Just as he reached the apex of the trick, the video didn't cut—it dissolved . The pixels stretched and bled into white noise. The last thing Elias heard wasn't a landing, but the sound of someone calling a name that sounded suspiciously like his own.

As he hit the transition of the pipe, the camera finally tilted up. For a split second, the sun caught the skater’s face. He wasn't smiling. He looked terrified, looking back at something just behind the cameraman.

There was no music, only the rhythmic clack-clack-clack of wheels over sidewalk cracks and the hollow echo of a concrete overpass.