It had been five years since I last saw Ethan. I often wondered what became of him—whether he still had that crooked smile that made him seem like the kind of guy who could change the world with a single sentence, or whether the world had already changed him. We had been inseparable through high school, two halves of a whole, navigating the chaos of adolescence together. And then, just like that, we drifted apart.
I had heard the rumors. Ethan had vanished after graduation, leaving behind a trail of unanswered questions. Some said he moved away, others said he was in trouble with the law. But none of them felt like truth. I knew him too well. Ethan was too clever, too charismatic, to just disappear. I believed he was out there, somewhere, living his life, but I had no idea where.
Then, on a quiet evening in my apartment, the message arrived.
"I need to see you. It’s urgent. Please."
It was from Ethan. My heart skipped a beat. My mind raced. After all these years, he was reaching out. It didn’t take me long to reply, but the words I typed felt heavier than I expected.
"Where? When?"
Within minutes, he responded with an address: an abandoned warehouse on the edge of town. My gut twisted. There was something about the place that didn’t sit right with me, but I couldn’t back out now.
I arrived early, my car creaking as I parked near the derelict building. The sun was setting, casting long shadows across the gravel lot. My palms were sweaty, my mind a tangle of excitement and anxiety. What had happened to Ethan? What was so urgent?
I waited. And waited.
An hour passed, then two. I was about to leave when I heard footsteps behind me. I spun around.
There he was.
Ethan.
He looked almost the same—taller, with the same wild, unruly hair, but his eyes… his eyes were different. There was something in them now, something hard, something darker.
"Long time no see," he said, his voice strained. He gave me that crooked smile, but it didn’t reach his eyes. "I’m sorry to drag you here, but I needed to see you."
I nodded, trying to hide my shock. "What’s going on, Ethan? You’ve been gone for so long, and now this—"
"I need your help," he interrupted. His expression shifted, becoming more intense. "There’s something you need to understand. Something I never told you before."
I raised an eyebrow. "What are you talking about?"
Ethan hesitated, glancing around as though he were checking for unseen threats. "Remember when we used to talk about the future? About how we’d take on the world together, no matter what?"
"Of course," I said, the memory flooding back. We had been invincible back then, two dreamers with the world at our feet.
"That’s the problem," he muttered, his voice dropping. "We were never supposed to do that. I was never supposed to be your friend."
I frowned, confused. "What do you mean?"
He took a step closer. "I wasn’t who you thought I was. None of it was real."
Before I could speak, Ethan grabbed my arm, his grip tight and urgent. "You have to listen to me, okay? You were never just a friend. You were part of the plan, the whole damn scheme. They set us up to be perfect. You and me, a perfect team. But I… I was a project, and you were the key."
I pulled back, my heart racing. "What are you talking about? Who set us up? What project?"
Ethan’s face twisted in pain. "The government, the organization, whatever you want to call them. They recruited me when I was 15, told me I was special, that I had something inside of me—something they could use to change the world. But they needed you, too. You were always part of it, even when I didn’t know it. They manipulated us. You were never just my friend; you were their tool, just like me."
My breath caught in my throat. This was insane. Ethan was talking like a conspiracy theorist. But the desperation in his voice… it felt too real.
"Why didn’t you tell me?" I whispered. "Why didn’t you say anything?"
He looked away, ashamed. "Because I didn’t know. At first, I thought I was just playing along. But then they started controlling me, manipulating my thoughts, making me do things. They told me I had to distance myself from you. They said you couldn’t know what was really happening."
I shook my head, my world tilting on its axis. "This doesn’t make sense. You—"
"I’m not the same person you knew," Ethan interrupted, his eyes darkening. "They did something to me. Changed me. They made me into someone else."
A silence stretched between us, thick with unspoken words. My heart pounded in my chest, but something clicked. Something he said. "Wait. You said they needed me… they wanted me for a reason. What’s that reason, Ethan? What’s the real plan?"
His expression shifted, a mix of guilt and sorrow. "You were the final piece. You were always the key to making it all happen. The plan wasn’t to control the world—it was to erase it. You and I were supposed to help them create a new reality. We were meant to forget everything about our past lives. To reset the world."
My knees weakened as the weight of his words hit me. "You’re saying… you were supposed to erase everything? All the people we knew? The world as we know it?"
"Yes," Ethan whispered. "But I… I can’t do it. I can’t betray you like that. I’ve already hurt too many people."
I stared at him, disbelief and fury warring inside me. "Then why are you here? Why bring me into this? If you really cared about me, you wouldn’t have let this happen."
Ethan lowered his head. "I didn’t have a choice. But you do."
Before I could respond, a loud crack echoed through the warehouse, followed by the roar of an engine. I turned to see a black SUV screeching to a halt outside. Men in suits rushed toward us, weapons drawn.
"You don’t get to choose anymore," one of them sneered, pushing Ethan aside. "You’re both coming with us."
I watched in horror as Ethan was forced to the ground. Then, in a flash, I understood everything. The truth, the manipulation, the reason why Ethan had come back into my life. It wasn’t for help. It was a warning. I wasn’t just part of the plan—I was the ultimate weapon.
And now, I was trapped in it.
The End.
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