Page 101 of Vengeful Melodies

“It’s David,” she whispers. “My foster dad. The doctor I had to see after my father died.”

Alix goes stiff. Bash stops breathing.

“He started when I was sixteen,” she says, voice small and shaking. “He was supposed to help me. After I lost my dad and my mom was unreachable. After I got put in the system.”

She doesn’t look at us as she speaks. It pours out like blood from a wound that’s been festering too long.

“He... he groomed me. Pretended he cared. And when I tried to tell someone, he made me believe no one would help. That I’d be thrown away again. That it was my fault. That I liked it.”

Kaiser’s hand fists into the carpet. Alix stands up and walks to the wall, slamming his fist against it so hard the picture frame rattles.

“I ran away, but not before I defended myself by slicing across his eye. I stole one of his burner phones and left. I went straight to Wren. But I never told him. I couldn’t. I was so fucking scared he’d make it worse not on purpose but to protect me and we were teenagers... and Wren thought i was with my mother, safe… that she wanted me for once after dad died ”

Her voice breaks again. “He’s the one who started the rumors. He’s the one texting me. And Wren. Threatening us. Making it sound like I’m this whore who fucked her way into the industry.”

She picks up her phone with trembling fingers and hands it to me.

The screen shows a photo.

All of us. Laughing. Wren. Bash. Me. Kaiser. Alix. Jack is sleeping at her feet inside the RV. It’s taken from outside the window.

“They’ll all be next.”

That’s what the text says underneath it.

I feel like I’ve been punched in the chest.

“He knows,” she gasps. “He’s watching. If anything changes—if you cancel tonight, or leave early, or disappear—he’ll know I told you. And he’ll come for you. Or Wren.”

Silence. Thick. Suffocating.

“I think Bradley is in on it,” she adds, voice nearly gone. “And maybe Vivian. The timing. The stories. The threats. They line up. He’s not alone in this.”

She finally looks up at me.

“I tried to pretend I could handle it. I thought if I ignored him, he’d go away. But he won’t. I see him sometimes. In crowds. I wake up thinking he’s standing at the foot of my bed. I hear his voice in my fucking head.”

Her hands fist into her thighs.

“I can’t breathe most nights.”

The room is shaking with a fury I’ve never felt. And it's not mine alone.

Kaiser stands, eyes wet and wild. Alix is whispering something to himself I can’t make out. Bash is on the floor, head in his hands.

We’re all falling apart.

She’s held this alone for so long. And she still thinks she has to protect us.

“No more silence,” I say, rising to my feet. “We’re not letting him touch you again. Or Wren. Or anyone.”

“I mean it, Koa. If you cancel tonight, he’ll know. You can’t. You can’t make it obvious.”

She’s pleading now. Broken and begging. But still protecting us, even now.

“I’ll sing through blood if I have to,” I tell her. “But we will take care of this. You’re not alone anymore.”

Alix walks back to her and drops to his knees in front of her. His voice cracks. “Darlin’… I’ll kill him.”