The laughter fades into the trees, swallowed by the cold air, but the echo of it vibrates in my chest like a memory refusing to die. I stand still, listening for movement. The guards remain behind me, waiting for my signal. The forest feels alive now, stretched tight like a bowstring.
Then his voice drifts through the trees. Smooth. Mocking. Light in the way only someone unhinged can be.
“Big brother.”
My breath freezes.
He drags out the words, shaping them with amusement, like a boy calling across a playground instead of a man orchestrating violence.
“Big brother,” he repeats. “You came all this way.”
I take a slow step forward.
“Show yourself,” I say. My voice is steady. Too steady. I will not give him satisfaction.
A rustle to my left. A shadow to my right. He is moving, circlin
