Apex Bloom

The Sanguine Ascent

Dawn didn't break over the island – it bled.

A jagged line of red sliced through the horizon, lighting up the Obsidian Ridge. The heat was already a physical weight pressing against my chest. I stood at the base of the trail wearing a matte – black tactical suit that clung to my skin like a second layer of armour. On my wrist, the haptic band glowed a steady, menacing blue.

Beside me, the competition was a study in panic. Sloane checked her boots with cold precision. Xavier was sweating through his shirt. And then there was Brent.

He stretched his legs with a smug grin, his eyes dropping to my chest before dragging back up to my face.

"Rough night, Lolly?" Brent drawled. "Or did you just realise that climbing volcanic rock is harder than social climbing in Chelsea?"

I didn't even look at the prick. I kept my eyes on the peak. "The only thing I'm realising, Brent, is how much I'm going to enjoy watching you choke on the altitude."

A heavy silence fell over the group as Franco stepped out of the shadows.

He didn't address the group right away. He walked straight towards me. The air grew thick. He stopped so close that I could feel the heat radiating off his chest. He looked down, his dark eyes tracing the line of my throat, taking in the rapid pulse beating there.

"The mountain is unforgiving," Franco murmured, his voice a low, gravelly vibration meant only for me. "But I have a feeling you know exactly how to conquer it."

He let his knuckles brush against my wrist as he checked my haptic band. The casual touch sent a violent, electric spark straight to my core. I didn't step back. I held his gaze, letting him see the feral hunger burning in my eyes. I wanted to win this game, but looking at him, I knew I wanted to break him, too.

Franco finally stepped back, turning to the group. He held a flare gun in his right hand.

"The rules are simple," Franco projected. "The first one to trigger the beacon at the summit wins the Social Tax. The last one to reach the halfway point by noon is eliminated from the living quarters. They become the Scavenger."

He fired the flare. A streak of neon green shot into the red sky.

The first hour was a blur of burning muscle and rasping breath. The rock was sharp as glass. Every time my heart rate spiked, the haptic band vibrated against my wrist – a sharp, stinging pulse designed to trigger absolute panic.

On the small LED screen, a graph flashed.

STRESS LEVEL: 72% – BRENT (SABOTAGE PROTOCOL ACTIVE)

I looked up. Brent was twenty feet above me. He was deliberately kicking loose rock down the narrow path.

"Oops," he shouted over his shoulder. A shower of sharp stones rained down. One grazed my cheek, and I felt a thin line of warm blood slide down my jaw. "Watch your step, princess."

My blood boiled. I reached a narrow, vertical crack in the rock and wedged myself inside. Just as I reached the top of the gap, a hand clamped onto my ankle.

"Going somewhere?" Brent sneered. He had looped back down, his face inches from my boots. "Let's see how tough you are when you're dangling by a fucking thread."

He yanked. Hard.

My grip slipped. For a terrifying second, I was airborne. The world tilted into a chaotic spin of grey rock and endless sky. I slammed against the cliff face, my hands frantically clawing at the jagged volcanic glass.

I hit a narrow ledge ten feet below, but my momentum carried me too far. My upper body slammed onto the stone, but my legs swung out into empty space. The wind was driven from my lungs in a sickening wheeze. My wristband screamed – a high – pitched alarm warning of a critical stress spike.

I scrambled to pull myself fully onto the safety of the ledge, but the rock beneath my stomach began to crumble. I started to slide backward. Below me was a sheer, deadly drop to the crashing Pacific Ocean.

Above me, Brent peered over the edge. He didn't look horrified. He looked entirely triumphant. He lifted his heavy combat boot and hovered it directly over my bleeding, trembling fingers.

"See you at the bottom, princess," he sneered.

He brought his boot down hard