us die?"

"In a way."

"And you still came here? Knowing how bad it gets?"

I looked into her eyes.

"I didn't get a choice. But now that I'm here… I won't run. Not from this. Not from you."

A long silence passed between us.

The storm outside grew louder.

And then—unexpectedly—Clear leaned her head on my shoulder.

"I don't know why," she whispered, "but I feel safe with you."

My heart skipped.

> [Affection +12 – Clear Rivers: 63%]

[Trait Bonus Activated: "Emotional Anchor – Minor Death Thread Delay When Holding Hands"]

I didn't say anything.

I didn't have to.

---

The next morning came fast—and it brought trouble.

Someone banged on the front door hard enough to rattle the frame.

Alex shot upright, startled. Clear moved instinctively to the hall.

I peeked through the blinds.

Police.

Two cars. Four officers.

One of them was Agent Weine.

"You've got to be kidding me," I muttered.

Clear opened the door cautiously. I stood behind her, ready.

Weine looked exhausted—but determined.

"Clear Rivers, Alex Browning, and… you. Kai, right?"

"What's this about?" Clear asked.

"You three were seen near the site of a suspicious death last night," he said. "Garage district. You know anything about that?"

"No," Alex lied badly. "We were here all night."

I stepped forward. "That's not a crime, is it?"

Weine narrowed his eyes. "Not yet. But people keep dying around you. And I'm getting real tired of cleaning up bodies."

He looked directly at me.

"I don't know who you are, Kai. But you show up out of nowhere, and suddenly every bad omen in this town is circling you like vultures. I don't buy coincidences. Not anymore."

"Then maybe start believing in fate," I said coolly.

Weine didn't flinch. "I'll be watching. Closely."

---

After they left, Alex exploded.

"We can't stay here forever! Sooner or later, they're going to arrest us. Or worse."

"They've got no proof," Clear said calmly.

"Yet!" Alex shouted. "You didn't see his eyes! That man's ready to put a bullet in Kai just to see if it stops all this."

I raised a hand. "It won't."

"Helpful!" Alex threw up his hands.

"We'll find a way to stall the pattern," I said. "The system gave me an optional task. We secure a temporary shelter—something completely cut off from normal hazards. We can delay your death window by a day."

"Just a day?" he scoffed.

"Time is survival. And survival is time to plan."

Alex sat down, fuming but silent.

Clear looked at me. "Where?"

"I've got an idea."

---

Two hours later, we were in an old hunting cabin at the edge of town. I'd seen it on the system's minimap—low hazard rating, isolated, and structurally sound.

Clear and I went to gather firewood while Alex brooded inside.

As we moved through the trees, Clear brushed a strand of hair behind her ear.

"So," she said, "am I going to be in every one of your plans?"

I smiled. "Depends. Are you planning to survive with me?"

She stopped walking.

Looked me in the eye.

"I want to."

I stepped closer.

"You don't have to stay with me because I have a system or powers. You stay because you want to, okay?"

She nodded slowly.

"I do want to."

We stood there for a long beat.

Then, cautiously, she leaned in.

Our lips met—brief, hesitant, but real.

> [Affection +15 – Clear Rivers: 78%]

[System Alert: Bond Deepening – Special Dialogue Paths Unlocked]

When we pulled apart, her cheeks were slightly flushed.

"So, what now?" she asked.

I smirked. "Now? We fight Death. Again. And again. Until we win."

Clear's smile returned for the first time in days.

---

Back at the cabin, the system chimed.

> [Secure Shelter Objective Completed]

[Death Thread Delay – 24 Hours Gained for Alex Browning]

[Bonus: +50 FP Earned]

I exhaled.

One more day.

One more breath.

But Death doesn't quit.

And I had a feeling that the game was only just beginning.

---

To be continued...

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