“Don’t you dare call her. Not when we’re this close,” Daniel rips the phone out of my hand and shoves it into his bag. “Come on, Sasha, you know what needs to happen.”

“She has to know,” I stumble towards my phone, but Daniel’s glare holds me back.

“You’re not going to ruin this for us,” Daniel takes a step forward. “I’ve worked too damn hard, Sasha.”

“And what was the point of it all?” I seethe. “All that lying and blood and countless sins we committed? We worked for nothing, Daniel. I just want to go home.”

“You’re as much responsible for this as I am. We see it through until the end,” Daniel comes closer to me and places a hand on my shoulder. “Do you trust me?”

I nod slowly. Daniel smiles.

My eyes dart down to Daniel’s bag.

Daniel’s smile fades, but he’s too late to stop me.

I wrestle the phone into my grasp, sprinting away to the echo of Daniel’s shouts. My hands scramble across my phone screen as I run, shaking as I press down on her contact name.

“Sasha? What’s going on?”

“Mom, it’s me,” I try to keep the fear out of my voice, glancing behind my shoulder to see if Daniel is approaching. He’s not in sight and I pause behind a building. “Listen, there’s something I need to tell you. You need to —“

Suddenly, I’m face-down on the ground, eyes blurry and head reeling. As I attempt to focus on my surroundings, I hear the sickening sound of glass cracking on cement.

“The end of the world is coming soon enough, Sasha,” Daniel’s voice pounds through my skull. “Let’s not make it any quicker.”

I hiss, struggling to get off the ground. “Threatening me, Daniel? What we do tonight is going to destroy everything. Do you even care?”

“Sasha, I care about keeping your mouth shut,” Daniel’s foot sends me slamming back into the cement. “You won’t need to be silent for long, anyway. By tomorrow it will all be over.”

“The lives of everyone I love will be over too!” I bite down the pain. “I can’t deal with this. This was only supposed to be a harmless experiment.”

“I’m giving you two options,” Daniel sends his foot deeper into my spine. “One, you live and don’t tell a soul about our project. Two…well, that’s definitely the less fun option.”

“What am I supposed to do?” I wince, the world spinning. “Just act like everything’s normal?”

“Exactly. The only way you’ll get to see your mother again is if you don’t say a thing.”

“Fine,” I spit out the word like it’s a curse.

Daniel’s foot loosens and I lift my head up. His face holds no remorse. “One final goodbye, all right? But I’ll be watching.”

I nod and this time, I don’t rebel.

…

“Sasha, darling? What happened to you? Is everything all right?” my mother rushes towards me, embracing me in a hug. “I was so worried and you just hung up and —“

“I’m fine, Momma,” I squeeze her tight. “I promise, nothing’s wrong.”

“Honey, are you sure? Your face looks all bruised! Can I get you an ice pack? I can bake you some of your favorite cookies!”

“No need, I just tripped and hit the curb,” I try to let out a convincing chuckle.

“But you said you needed to tell me something,” my mother looks me in the eye. “Honey, tell me what you were going to say.”

I hesitate, tears brimming in my eyes. Daniel, in the distance, shakes his head.

I pull her in for another hug. “I’m sorry. It seems like I hit my head hard…I have forgotten.”