"He who goes missing in the dark does not always choose to leave."
For a moment the air stood frozen. The temperature inside the manor's halls dropped quickly, turning into icy knives pricking the lungs of its four occupants.
Then Jace turned sharply toward Tyler, and for just a moment he could have sworn he saw something behind him — close to the door, hovering in the darkness. But when he blinked, it was gone.
Bang. Bang. Bang.
He was jolted out of his thoughts by Tyler using all six feet three inches of himself as an impromptu battering ram against the door.
"Dude, what are you doing?" Jace demanded.
"Opening the door. Duh." Tyler grunted, slamming his shoulder into it again. "I think it's jammed — the handle won't budge."
"Hey." Mia's voice cut through the noise. She stood a few feet back, one eyebrow raised, arms crossed, her flashlight sweeping between them. "What's going on? What are you two doing?" She exhaled slowly. "And where's Ben?"
For a moment both Tyler and Jace just stared at her like she'd lost her mind.
"I'm serious," Mia snapped, her voice rising. "Where is Ben? Is this another one of your sick pranks, Tyler? I swear to God I will gut both of you if either of you thinks any of this is funny." She turned sharply. "And Jace — I can't believe you're in on this."
"Hey." Tyler raised his hands, a slight smile tugging at his lips. "I'm flattered you think I could pull all this off, but it wasn't me."
"And we should just take your word for that?" Jace asked, his expression hard.
"If it were me," Tyler said, "hidden cameras would already be set up, live streaming everything to my socials. Ben wouldn't have been the first to go missing — that would've been me. And I'd have had Bluetooth speakers playing creepy music from the gate." He paused, the smile fading. "But seriously, guys — I really didn't do anything."
His voice had lost its edge. The smugness was gone, and what replaced it made both Mia and Jace uneasy — a tense, hollow laugh that didn't reach his eyes.
The question still hung in the air.
Where was Ben?
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