The Vanishing Point

The night air was thick with humidity as Jessica and Leanna walked back toward their hotel. The streets were nearly empty, save for the occasional flickering streetlamp and the faint hum of distant traffic. It was late, just past three in the morning. The kind of quiet hour where the world felt hollow, like a place between places.

Jessica wasn’t speaking. She was still processing everything, turning the pieces over in her mind, trying to fit them into something that made sense. The lockbox, whatever was inside it, felt like the weight of a loaded gun in her bag. The kind of thing that changed everything the moment it was opened.

Leanna exhaled, rubbing at the back of her neck. “We need to figure out what is in the box.”

Jessica barely registered her words. Her mind was elsewhere. The street felt too familiar. The air was too thick.

And then she saw the Kappa Delta Sorority house. A cold weight dropped in her stomach. She wasn’t sure why. She wasn’t sure what it was about the sight of the building that made her legs feel weak and her chest feel tight.

Something was wrong. She took a step forward. And then, it hit her. The drink. A flash of memory of Leanna’s hand passing her a glass at a party, the way the liquid glowed amber under the dim lights.

The van. Blurry figures moving in the dark. Hands gripping her arms. The sharp scent of industrial cleaner.

The hood. Fabric forced over her head, the sudden suffocating darkness. The sound of her own breath, shallow and panicked.

The pain. A sharp sting, like fire crawling under her skin.

Jessica’s vision tunneled. The world tilted, her knees buckling. She heard Leanna’s voice, sharp with panic.

“Jess?”

Then everything was gone.

* * *

When Jessica came back to herself, she was on the ground, her body aching, her head pounding. Leanna was gripping her shoulders, her face pale with something Jessica had never seen before, fear. Real, gut-wrenching fear.

“Jesus Christ, Jess,” Leanna breathed, her voice raw. “You just—”

Jessica blinked, her breath unsteady. “What… happened?”

Leanna swallowed hard. “You had a seizure. Out of nowhere. You just collapsed. You stopped breathing for a second. I thought—”

She didn’t finish. Couldn’t.

Jessica sat up slowly, her hands shaking. The memories were already fading, slipping through her grasp like sand. But they had been real. She knew they had been real.

She closed her eyes. The drink. The van. The hood. The pain.

She had been taken. That night from this place, or at least Jason had.

Leanna’s grip on her tightened. “What did you see?”

Jessica’s mouth was dry. “Something I wasn’t supposed to remember.”

Leanna exhaled, running a hand through her hair. Her hands were still trembling. She had seen Jessica in danger before, but not like this. Never like this.

“Jess, we need to get you to the hospital. You were…” Leanna said, trying to hold back the emotions that were building up inside of her.

“No hospitals,” Jessica replied with defiance. “We need to get back to the hotel. Now.”

* * *

Back in their hotel room, Olivia was waiting, arms crossed, the sharp scent of coffee in the air. “Took you two long enough… What the hell happened?”

Leanna didn’t answer. She was still shaken, still watching Jessica like she was afraid she might drop dead at any second. Jessica, on the other hand, moved straight to the table, pulling the lockbox from her bag.

“We need to open it.”

Leanna hesitated, but then nodded, setting it down on the table. Jessica grabbed a knife from her bag and wedged it beneath the latch. With a soft pop, the lid gave way.

Inside, there was no grand revelation. Just fragments.There was a letter, handwritten, with Jason’s name scrawled at the top. It was brief. Cryptic.

“I’m not who they say I am.”

There was a newspaper clipping of a faded photograph of Jason’s mother. Standing with Vanguard officials. Smiling.

Finally, there was a key. It was small. And unassuming. But when Jessica turned it over, she felt her breath hitch. Engraved on the metal was a Templar symbol.

She turned it in her hands, studying it. “It’s not obvious what it opens. It could be anything, a storage unit, a deposit box, even a goddamn bike lock.”

Leanna, still pale, still rattled, exhaled sharply. “But it means something. Jason kept it. And someone wanted to make sure it was never found.”

Jessica stared at the key, her fingers tightening around it. The pieces were falling into place. But the picture was still a mystery. And time was running out.