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Chapter 25 – Buried Names, Burning Walls

The scent of burnt paint still lingered in the air the next day. No matter how much the school tried to scrub the vandalism away, the ghost of the message remained:

> “You can't run from your blood.”

Don stared at the cleaned wall during recess, his cigarette trembling slightly between his fingers. His usual detachment cracked just a little.

Behind him, Jake approached slowly, stopping a few feet away. Neither of them said anything for a while.

Then Jake finally spoke, voice low.

“I know you’re hiding something, Don.”

Don didn’t respond at first. He exhaled smoke, eyes still locked on the wall.

“You don’t want to know,” Don finally said.

“But I do,” Jake whispered. “Because whatever it is—it’s hurting you.”

---

Later that evening, Don sat alone in his room, flipping through Aarya’s journal again. Her handwriting had started to fade, but every word still pierced like a blade.

> “I feel like our house is a haunted place. I’m alive, but only in memory.”

Don closed the book and pulled a small, worn-out photo from under his mattress — a photo of seven boys standing together in front of a dim alleyway, wearing identical black jackets with an emblem: a crow flying against a red moon.

He traced the edge of the photo.

One of the boys in that picture was now dead.

Another had disappeared.

And Reaper… he had become a monster.

---

The next day, Gor walked into the classroom with a bruise on his cheek. Jake noticed immediately.

“What happened?”

Gor hesitated, then sat down.

“Two guys followed me home last night. Said something about ‘Don’s silence being a problem.’”

Jake’s jaw clenched. He turned to Don, who hadn’t even looked up.

“You brought this here, didn’t you?” Jake said, not with anger, but fear.

Don met his eyes now.

“I didn’t bring it. It never left.”

---

That night, Don went back to the abandoned warehouse where the gang used to train. He lit a small lamp and sat in the middle of the dust-covered floor. Around him were scattered wooden weapons, old gloves, tattered banners.

Memories came flooding back.

He remembered the initiation.

He remembered how Reaper had carved a crow symbol on their wrists — a vow of loyalty, of silence.

And he remembered how it all began falling apart… the day their leader turned ruthless.

Don, the vice-captain, had tried to stop him once.

He failed.

And in that failure, he lost everything.

---

Suddenly, a voice echoed behind him.

“You finally came back.”

Don turned slowly.

It was Kiru, the old strategist of the gang, standing in the doorway. He looked older now — tired, thinner — but his eyes still had fire.

“Reaper’s losing it,” Kiru said. “And he’s dragging your name through mud.”

“I’m not part of it anymore.”

“You were the vice-captain, Don. Your silence speaks louder than his orders.”

Don stood up, fists clenched.

“I don’t care about the gang. Not anymore.”

Kiru stepped closer.

“You should. Because they still care about you.”

---

Back at school, Jake and Gor found a crumpled envelope in their lockers.

Inside was a black feather and a photo.

Jake turned pale.

It was Don.

Standing with the gang.

Wearing the jacket.

With Reaper by his side.

Gor dropped the photo.

“What the hell is this?”

Jake stared at it, then whispered, “He’s not who we thought he was.”

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End of Chapter 25

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