game over ❇ 'level up' trilogy

(9) new trust, old stories

Shiro nodded, "He was traumatized. He's been diagnosed with PTSD and still has major issues. He had a really rough panic attack the other day, and one a couple of days before that. And Keith told me he's getting bad nightmares again. I didn't really know him that well when it all went down, we had just met. So I wasn't really much of a target when she threatened to hurt his friends. I was included in the initial threat when she shared everyone's locations. But when she would choose a specific person for her penalties for each fucked up challenge, I was never picked. She would've killed me along with everyone else though, she was going to kill everyone who knew about her. But since I wasn't really involved, I didn't have to give a recorded witness statement or testify at the trials. Just a quick statement the night it all went down, me and Allura were the ones who explained to the police what had been going on. Pidge and Lance were really shaken up after being kidnapped and nearly murdered, so they obviously didn't cover everything. Me and Lura filled in the blanks."

"Would you mind telling me more about it later on? I've really been wanting to talk to someone who was there to learn more, but I didn't want to bother Lance and Keith with it."

Shiro shrugged, "Sure, why not. I may not have been majorly involved but I know everything that happened. Keith confided in me about the things I wasn't there for, he needed someone to talk to about it all. None of knew what was going on for Lance until that night that Anna kidnapped him. He had told us all that afternoon. That's why she went batshit crazy. He broke the rules of her game, he told us about her. That ruined her initial plan of torturing him until he killed himself then deleting her account so it only looked like some senseless tragedy. When he told us about her, she would have had to kill all of us to keep her part in it a secret. Apparently, she was going to pin all the murders on Mike. He's the reason Lance is alive. Her last challenge nearly broke him, he was going to kill himself. But Mike stole her phone and ended the challenge."

"Wow, not all of that was in the records. Was that the challenge where she had him lock himself in his room for a week?" Adam was really invested in the case.

Shiro nodded, "Yeah, that's the one that fucked him up the most. He can't be alone without going into a panic attack. I'll gladly fill in more blanks after I'm done with the academy. Maybe over lunch? You have to stay with me all day anyway. Might as well hang out instead of just watching me from a distance."

Adam smiled, "Yeah, that sounds awesome. You should get in there now, they're about to get started. I'll be waiting right outside the door. You're safe in there, plenty of cops around. I'd just be a distraction."

"Okay, well, I'll see you in a couple of hours then." Shiro hesitated before turning around and walking into the training room.

Adam watched him go, sitting down on a bench by the door.

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mortemsirenis: i've been doing some reading on anna. apparently she transferred to your school after pushing some girl at her old school to suicide. sounds a bit like us, doesn't it?

kmskeith: i'm done being afraid of you. the police are looking for you. they have enough evidence to charge you with harassment. and i know this is cleo for a fact now, they checked the ip address. and i'm sure they'll find evidence to charge the boys too.

mortemsirenis: they don't have anything against the boys. and if you think you'll get a confession out of us, you're not. you'll be sorry for what you've done. even if you get me, the boys will make you pay for it.

kmskeith: i told you, i'm not afraid of you

mortemsirenis: you should be