Chapter 2 Burning Point

Julian clutched Luna's sleeve, his voice trembling with urgency. "Luna, he's acting way too real. It's starting to freak me out."

"Let's just go," he urged. "Mrs. Hill worked so hard on dinner. It's Thanksgiving. We shouldn't keep Mr. and Mrs. Hill waiting."

At that, the hesitation in Luna's eyes vanished. She shot me one last, icy glance, then turned away, her arm looped through Julian's.

They had barely walked sixty feet when the flames at the front of my car suddenly shot up nearly two feet high.

Crackling noises tore through the air as the entire vehicle burst into a violent blaze.

The scorching heat pressed against my skin through the windshield, and a suffocating wave of terror swallowed me whole.

Every survival instinct in me roared to life.

"Help! Somebody help! The car's on fire!"

I screamed until my throat burned, grabbing my phone and hurling it at the window with all the strength I had left.

The screen shattered on impact, and the jagged glass sliced open my palm. Blood streamed down my wrist, but I barely felt the pain.

That desperate cry finally made Luna stop in her tracks. She spun around and froze when she saw the inferno engulfing my car.

But Julian, standing beside her, suddenly let out an exaggerated shriek of his own. "Sebastian! Are you setting off fireworks there? That's wild but seriously dangerous! I get it, your car's got top-notch safety features, but come on, you don't need to play with fire just to impress Luna!"

"Fireworks?" Julian's absurd explanation twisted Luna's thoughts again, muddying what little clarity she had left.

After all, she had always believed that I was someone who would do anything to get my way.

"Sebastian, you're out of your mind!" Luna shouted at the burning car, her voice trembling with fury.

I kept slamming against the window with everything I had until, finally, a crack split across the glass.

A rush of cool air streamed through. I pressed my face to the opening, gasping for breath like a drowning man breaking the surface.

Julian darted toward his own car, yanked open the trunk, and grabbed a roll of wide, clear tape. In seconds, he was back at my window.

"Sebastian, why would you break the window? That's dangerous!"

His voice dripped with fake concern as he tore off strips of tape and pressed them firmly over the crack, layer after layer, sealing off the only flow of air.

He even smoothed it down with his palm, making sure not a single wisp could escape.

"This is your and Luna's car, man. How can you be so selfish, just smashing it up like that?"

"You—" The breath I had just managed to draw caught in my throat, and black spots filled my vision.

Luna stormed over, her anger flaring.

"Sebastian, will you just stop this already?"

She snatched the tape from Julian's hand, glaring at me with eyes that could cut glass, and began sealing the crack herself—one strip, then another, until no trace of air remained.

I stared at her face, so familiar, yet suddenly that of a stranger. My hands dropped limply to my sides as my breathing grew shallow and weak.

Memories flooded my mind, uncontrollable and sharp.

Back in college, when she'd been struggling because her family couldn't afford much, she'd skipped meals so often she developed stomach problems. I used to cook for her every single day, making sure she ate something nourishing, changing the menu constantly just to help her get better.

After graduation, I stayed by her side as she started her own business. I used every connection I had, pulled every favor, and chased down investors for her. I drank through endless business dinners until my stomach bled just so she could focus on her career without worry.

And now, she was the one sealing off my only chance to live, layer by layer, with her own hands.

Just as my mind began to blur and the edges of the world dimmed, a middle-aged man on a motorcycle drove by.

He spotted the burning car and hit the brakes hard.

"Hey! What the hell are you doing? The car's on fire. Call 911! Someone's still in there!" he shouted.

A spark of hope flared inside me. I started pounding on the window with everything I had left.