The front door swung open with the usual chaotic clatter of too many voices and grocery bags.
"Okay, who ordered their pancakes with a side of attitude?" Aryan yelled, kicking it shut with his foot. "Because the dude at the diner definitely hated me."
"We brought bagels, too!" Meera called, holding a brown paper bag high. "Carbs for the emotionally exhausted!"
But the second they turned the corner and saw the couch—
Everything stopped.
Jaanvi sat stiffly, wrapped in a throw blanket like armor. Aditya stood beside her, still holding her phone like it might detonate.
Silence.
Saachi was the first to speak. "What happened?"
No one answered.
Not until Siya stepped forward and crouched in front of Jaanvi. "Hey. What's going on?"
Jaanvi looked up, eyes glassy. She opened her mouth—but no sound came out.
Aditya handed Siya the phone.
"Start from the messages around 9:11," he said, voice hoarse.
Rey leaned over Siya's shoulder to see. One scroll, two scrolls later—
His face went still.
Then tight.
"Holy—" he whispered.
"What?" Ron asked, stepping closer.
Saachi snatched the phone out of Siya's hands and started reading.
It took her maybe five seconds to freeze.
And then she whispered, "Give me ten minutes. Ron, I need your laptop."
Ron didn't hesitate. "Already in my bag."
He sprinted to the corner of the living room, yanked the laptop free, and powered it on. Saachi was right behind him, tying her hair into a messy bun as she dropped to the floor.
"Wait—" Jaanvi finally managed to say, voice cracking. "What are you doing?"
"Tracking the sender," Saachi said, already opening a web of windows and plug-ins. "You're done being their victim."
"I'm going to ping tower data and start filtering IP addresses," Ron added. "I'll mask it through a burner server so they won't know they're being traced—assuming they're dumb enough to leave a trail."
"You think you can find them?" Aditya asked, his voice sharp now—hopeful, but not naïve.
"If they even breathe wrong through that number, we'll catch it," Saachi muttered. "No one does this to our girl and walks away clean."
"Yeah," Ron said, eyes narrowed at his screen. "Let's see how brave they are when we knock back."
Aryan looked up from his phone, face pale. "Some of those messages... they're from over a year ago. Stuff only people in the room would've heard."
Kiara sat beside Jaanvi, gently rubbing her back. "That's what's scary. This person's not just some random creep. They know her."
"They know both of them," Siya added quietly. "The language, the timing... this isn't some stranger fishing for drama. This is someone with history."
Jaanvi's voice shook. "But who?"
Aditya sat beside her again, jaw clenched.
"We'll find out."
Meera handed her a bottle of water and sat cross-legged in front of her. "You're not alone. Not for one second."
"And whoever it is," Rey added, cracking his knuckles, "they messed with the wrong group."
Saachi's fingers flew across the keyboard like fire. Her eyes were sharp, every emotion from earlier replaced with quiet, focused fury.
"We're gonna end this."
And no one doubted her.
When silence becomes threat
and memories are used like knives—
you learn quickly who's really in your corner.
And when the right ones show up,
you stop being afraid.
You start fighting back.
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