The Recall Trials
Chapter 86: Let Me Bleed for What I Did

Chapter 86: Let Me Bleed for What I Did

"Sometimes, the strongest thing you can do... is not fight back."

I found him alone.

Dinesh.

He stood near the edge of the locker corridor, arms crossed, staring blankly at the wall like it might tell him what to do with all the rage boiling inside him.

I took a breath and stepped forward. "Dinesh..."

He didn’t look at me. Not right away.

But I kept walking until there were only a few feet between us. "I need to talk."

He turned slowly, his jaw already tight. "Now you want to talk?"

"I owe you—"

"No," he snapped. "Don’t start that apology bullshit. Not from you."

I stayed quiet.

Dinesh’s voice rose. "Do you even know what you did?! You killed Kai, Vincent. You murdered my best friend. My brother. You slit his throat and walked away like it meant nothing."

"I didn’t remember who I was back then," I said, quietly. "They rewired me. The Aetherions—"

"Stop." He stepped in, chest heaving. "You think that excuse makes it easier? That it makes what I saw go away?"

I didn’t answer.

His hand came fast.

Dinesh grabbed my collar.

"You think this fixes anything?! You think because you remember, that makes it okay?!"

"I don’t," I said, breathless.

"I let you in," Dinesh said. "I trusted you, man. And you turned into one of them. A masked freak with no soul. You killed people I cared about. You hunted us like we were nothing. You played their game."

My eyes burned, but I didn’t let the tears fall.

"I know," I whispered. "And I hate myself for it. I should’ve protected Kai. I should’ve protected all of you."

Dinesh shook his head, breathing hard. "So why didn’t you?!"

"Because they took everything," I said. "My memories. My empathy. They made me into something hollow. But I’m here now. I remember it all. And it’s killing me inside."

There was silence for a beat.

And then Dinesh’s fist landed in my chest....not to hit me this time, just to shove. He turned away, jaw trembling. "You should’ve died with him."

"I wanted to," I said. "But Jojo... she reminded me who I was. And now I have a chance to fix it. That doesn’t mean you have to forgive me. But I’m not here to be the villain anymore. I’m here to stop them."

Dinesh’s back rose and fell, his fists clenched at his sides. For a long while, he said nothing.

Then he turned around, pain etched in his eyes like a storm cloud that had never passed.

"You really remember?"

"Every kill. Every scream. Every time I looked into someone’s eyes and saw fear instead of recognition." I swallowed. "I remember Kai. I remember Asha."

Dinesh’s face cracked.

He looked away fast, rubbing his hand over his eyes.

"I can’t promise to be okay with you," he said finally. "But I’m not gonna waste time hating someone who’s already haunted."

He stepped closer. "Don’t fuck it up again."

"I won’t," I said.

Dinesh nodded once, then walked away without another word.

I nodded slowly. "I know."

"But..." he exhaled, shaking his head. "If Jojo of all people can find something left in you to fight for... maybe I can too."

Fair enough.

We stood there for a moment longer, breathing in the silence that wasn’t so heavy anymore.

Then Dinesh turned and walked back toward the common room.

And I followed...one step behind.

I hadn’t even turned the corner when I heard her.

"Vincent!"

Zaara.

She was running.

Barefoot, hair wild, eyes red from crying. She rushed out from the entrance of the common room like she’d been holding her breath too long and couldn’t take it anymore.

"Vincent!" she called out.

I turned just as she crashed into me

She wrapped her arms around my chest and buried her face in my shoulder like she’d been holding back all day.

I held her.

Tight.

Tighter.

The way you hold something you thought you’d lost.

Her fingers fisted the back of my shirt like she didn’t trust the world not to take me away again.

Then I held her.

Held her the way I didn’t allow myself to last night. The way I couldn’t when everything was broken.

Her shoulders shook

"I thought you were gone," she whispered. Her voice was soft. Broken. "I thought... the Aetherions took you again."

I couldn’t speak.

I just let her cry.

It wasn’t loud.

It wasn’t dramatic.

It was the kind of cry that came from too many sleepless nights and too much pretending not to care. Silent. Shaky. Real.

"I hated you," she whispered into my chest. "For what you did. For what you became. But I never stopped—"

She cut herself off. Swallowed the word.

And I didn’t force her to say it.

"I remember everything now," I said, voice hoarse. "Everything I did. To you. To Jojo. To all of them. I don’t expect you to forgive me."

She pulled back slowly. Her eyes searched mine.

"I don’t care what you did," she said. "I care who you are now."

That did something to me.

Broke something open I didn’t know I was still guarding.

"I’m scared," I confessed. "I don’t trust myself. What if I break again? What if they still control me?"

"They don’t," Zaara said, pressing her palm to my chest. "You chose to fight. That was you, Vincent. Not them."

Her hand lingered over my heart. My own hand came up, holding hers there.

"I missed you," I said quietly.

Tears slipped down her cheek again. "Then stay. This time, stay."

"I will."

She leaned in, forehead resting against mine. Our breaths synced. Our silence said more than anything we could put into words.

This was our truce.

Our moment.

And then—

CLICK.

The bathroom door in front of us opened.

Footsteps echoed.

We both turned.

Standing under the flickering hallway light, wiping his hands with a towel, eyes locking on us—

Theo.

He froze.

Zaara stiffened.

I straightened.

No one spoke.