Chapter 58: Masks Within Masks
Mia returned the next day with two lattes in hand and a cautious smile curling the edge of her lip. She held one cup out like a peace offering.
“Non-fat vanilla chai. Extra cinnamon,” she said.
Evelyn accepted it without hesitation.
Mia blinked. “You’re not going to accuse me of poisoning it?”
Evelyn smiled softly, taking a slow sip. “Maybe I’m tired of being paranoid.”
Mia tilted her head. “Paranoia is a survival skill here.”
“And what if I don’t want to survive anymore?” Evelyn asked, letting the weariness soak into her voice.
Mia’s expression didn’t change, but her posture did—just a slight loosening of her shoulders. A flicker of something like relief.
Evelyn had cracked the door open.
Now she just had to let Mia think she was stepping through.
For the next two days, Evelyn played the part.
She let Mia sit with her during free periods.
Laughed at her softly veiled sarcasm.
Agreed when she offered suggestions to “soften the speech” Evelyn was preparing.
She even allowed herself to be seen walking through the quad with her—once, deliberately crossing in front of Nathaniel and his smug entourage.
Mia noticed.
And Evelyn made sure Mia saw her notice.
“I forgot how good this felt,” Mia said one afternoon, their feet dangling over the edge of the old theatre stage. “You and me. Before it all got… complicated.”
Evelyn glanced sideways. “Before you chose them.”
“I didn’t have a choice.”
“You still don’t.”
Mia didn’t respond.
But she didn’t deny it either.
That night, Evelyn met Clara and Liam in the garage.
“She’s opening up,” Evelyn said.
Clara raised a skeptical brow. “Or she’s baiting you.”
“Probably both,” Evelyn replied. “But she wants me closer. That means she thinks I’m bendable. Influenceable.”
“That also means she thinks you’re weaker than you are,” Liam said. “We can use that.”
Evelyn nodded. “She’s already slipped once.”
“What do you mean?”
“She said something today. ‘The footage is never deleted. Just archived.’”
Clara leaned forward. “Archived where?”
“She didn’t say. But I think she was talking about the backup server. The one Caleb referenced in his final message.”
“The one we still haven’t found.”
“Exactly. She knows where it is.”
Liam frowned. “So we follow her?”
“No,” Evelyn said. “She has to show me. Willingly.”
The next day, Evelyn waited until the end of seventh period before casually suggesting they skip their last class and grab boba from the off-campus shop—something they used to do before everything shattered.
Mia hesitated.
Then smiled.
“Why not?”
They walked slowly down the block, the air humid with the threat of a coming storm.
“I’ve been thinking about what you said,” Evelyn murmured. “About walking away.”
Mia looked at her, cautious. “And?”
“Maybe you were right.”
Mia blinked. “I thought you said—”
“I know what I said,” Evelyn interrupted. “But this is bigger than me. It’s… everywhere. Even if I tear it all down, someone else will just rebuild it.”
Mia’s steps slowed. “That’s what they said to me. The first time I tried to leave.”
“You tried?”
“Once,” Mia said softly. “They made me watch footage of what happened to another student who tried. She didn’t just disappear. She was rewritten. Her whole record gone. Friends convinced she transferred. Family moved away.”
Evelyn was quiet.
Then said, “So where do they keep it?”
Mia’s eyes flicked toward her. “What?”
“The footage. The records. Where is it stored?”
Mia stopped walking.
Stared.
Then gave a small, sad smile.
“You’re good.”
“I’m desperate,” Evelyn replied.
Mia exhaled.
“It’s underground. Beneath the old arts building. The server room’s listed as condemned on the school blueprints, but it still runs on backup generators. No cameras. No digital trace. It’s the Society’s deep archive.”
Evelyn’s heart raced—but her voice stayed even.
“Can you show me?”
Mia looked at her for a long time.
Then nodded.
That night, Evelyn met Clara and Liam again.
“She told me everything,” she said. “The server room is under the arts building. She offered to take me there.”
Clara’s eyes widened. “This is it. This is what we’ve been looking for.”
“But we go in prepared,” Liam said. “If she’s leading you into a trap—”
“I know,” Evelyn cut in. “That’s why I’ll wear a body mic. Clara, you’ll be on the other end, monitoring. Liam, you stay at the exit. If I don’t come out in thirty minutes—”
“I go in,” he said grimly.
And so, the game changed again.
Evelyn smiled at Mia the next morning like nothing had shifted between them.
But her heart was a storm.
Because tomorrow night, Mia would lead her into the dark.
And this time, Evelyn would be ready to turn on the light.