Rook, finally asleep after days of exhaustion, drifts into a nightmare.

But when Oren enters to check on her, she mistakes him for someone sh

---

Chapter 20: Not Him, But Close

The server room was dark.

Only the soft hum of machines, the blinking lights of code whispering through wires.

Rook was curled under a gray blanket on the couch, half-hidden in shadows, hair covering half her face.

She hadn’t moved in hours.

They let her sleep.

No one had the heart to wake her.

---

Oren’s Arrival

Oren pushed the door open quietly, a cup of warm tea in one hand.

He didn’t expect anything.

Just meant to check in. Leave the tea. Walk out.

But something stopped him.

A sound.

Soft. Choked.

He stepped closer.

> “Rook?”

She whimpered.

Not in pain — in memory.

Her hands gripped the blanket tighter.

> “Don’t take it… don’t—please—”

Oren froze.

She was dreaming.

No — remembering.

> “I didn’t scream, I promise…

Please, don’t tell him… I’ll be good…”

Her voice was so small.

Not the Rook they knew.

A voice before the steel.

Before the ghost.

---

He knelt beside her.

> “Rook. It’s okay. You’re safe.”

She stirred. Eyes fluttered.

But she didn’t wake.

Instead, she reached out blindly —

and caught his wrist in trembling fingers.

> “You came back,” she whispered.

Oren blinked.

> “What…?”

> “You said you’d leave, but you came back for me… didn’t you?”

Her golden eyes opened — but she wasn’t here.

Not really.

She was looking through him.

> “You got ice cream,” she mumbled.

“I watched from the stairs. She got the pink one.

But you came to me later.

You gave me the cone.”

Her fingers curled tighter around his wrist.

> “You said I was still your sister.”

Oren’s breath caught in his throat.

> “Rook…”

> “I missed you,” she murmured.

> “I missed you so much.”

---

And just like that—

she let go.

Turned her face to the pillow.

Back to the darkness.

Back to sleep.

---

A Moment Later

Grayson stood silently in the doorway, watching.

Oren didn’t turn.

> “She thought I was someone else.”

> “Who?”

> “Her brother, I think.”

> “She never told us she had one.”

Oren stared at her.

> “I don’t think she remembers telling me either.”

---

He stood slowly, left the tea beside her.

> “Is that why she hates ice cream?” he asked quietly.

Grayson nodded once.

> “That… and what came after.

Rook didn’t stir again that night.

And the next morning, she returned to the common room.

The others were already seated — chatting softly, pretending not to notice the quiet weight in the air.

She didn’t say anything.

Didn’t look at anyone.

She walked to the corner…

…and sat cross-legged on the floor, her back against the wall, arms around her knees.

Still silent.

Still distant.

But present.

Watching.

---

End of Chapter 20 — Final Version