Chapter 21 · Seventeen Dead Girls

Charlotte's breath stopped.

Lisa stood in the open pod, nine years old, same blonde hair Charlotte remembered braiding before school. Same scar on her left eyebrow from falling off a swing. But her eyes were wrong. Too steady. Too old.

"Seventeen," Charlotte said. Her voice came out flat.

Lisa tilted her head. "You don't remember all of them. I do."

The pod hummed behind her. Red lights blinked along the frame. Charlotte's fingers were still on the release panel Marcus had shown her, but she couldn't move. Couldn't think past the number.

Seventeen.

"Baby, I—" Charlotte started.

"You're not here to apologize." Lisa stepped out of the pod. Her feet were bare. Hospital scrubs, too big, sleeves rolled twice. "You're here because this time you finally got past the dock."

Charlotte's throat locked. The dock. The ambush. The first loop.

"How do you know about that?"

"Because you told me." Lisa's face didn't change. No tears. No anger. Just tired. "Loop four, you made it here but didn't know how to open the pod. You talked to me through the glass for six minutes before Marcus shot you in the back.