Karl's stomach twisted.

Wasn't the first to disappear.

The words hung in the air like fog, thick and heavy with something unspoken.

Lisa Garver glanced around again, her fingers twitching at her sides. Karl had seen fear before—he'd felt it plenty of times—but the way she carried it was different. This wasn't new fear. This was the kind of fear that had settled deep, buried under years of silence.

Nick crossed his arms. "What does that mean?" His voice was low, steady—but Karl could hear the tension underneath.

Lisa hesitated. "It means you're looking at this all wrong."

Drista raised an eyebrow. "Oh? Enlighten us."

Lisa exhaled sharply. "You think this is about Halloway, right? That he just vanished one day, and it's some big mystery?" She shook her head. "Halloway was small-time. A piece of something bigger."

Karl's mouth felt dry. "Bigger how?"

Lisa pressed her lips together, considering her words carefully. "He and Clark—James Clark—weren't just working on an experiment."

"We figured that much," Nick muttered.

Lisa shot him a sharp look but continued. "They were brought in."

Karl frowned. "Brought in by who?"

Lisa's jaw tightened. "By someone who never wanted their names to be found."

The words sent a chill through Karl's bones.

Drista, however, was unfazed. "So, what? A secret lab? A cover-up? You're making this sound like a government conspiracy."

Lisa let out a humorless laugh. "The government wishes they had this kind of control."

A silence stretched between them, thick with unspoken questions.

Then Karl did something stupid.

He took a step closer. "Lisa... what happened down there?"

Lisa hesitated. For a moment, Karl thought she wouldn't answer.

Then she said, quietly:

"I don't know."

Drista groaned. "Oh, come on—"

"I don't know everything," Lisa snapped, cutting her off. "I wasn't inside the lab. I wasn't one of them. But I know what I saw. I know what it did to people."

Karl's hands clenched at his sides. "What did it do to people?"

Lisa exhaled, and for the first time, Karl saw it—hesitation, doubt. Like she wanted to tell them, but something held her back.

Like something was stopping her.

Then she shook her head. "I said too much already."

Nick's eyes narrowed. "Then why even meet with us?"

Lisa gave him a sharp look. "Because I'm trying to warn you. You don't want the answers you're looking for. And if you're smart, you'll stop now."

Drista crossed her arms. "You think that's going to scare us off?"

Lisa studied them for a long moment.

"No," she said finally. "But it should."

She turned, heading back to her car.

Karl felt the moment slipping away—like if they let her leave, they'd lose their only real lead. So he did the second stupidest thing of the night.

"Lisa, wait!"

She paused, looking over her shoulder.

Karl swallowed hard. "Just—tell us one thing. Just one."

Lisa was quiet for so long that Karl thought she wasn't going to answer.

Then she sighed. "You want to know what scared me the most?"

No one spoke.

Lisa's gaze flickered to Karl, and for the first time, he felt like she was seeing him—really looking at him, sizing him up, trying to decide if he was ready for what she was about to say. And then, in a voice barely above a whisper, she said:

"When they shut everything down... I heard things. Not rumors—actual things. People started seeing things. Shadows that shouldn't have been there. Faces where there shouldn't have been faces."

Karl's stomach dropped.

"I thought it was paranoia," Lisa continued, her voice hollow. "But then people started disappearing."

Nick exhaled sharply. Drista was deadly still.

Lisa shook her head. "I don't know if it was real. I don't want to know. But if you go back down there..."

She hesitated, then finished:

"You might not come back."

She got in her car.

And this time, she didn't stop.

---

Karl didn't remember walking back to campus.

His body moved on autopilot, his brain stuck on Lisa's words, looping over and over like a broken record.

Shadows that shouldn't have been there. Faces where there shouldn't have been faces.

Nick was the first to break the silence. "Okay. So. That was horrifying."

Drista was eerily quiet.

Karl shoved his hands into his hoodie pockets, trying to ground himself. "She sounded like she really believed it."

Nick scoffed. "She also sounded like she was terrified."

Drista finally spoke. "So, what now?"

Karl hesitated. He knew what Lisa wanted.

She wanted them to stop.

To turn around, forget they ever found Halloway's name, and pretend none of this ever happened.

But that wasn't an option anymore.

"Now," Karl said, his voice steady despite the chill creeping into his bones, "we go back."

Nick groaned, dragging a hand down his face. "I hate us."

Drista smirked. "You love us."

Nick rolled his eyes, but Karl didn't miss the way his shoulders relaxed slightly.

Like, even through the fear, part of him needed to see this through, too.

And that terrified Karl more than anything.

---

They wait two days.

Two days of pretending they aren't all thinking about the same thing.

Two days of restless sleep, of faint noises that could be the pipes or could be something else. Then, at midnight, they meet at the hatch.

Nick hesitates. Drista's practically vibrating with anticipation. Karl just takes a breath—steadying himself.

And then, together, they climb down.

This time, they're not just exploring.

This time, they're going to the one place they avoided before.

The last door.

And this time... it's already open.