Chapter 33: The Girl in the Photograph
Kai stopped breathing.
The apartment door camera feed filled his monitor, pushing everything else out of focus. Discord, Derek, the city beyond the rain-streaked windows—even the constant anxiety that had become his default emotional state over the past few days seemed to pause.
The figure standing outside his apartment wasn’t moving.
They weren’t knocking.
They weren’t trying the handle.
They were simply standing there beneath the pale hallway lights, waiting.
And in their hand was a phone.
The screen glowed brightly enough for the camera to capture it clearly. Displayed on that screen was the exact photograph Derek had sent less than a minute ago.
The same school building.
The same three teenagers.
The same girl labeled Luna Hart.
Kai felt his pulse hammering against his ribs.
"What happened?"
Luna’s voice came through his headset immediately.
Too immediately.
Only then did he realize he’d made a sound.
Not a word.
Just a sharp intake of breath—the kind your body made when fear reacted before thought could catch up.
"Kai?"
The concern in her voice sounded genuine.
That was the problem.
Everything about Luna felt genuine.
That was what made all of this so difficult.
His eyes remained fixed on the camera feed. The figure still hadn’t moved.
A hoodie.
Dark clothes.
Face hidden.
Phone raised.
Waiting.
His phone vibrated against the desk.
Derek.
A new message.
Do not open the door.
Kai almost threw the phone across the room.
"Everyone keeps saying that."
"What?"
Luna sounded genuinely confused.
Kai immediately regretted speaking.
Now he either had to explain or lie.
Fantastic.
His life had somehow become a choose-your-own-trauma adventure.
The figure outside finally moved.
Slowly.
Deliberately.
They lowered the phone, then raised their free hand.
Not to knock.
Not to wave.
To point.
Directly at the camera.
Kai’s stomach dropped.
The person knew about the camera.
Which meant they wanted him to see them.
If the stream were still live, chat would’ve collectively lost its mind.
Instead he was alone.
Well.
Not alone.
Luna was here.
The realization came automatically now.
He didn’t even think about it anymore.
And that bothered him.
A lot.
Because somehow she’d become the first person he looked for whenever things went wrong.
That probably wasn’t healthy.
Almost definitely wasn’t healthy.
"Kai."
Luna’s voice softened.
"You look scared."
A tired laugh escaped him.
"You think?"
"A little."
"A little?"
"You’ve looked worse."
Despite everything, he smiled.
Only for a second.
Then immediately hated himself for it.
Because somehow Luna could still make him laugh during what was rapidly becoming the worst week of his life.
His monitor suddenly flashed.
The camera feed distorted.
Static crawled across the image.
The figure blurred.
The hallway stretched unnaturally.
Then the entire feed froze.
Kai sat upright.
"No."
The image remained locked in place.
One frame.
One moment.
A still photograph pretending to be reality.
Then it vanished.
Camera Offline.
His blood ran cold.
The apartment felt quieter than before.
Smaller.
The darkness leading toward his bedroom suddenly seemed deeper. Every shadow looked suspicious. Every sound felt significant.
His phone buzzed again.
A text message.
Unknown number.
Kai stared at it for several seconds before opening it.
The message contained only a single sentence.
she knows who i am
His stomach tightened.
A second message appeared almost immediately.
ask her about emily
Kai frowned.
Emily?
Who the hell was Emily?
The name meant absolutely nothing to him.
No memories surfaced.
No recognition.
Nothing.
His gaze drifted toward Discord.
Toward Luna’s profile.
The green circle remained lit.
Still connected.
Still listening.
Still there.
"Kai."
Her voice came softly through the headset.
"You’re thinking too hard."
That almost made him laugh.
Thinking too hard had become his entire personality.
He rubbed his eyes.
His head hurt.
Everything hurt.
The apartment felt wrong.
The internet felt wrong.
Reality itself was beginning to feel optional.
His screen lit up again.
Not a text.
Not Discord.
Twitter.
Or X.
Or whatever billionaires were calling it this week.
A notification.
A trending topic.
His name.
Again.
Wonderful.
Kai clicked it.
Instant regret.
Thousands of posts filled the screen.
Clips.
Arguments.
Conspiracy threads.
Endless theories.
And near the top sat a photograph he immediately recognized.
The photograph.
The same one Derek had sent.
The same one displayed outside his apartment.
The same one labeled Luna Hart.
His pulse spiked.
Because it wasn’t being shared by random users anymore.
It was everywhere.
People were reposting it.
Analyzing it.
Searching for names.
Searching for schools.
Searching for identities.
The internet had found blood in the water.
And now it was feeding.
"Oh no."
The words slipped out before he realized he’d spoken.
"What?"
Luna sounded worried immediately.
Kai stared at the screen.
His stomach twisted.
Because this wasn’t about him anymore.
The internet had turned its attention toward Luna.
Millions of people.
Millions.
The realization hit harder than expected.
Because he knew exactly what happened next.
People would investigate.
Dig.
Harass.
Dox.
Speculate.
Destroy.
The machine was already moving.
And once it started moving, it rarely stopped.
"Luna."
His voice came out quieter than intended.
"Hm?"
"The internet found the photo."
Silence.
Not surprised silence.
Not shocked silence.
Just silence.
Then a soft sigh.
The kind someone made when hearing bad news they’d already expected.
"I know."
Kai froze.
Of course she knew.
She always knew.
The question was becoming less how and more why.
Outside, a siren echoed somewhere in the distance. Rain slid down the apartment windows, distorting the city lights beyond them.
For a while neither spoke.
Then Luna laughed softly.
A gentle sound.
Almost sad.
"They work fast."
Kai frowned.
"You don’t seem surprised."
"I’m not."
The answer came immediately.
Too immediately.
His chest tightened.
Something about her tone felt different.
Not scared.
Not nervous.
Resigned.
Like someone watching a movie they’d already seen before.
A notification appeared beside Discord.
The typing indicator.
Luna was writing something.
It stayed there longer than usual.
Five seconds.
Ten.
Fifteen.
Then finally a message arrived.
Not spoken aloud.
Not posted publicly.
A direct message.
Private.
Kai opened it.
Three words.
His stomach dropped.
Don’t trust Derek.
Before he could react, another notification appeared.
Not from Luna.
Not from Derek.
Not from an unknown number.
From the account named OriginalLuna.
The message was only four words long.
And somehow they felt even worse.
Ask her about Emily.
