Chapter 6: The Game

The apartment smelled different at night.

Rain on glass. Lin's perfume. The bleach stain fading to brown.

She sat on the couch. Cuffs off. Trust, or the performance of it. We both knew the difference.

"Tea?" she asked.

"No."

"Sleep then. You look—"

"Stop." I stood by the window. The fire escape where our father disappeared. "No more taking care of me. No more making me need you."

She folded her hands. The way she did when she was calculating. "Then what? We sit in silence? Wait for the police to find more reasons to lock me up?"

"We talk. Really talk." I turned. "No lies. No games. One truth each. Back and forth."

She smiled. "Like old times."

"Not like old times." I sat across from her. Close enough to see her pupils. Small in the lamplight. Focused. "I go first."

"Of course."

"I came here to destroy evidence. The notebook. I thought I killed Principal Zhou. I thought you were protecting me." I leaned forward. "I was wrong. About everything. That's my truth."

Lin was quiet. Then: "I knew you were coming. The tracking app on your phone. I installed it years ago. When you got your first job. Your first apartment. Your first date." She tilted her head. "That's my truth. I've never let you go."

I expected anger. Felt something else. Relief? "Your turn."

"I can see better than I admit. The transplant worked completely. No shadows. No blur. But I pretend. At home. In public. Because seeing makes people expect things. Independence. Honesty." She laughed. Small. "Blindness is freedom. People tell you everything when they think you can't look back."

"Why tell me now?"

"Because you're looking." She met my eyes. "And I want you to see me."

The door buzzed.

We both froze.

"Expecting someone?" she asked.

"No."

She stood. Fast. Not blind at all. "Then it's not a friend."

I moved to the door. Peeked through the fisheye.

Empty hallway.

But on the floor. A box. Small. Brown paper.

I opened the door. Checked both ways. Nothing.

Brought the box in.

Lin watched. "Don't open it."

"Why?"

"Because I didn't order anything. Because you're not supposed to receive gifts. Because—" She stopped. "Because it's from him."

"Who?"

But I was already opening it.

Inside: a photograph. Yellowed. Familiar.

The beach. Two toddlers. The one she'd shown me.

But this copy was different. Wider frame.

A third child in the background. Partially hidden. Watching.

And on the back, in our father's handwriting:

*"She survived too."*

Lin took the photo. Hands shaking. "No."

"Who is she?"

"Not she." Lin's voice hollow. "It. The third. The miscarriage. The one she poisoned." She looked at me. Gray eyes wide. "But if he saved Wang Tao. Dug him out. If he taught him to survive—"

"Why not a baby?"

The lights died.

Not the building. Just our apartment. Circuit breaker. Or someone who knew the building.

Lin grabbed my arm. Hard. "Fire escape. Now."

"Why?"

"Because I know this game." She pulled me toward the window. "I invented it. Lights out. Confusion. Then the real move."

Glass shattered behind us.

Not the window. The front door.

Splintering wood. Heavy boots.

But not police. No voices. No announcements.

Lin pushed me onto the fire escape. "Climb."

"With you."

"Climb!"

I climbed. Wet metal. Cold rain. Third rung squeaked—she was right, she'd reported it.

Behind me, Lin stopped. Turned back.

"Lin!"

She held up one finger. Wait.

Then she spoke to the darkness inside. "I know you're there. I know what you want. But she's not yours. She never was."

Silence.

Then a voice. Female. Young.

"Neither were you."

Lin stumbled back. Onto the escape. Face white.

I caught her. "Who—"

"Climb," she whispered. "Fast. Don't look down."

We climbed. Seven floors. Six. Five.

A figure on the roof. Waiting.

Small. Thin.

Wang Tao.

"Wrong way," he said. "They're on the stairs too. All exits covered."

"By who?" I asked.

He looked at Lin. "Your sister's last patient. The one she cured too well."

Lin closed her eyes. "No."

"Yes." Wang Tao held up a phone. Screen glowed. Video playing. A girl. Young. Blonde. Smiling into camera.

*"Hi Dr. Lin. Thanks for the new face. Thanks for the new name. Thanks for teaching me how to become someone else."*

The video cut. Static. Then:

*"Now I'm becoming you."*

Lights on the roof. Four figures. Same height. Same build.

Same face.

Lin's face.

They moved together. Perfect sync.

"Copies," Wang Tao said. "Your sister's real legacy. Not one replacement. An army."

Lin looked at me. For the first time, afraid.

"I didn't know," she said.

"Yes you did." I stepped back. Toward the edge. "That's why you made me need you. So I'd never leave. So I'd never become them."

The copies advanced.

Wang Tao grabbed my arm. "Jump."

"What?"

"Trust me."

He pulled.

We fell.

Not far. Six feet. Onto the next roof. Rolled. Stood.

Lin didn't follow.

She stood on the edge. Looking down. Looking at me.

Smiling.

The old smile.

"Finally," she said. "An ending I choose."

She stepped back. Into the copies. Disappeared.

Gone.

Or waiting.

Or becoming them.

I didn't know.

Wang Tao pulled me running. "She's not dead. She's never dead. That's the problem."

"Where are we going?"

"To find the original." He looked back. "If she's still alive. If any of them are."

Rain harder now.

City lights below.

I ran.

Not from Lin.

Toward her.

The only way to end this game.

Play it to the finish.