The Recall Trials
Chapter 67: The Game Doesn’t Stop for Grief

Chapter 67: The Game Doesn’t Stop for Grief

Zaara’s POV

I glanced at Jojo’s shoulder....blood was already seeping through the bandage I’d just wrapped. The fabric was soaked, it was already deep red.

"What if he’s too far gone?" I whispered, afraid of the answer.

Jojo looked up at me.

"Then we make sure he never hurts anyone else again," she said quietly. "We end it. But we do it our way. Not theirs."

I swallowed the lump in my throat and nodded.

That was the moment I knew.

I couldn’t keep standing still.

I rose to my feet, hands clenched so tight my nails dug crescents into my palms. My body was sore. I was literally trembling. But I had to move.

I had to act.

But first... I had to let her go.

I had to say goodbye.

My boots echoed down the hallway, past the blood-smeared walls, shattered lights, and the stench of death hanging in the air.

It smelled like rot and betrayal.

The corridor was a warpath, and at the end of it...my heart shattered all over again.

Asha.

She was still lying there, her body twisted like a forgotten doll.

Too still.

Too quiet.

I dropped to my knees beside her. My hands trembled as I gathered her into my arms.

She didn’t flinch. Didn’t shiver.

Her skin was already cold.

Her face... was peaceful. Too peaceful, like she’d let go willingly. Like she’d slipped into the dark without screaming. Like the world had finally broken her enough to stop fighting.

Tears blurred my vision.

I held her the way I used to when we were little girls hiding from Sector patrols. When we had nothing but each other. When she’d clutch my hand through the nights and promise we’d make it out together.

She was my soul sister.

The one who always believed. The one who dared to see light when all I saw was ash.

And now she was gone.

Vincent took her.

He took her away from me.

He killed her with the same hands that used to hold mine like they were sacred. The same hands that once wiped away my tears and steadied my breath. The same lips that whispered my name like it mattered.

Vincent Aston.

He wasn’t just lost.

He was gone.

Maybe he made a deal to save Jojo. Maybe there was a broken, bleeding part of him that still remembered who he used to be.

But that part didn’t save Asha.

It killed her.

And whatever soul I had left that part that still wanted to love him...died with her.

If the Aetherions think they’ve won...

If they believe turning him into their puppet would make us obedient...

They don’t know what they’ve created.

Because Vincent may have lost his emotions.

But I just lost everything.

And now?

Now I’m not afraid to burn.

Let the game continue.

Let the trials play out.

Let them watch.

Because I will bring down every last one of them. I’ll shatter the Recall Trials from the inside. I’ll rip their twisted world apart until nothing but ash and agony remains.

Vincent may have made a deal.

But he made an enemy out of me.

And I’m going to tear this system down.

Brick by bloody brick.

By the time I stumbled back into the main room, the timer on the wall had already hit zero.

The countdown was over.

But what came after... was worse.

I stood frozen as the heavy steel door creaked open. One by one, the masked men stepped inside, dragging behind them what was left of the night’s horror. Blood streaked the floor. Limbs hung loosely. I watched as they hauled the bodies...two at first and dumped them into large, coffin-like black boxes lined against the wall with pink ribbons.

Then they turned toward the restroom.

My breath caught in my throat.

No.

A third body.

Three.

I thought... I prayed Vincent had only killed two.

But the truth kept getting darker.

My fists trembled. And then, like ghosts returning from war, the remaining contestants started trickling back in. One by one. They were a shaken.

The first to burst through the doorway was Luca.

He was panting, he widened his eyes when he saw me.

"Zaara!" he cried out, running straight into my arms. His face crumpled as he held me. "I’ve been looking everywhere...I didn’t know if you..Vincent, Asha."

He choked on her name.

Then his face crumpled, and he broke.

I stared at him, still too numb to speak.

Then he pulled away, as his face twisted in grief.

"Why did he do that to her?!" he screamed.

"I saw blood," he stammered. "So much blood..."

"Why?" he shouted.

I said nothing. I didn’t know what to say, I was also feeling guilty.

He covered his face with his hands, sobbing. "I...I couldn’t fit in the same hiding spot with zaara. The spot was too tight. So I found somewhere else. I thought she’d be safe. But then..."

"I-I should’ve gone back for her. I should’ve done something. Anything." He collapsed to the ground, his hands pulling at his curls.

"I failed her, Zaara," he sobbed. "I hate myself for it."

He looked up at me then.

"I hate him," he hissed. "Vincent. He’s a devil. He’s a monster."

Behind him, more contestants were returning now. Their eyes darted around like they were still expecting an ambush.

Suddenly, someone barked near the entrance.

"Where the hell is Vincent?!"

—everyone turned.

It was Dinesh.

He shoved past the others and stormed into the center of the room, his face was red, his fists already bleeding from how tightly they were clenched.

"He killed Kai!" Dinesh shouted. " He didn’t just kill him....he butchered him. I saw what was left. My bunkmate...my best friend, and he ripped him open like some horror movie. That sick freak."

He turned, as his gaze fell to the boxes in the corner.

The blood pooling beneath them.

Then saw me.

Then Luca.

"Where’s... Asha?"

Luca’s lip quivered.

"She’s gone," he said.

And just like that...Dinesh’s entire expression collapsed.