Chapter 3 - Chapter Three

🔥 Support the Author & Unlock Exclusive Perks!

Love what you're reading? Want to get early access to chapters and exclusive bonus scenes from Reincarnated in Final Destination?

Join my Patreon and help me keep the story alive:

👉 patreon.com/MrFlashXO

Every pledge helps me write more, write faster, and deliver the horror, mystery, and mind games you love!

---

📘 Also by Me – MEME KILLER 🔪

A gripping original crime thriller available now on Amazon Kindle.

When a serial killer turns internet memes into murder weapons, only one detective can stop the madness.

🖤 Free for Kindle Unlimited readers

📖 Read MEME KILLER by Akhil Pillai on Amazon

---

Thank you for your support—it means the world to indie authors like me. 🙏

Stay alive, stay alert... and don't trust the shadows.

----

Also vote. A lot of power stones are needed😃

The aim is for the stories I write to get a vast audience.

---

·Chapter Three4dShareTod sat on the bathroom floor, trembling. His soaked shirt clung to his skin, and his eyes were wide with disbelief. He'd coughed so hard minutes ago he nearly passed out—he still had red marks around his neck from the cord.

"What the hell…" he muttered again, running a shaking hand through his wet hair. "I almost… I almost died."

"You did," I said flatly, sitting across from him with my back against the tub. "Almost."

He looked at me, finally locking eyes. "How the hell did you know I was in danger?"

I hesitated.

I couldn't tell him the whole truth. Not yet. But I could give him enough.

"I had a hunch," I said. "After what happened with the plane… I've been seeing things. Patterns. Bad ones. Like… death isn't finished with us."

His jaw tightened. "You mean like... it's coming back for us?"

I nodded. "One by one. In a specific order. You were first."

He went quiet. Really quiet.

Then: "Jesus Christ."

---

I didn't stay long. Tod needed space, and I had work to do. The system wasn't going to let me rest just because I managed to save one life.

> [Mission Update: Carter Horton – Risk Level: ELEVATED]

Location: City Streets

Event Trigger: 45 Minutes

Forecast: Mobile Fatality – Collision Risk – Unstable Emotions

> Reward: +150 Fate Points

Bonus Objective: Prevent Collateral Fatality

A second name blinked beneath Carter's.

Terry Chaney.

Her thread pulsed faintly—flickering with instability.

A bad feeling settled in my gut.

---

Carter Horton was always angry. Always intense. Always on edge.

And after what happened at the airport, he'd gone ballistic. I didn't blame him. He was loud and brash, but underneath, I could tell he was scared. Terrified, really. Terry had tried to keep him grounded, but when I caught up with them later that morning, it was clear she was reaching the end of her patience.

They were arguing by a sidewalk café on Main Street.

"You can't just keep pretending it didn't happen!" Terry snapped, arms folded.

"I'm not pretending!" Carter snapped back, pacing furiously. "I know something's coming, okay? I can feel it! But I'm not gonna sit around waiting like some chump!"

She groaned. "You're lashing out at everyone—your friends, your teachers, me. You think acting tough is gonna stop whatever this is?"

He clenched his fists. "You weren't there inside my head, Terry. I saw that plane explode when it wasn't supposed to. Something's wrong, and I'm not gonna wait to get picked off like Tod or Billy."

My heart skipped.

> [Alert: Time Acceleration Detected – Trigger Advancing]

I rushed forward. "Carter! Terry!"

They both turned at the same time.

Carter glared. "You again?"

Terry narrowed her eyes. "Kai, right?"

"We have to move," I said quickly. "You're in danger. Something's going to happen here."

Carter scoffed. "You some kind of psychic too? Like Browning?"

"I'm not—look, I don't have time to explain. Just trust me. Get away from the road."

That's when it happened.

A screech. A horn.

A flash of movement.

---

A speeding truck came barreling down the street, swerving to avoid a jaywalking pedestrian.

The chain reaction was fast—too fast.

The pedestrian tripped. A cyclist veered. The truck clipped a light pole.

And the pole tipped.

Straight toward the sidewalk.

Straight toward Terry.

I moved.

Time slowed.

I saw the death threads—a tangled mass connecting the pole, the cracked sidewalk, a puddle of spilled oil from the truck.

> [Fatal Thread: ACTIVE – 98% Collision Probability]

I tackled her.

The light pole slammed into the bench she'd been standing in front of, splinters of wood and steel flying everywhere.

The impact cracked the pavement. Sparks flew from a severed electrical line.

Carter shouted something, running over. "Terry! You okay?!"

She was shaking, but alive. I'd managed to shove her just in time.

> [+150 Fate Points]

[Collateral Death Prevented: Bonus Achieved – +50 FP]

[Warning: Chain Reaction Not Fully Neutralized]

I frowned.

"What the hell does that mean?" I muttered.

And then I heard it.

A low whine. Like metal bending under stress.

I turned.

The pole hadn't just fallen—it had crashed onto a fire hydrant, which was now gushing water. And that water was flooding into the street—toward a sparking transformer that had been knocked loose above us.

And Carter—still shouting, still unaware—was standing in the rising water.

"No—!"

I sprinted.

But I wasn't fast enough.

The transformer exploded, showering sparks down like a broken thundercloud.

One bolt hit the water with a snap.

Carter twitched violently. Screamed. Then fell.

Face-first.

The smell of ozone and burnt flesh filled the air.

---

Time stopped.

> [Target: Carter Horton – DECEASED]

[Thread: Severed – Irreversible]

[Fate Points Lost: -75]

[Warning: Death Pattern Intensifying]

I stood over him, breathing hard, the weight of failure pressing into my chest like a slab of stone.

Terry was screaming. People were shouting. Sirens wailed in the distance.

But all I could do was stare at the system message glowing in red:

> You cannot save everyone.

---

Hours later, I sat on a bench just outside the hospital, hands trembling, head hung low.

Terry had gone with the paramedics. She hadn't looked at me. Not once.

I didn't blame her.

Clear found me there sometime after nightfall.

She approached slowly, sitting beside me without saying a word for a while.

The silence was heavier than anything.

"You tried, didn't you?" she finally asked.

I nodded. "I was too slow."

She glanced at me. "Is this going to keep happening?"

"Yes."

Another pause.

"Why you?" she asked. "Why do you see the threads?"

I turned to her. "I died, Clear. In my world. In another life."

Her eyes widened.

"I watched Final Destination 6. Stepped outside the theater. Got crushed by a billboard. And then I woke up here. In Kai's body. With memories. With this system that lets me see fate itself. Gives me chances. And puts a timer on every soul marked for death."

She didn't say anything. Not for a long time.

Then: "I believe you."

That surprised me.

She shrugged. "You saved me. You saved Tod. You tried to save Carter. And you look like someone who carries the weight of more than one lifetime."

I closed my eyes. "This is just the beginning. Death's going to adapt. It's already getting faster."

Clear leaned back, gazing up at the stars.

"Then we adapt faster," she said quietly.

---

> [New Mission Chain: "Resist and Reclaim" Activated]

Survivors Remaining: 5

Status: Watched

Threat Level: Critical

Next Target: Billy Hitchcock

Estimated Event Trigger: 16 Hours 03 Minutes

> Reward for Full Chain Break: ???

Penalty for Failure: Permanent System L

ockout – Soul Erasure

---

And so it began again.

One thread at a time.

---

To be continued…

---