A few weeks passed.
No raids. No gunfire. No new names on the news.
Just silence.
Annie, Kayla, and Rose used the time to rest. Heal. Breathe.
For the first time in a long while, they weren't surviving moment by moment—they were thinking ahead.
But the peace was only surface-deep.
The bloodshed Annie had left behind wasn't forgotten.
The authorities—and even parts of the government—had started looking into the "blood trail" left behind during her war with the Garden. Too many bodies. Too many questions. Too many surveillance gaps.
They weren't labeled criminals yet.
But they were definitely being watched.
"We'll have to lay low," Rose had said, eyes on the window.
"One wrong move and they'll pin it all on us."
Annie had barely responded. Her eyes were sharp again—but not like before. This time, there was focus.
"I won't run," she said.
"But I won't let them catch me either."
Kayla didn't argue.
Because deep down, they all knew:
The Garden wasn't finished.
And neither were they.
"So we need a solid plan moving forward," Rose said, arms crossed as she stood near the window. "We can't just sit here forever. If the Garden resurfaces again, we—"
Crash!
Glass shattered.
A rock smashed through the living room window, landing hard on the wooden floor.
All three of them jolted in place—muscles tensing, instincts flaring.
Annie was the first to react, rushing to the broken window, checking the street.
Empty.
No footsteps. No fleeing shadows. Just the cold night air rushing in.
"No one's out there," she muttered.
Kayla bent down and picked up the rock. Tied around it with twine was a small, crumpled piece of paper.
She unraveled it slowly—and as her eyes moved across the messy, almost frantic handwriting, her expression shifted.
She passed it silently to Rose.
Then to Annie.
"Help me… The Garden is after me… I don't want to die yet!"
The room fell into silence.
Rose frowned, skeptical. "This could be a prank. A kid pulling some late-night dare crap."
Kayla nodded slowly. "Maybe… but if it's not?"
Annie said nothing at first.
Her eyes lingered on the note.
The ink was smudged, like it had been written in a hurry—or with shaking hands.
And something in that handwriting felt real.
Too real.
"If it's legit," Annie said finally, "someone out there is next."
Before any of them could speak again, the silence was broken—not by words, but by the sudden flicker of the TV screen.
The broadcast, which had been playing softly in the background, was interrupted.
"We interrupt this program to bring you an emergency alert."
The room froze.
Onscreen, a photo appeared—a young woman in her twenties, eyes wide and smiling in the image. Below it, a headline:
"LOCAL WOMAN MISSING—SUSPECTED TARGET OF CRIMINAL GROUP."
The newscaster's voice followed:
> "Authorities are investigating the sudden disappearance of 24-year-old Mina Kwon, last seen leaving her workplace late yesterday evening. Her family believes she may have been targeted by the same individuals tied to a string of recent violent incidents…"
Annie's eyes locked on the screen.
Kayla stepped closer, her voice quiet. "That's… too specific to be a coincidence."
Rose narrowed her eyes at the photo. "That's the same handwriting on the note. Look at the loops in the 'd' and 'y'."
The message suddenly felt heavier in Annie's hand.
>Help me… The Garden is after me… I don't want to die yet!
What once seemed like a prank now felt like a cry for help that didn't reach in time.
And the worst part?
It might not be too late.