A figure stepped inside. Slow, deliberate.

Leah’s stomach dropped. Her body froze as if the air itself had locked her in place.

“No…” she whispered.

Jason turned slightly, and the faintest smile touched his lips.

The figure’s eyes glowed faintly blue, empty of warmth, empty of life. Her face was achingly familiar.

Seraphina.

Leah staggered back, hand clamped over her mouth. Her voice broke into a plea. “How? How is she alive?”

Jason’s smile widened, a razor-thin crack of something too sharp to be human.

“She was never truly gone. Her body failed, but her mind… her consciousness… it was a digital landscape, a sanctuary for a broken soul. I...