After the burial, the silence felt sharp.
Sam stayed behind after Lilly left the room. Said she needed a minute. The truth? She couldn't move. Could barely breathe.
She watched the place where Alyx had lain sheets crumpled, blood soaking through into the mattress like a wound no one stitched up.
Then she saw it.
A corner of wax-sealed parchment poking from beneath the cot frame. Her name wasn't on it.
But Lilly's was.
Bold, jagged. In Alyx's unmistakable script.
LILLY....
Sam's breath hitched.
Her fingers moved before her heart could stop them.
The wax cracked like a promise breaking.
Inside was a single sheet. Thick. Weighted. Like it knew the words carried consequences.
-"Lilly -If you're reading this, it means I didn't make it. Good. That means you lived.
Don't spiral, okay? I know you. You'll blame yourself. You'll bury the softest parts of you in guilt like it's armor. But I want you to do one thing:
Trust her.Sam's not just some heiress you're protecting. She's smarter than you know. Deadlier than she lets on.
And if she tells you to run, you run. If she says it's time to burn everything down—you light the match.
Because I found something. Something I never got to tell you. The name is behind the breaker panel on the west wall. It's real. It's alive. And it changes everything.
Don't go alone. You won't survive it. But with her? You might."-
Sam's hand trembled.
Tears stung—but didn't fall. Not yet.
This wasn't just a note. It was a call to arms. A message meant for Lilly. A truth too big, too sharp, too soon.
Because Lilly was already unraveling. Already halfway to the edge. And if she read this? It would push her over.
Sam folded the letter. Carefully. Reverently.
She slipped it into her own coat pocket.
A betrayal.A protection.Two sides of the same knife.
Then she crossed to the breaker panel. Hands moving like muscle memory. When she peeled it back, she found it.
Etched in steel:
HYDRA.
Sam stared at the word for a long time, then whispered to the empty room,
"I'll find it. I'll keep her safe. No matter what it costs."
Behind her, the shelter was silent.
Above her, the city whispered.
And within her coat—Alyx's final truth, hidden in plain sight...