His lips parted, but no sound came out.
"The world is trying to correct itself, Noah."
I let that sink in.
Let him feel the weight of inevitability pressing down on his weak, fragile shoulders.
"Every time the story veers off course, someone pays the price."
His entire body flinched, like I had struck him with a bolt of lightning.
Good. Let him feel it. Let him drown in it.
"You thought you were saving them." I laughed, low and bitter. "But all you did was delay the inevitable."
His breath hitched violently.
There it was. The last bit of hope crumbling into dust.
I waited for him to scream, to curse, to deny it, but he just—
He just stared at the fire. Unmoving. Silent.
For the first time in a while, I felt something unfamiliar. He wasn't reacting the way they usually did.
Interesting.
