They stood in stunned silence.
The underground room, once buzzing with eerie energy, now felt hollow. Louis was gone. Not just missing — erased. The kind of gone that made you wonder if he'd ever really been there at all.
Zayn dropped to his knees, running his hands over the spot where Louis had vanished.
A single white feather remained.
He picked it up slowly, holding it like it might dissolve in his fingers.
Liam paced near the walls, fists clenched. "She said one of us would go. She warned us."
Niall looked pale. "We were supposed to stay together. We said we wouldn't split up again."
Harry turned the CD case over in his hands, jaw tight. "And yet, here we are."
Zayn stood suddenly. "I'm going after him."
"Zayn—"
"No," he snapped. "I lost Jenny for too long. I'm not losing Louis too."
Harry sighed. "We don't even know where she took him."
Niall pointed to the CD case. "Maybe that does."
They all stared at the case again.
Same message.
"Only four remain. Choose wisely."
But below it now, another track had burned itself into the back in glowing letters:
Track 7: "The One Who Remembered Too Much"
Harry frowned. "That's not a song."
"It's a clue," Liam muttered. "It has to be."
Zayn shook his head. "The Watcher's playing games."
"She always has," Niall added. "But that voice — Roxy's — she was trying to warn us. Maybe the track will help us find her too."
Liam nodded. "Play it."
Harry opened the case.
Inside, a CD had appeared. Matte black. No label.
The lights dimmed.
The room began to spin.
And then the track played.
⸻
They were no longer underground.
Instead, they stood on a street corner in Doncaster. Louis Hometown. gray skies, the scent of rain in the air. It was older, quieter. No one moved. No traffic. Just rows of buildings painted in stillness.
"Where are we now?" Niall asked.
Harry looked around. "It feels like a memory."
Liam nodded slowly. "It's… familiar."
And it was.
The street. The house on the corner.
It hit them like a cold splash.
Louis' childhood home.
Zayn stepped toward the door. "She's showing us his memories."
The door creaked open.
They walked inside.
The walls were lined with pictures — all of Louis, from childhood through his teen years. But some were wrong. Blurred faces. Missing shadows. In one photo, Louis stood alone on a stage, staring into nothing.
A voice echoed through the house.
"He remembered first."
"He tried to tell you."
They reached the living room.
Louis sat in the center.
Or… not Louis exactly.
A fragment of him.
He looked up slowly, his eyes fogged, hands trembling in his lap.
Liam stepped forward. "Louis?"
His voice cracked. "I tried to hold on. To who we were."
"We're here now," Zayn said, kneeling. "We're going to get you out."
Louis shook his head. "She told me the price. One of us had to stay behind. I chose—"
"No," Niall interrupted, stepping closer. "She chose. She took you."
Louis looked at them, emotion breaking through the haze. "I remembered everything. The stadium. The fans. Our music. Roxy. Jenny. All of it. That's when she found me."
The air pulsed again.
A mirror appeared in the center of the room.
Roxy's voice rang out.
"You're close now. But don't trust the memory that speaks first."
They all turned to each other.
"What does that mean?" Harry asked.
Another voice answered.
A familiar one.
Louis.
But this one stood behind them.
Another version.
Identical to the one seated.
But this Louis looked confident. Alert.
He crossed his arms. "You finally found me."
Liam froze. "There's two of you."
One Louis sat, broken. The other stood, sharp-eyed, steady.
Zayn stepped between them. "Which one's real?"
Both Louises spoke at once.
"I am."
The world shook. The lights flickered.
"Roxy said not to trust the memory that speaks first," Liam whispered.
"But what if that's the trick?" Niall said. "What if it wasn't a warning?"
Zayn's eyes darted between them. "There has to be a way to tell."
The seated Louis looked up. "The first time we played together — in the tiny studio in Manchester. Niall broke a string. Liam said we should stop, but Harry kept singing. You joined in. That was the moment we knew."
The standing Louis smirked. "Cute story. But that wasn't it. The real moment was backstage in Birmingham. After the lights went out mid-set, and we finished a song in the dark. The crowd kept singing. That was the moment we knew we were more than a band."
Everyone went quiet.
Because both memories were real.
Liam stepped back, panic rising. "How can they both remember?"
Harry turned to the mirror. "Roxy. Please. We need help."
The mirror shimmered.
Roxy's voice came again, faint.
"You already know. Only one has a shadow."
They all turned.
And saw it.
The seated Louis — his shadow was faint, flickering.
But the standing Louis…
Had none.
Zayn didn't wait.
He rushed forward and shoved the standing Louis.
The figure dissolved into smoke, screaming in rage as it vanished.
And the mirror shattered.
The house cracked apart.
And the world fell.
⸻
They hit the ground hard.
Back in the underground room.
Louis gasped beside them — whole again.
He blinked, stunned, then grabbed Zayn's arm. "You found me."
Liam laughed with relief. "We never left you."
Harry picked up the CD case again. It glowed faintly.
The message had changed:
"You chose wisely. But the next trial is already waiting."
Zayn glanced at the others. "And Jenny?"
Louis looked down. "Still in the cage."
Niall let out a breath. "Then we keep going."
Liam nodded, eyes burning with purpose. "One track at a time."
And far away, behind another wall of mirrors…
The Watcher watched.
Her smile thinned.
And the storm behind her grew.