The silence after Jayden's death felt heavier than anything I'd ever experienced.

It pressed down on the clearing like a physical weight, suffocating and absolute. Even the forest seemed to hold its breath, no birds singing, no wind rustling through the leaves. Just stillness and the faint smell of burnt flesh that made my stomach turn.

Jake sat on the ground, still coughing, his hand massaging his bruised throat. Each breath he took rattled in his chest, painful and labored. The other two ...