REM Protocol: Red Queen Rising
The night after The Infiltration wasn't quiet.
It was chaos, wrapped in silence.
Bee Rivera couldn't sleep. Not because of the nightmares—but because she was too afraid they'd feel like memories.
That folder in the filing cabinet of the Ridgewood basement—the one labeled Project REM-C: Subject H. Emerson—wasn't just a file.
It was a weapon.
A ghost.
A ticking time bomb wrapped in redacted pages and biochemical horror.
And it changed everything.
Because if the school board was experimenting on students…
If Hailey's erratic behavior wasn't just grief, or breakdown, or trauma—but programming…
Then Bee's whole war wasn't just about justice anymore.
It was about survival.
And the worst part? The file didn't end with Hailey's name.
It ended with one line.
> "Phase Two successfully initiated. Subject B. Rivera responsive. Transfer underway."
Bee read it three times before she allowed herself to scream.
She had gone to war with ghosts, but now the ghost was inside her.
The REM Protocol wasn't dead. It was alive. It was evolving. It had moved on—from Hailey Monroe to her.
And Bee was next.
---
The girls didn't know. Not yet.
Kai sensed something, of course. He always did. His hands lingered too long when he passed her water. His voice lowered when they spoke in private. His eyes scanned her like a soldier checking for cracks in armor. But Bee had learned to fake strength the way she used to fake smiles.
So when Serena asked, "What's next, General?"
And Zuri added, "Do we burn down the system, or just expose it?"
Bee didn't flinch.
She looked at them both with fire in her eyes and said, "We do both. But first—we crash the Gala."
---
The Ridgewood Gala of Legacy.
A glittering, exclusive, invite-only, school-board-funded spectacle. A gathering of the richest donors, the oldest alumni, and the most corrupt gatekeepers in the city.
The perfect cover for Elara Voss.
And the perfect trap for Bee.
The plan was insane. Suicidal, even.
Infiltrate the gala using forged student media passes. Hack the encrypted donor servers. Extract the REM Protocol's active logs. And expose every name involved—every teacher, board member, scientist, and puppet master.
The Red Queen was rising. And she would not wear her crown quietly.
---
But as the Gala draws closer, the world around Bee begins to shift.
Madison Reyes—ex-Queen, current traitor—is silent. Too silent.
Logan Cruz is watching Bee again, with the kind of haunted look that doesn't come from regret, but recognition.
And Principal Harrow?
He's vanished.
Word on the encrypted server is that he's "on sabbatical." But Bee knows the look of someone taken out before they could talk.
It wasn't a sabbatical.
It was cleanup.
---
And then there were the dreams.
Flashes of needles. Screaming. A girl crying. A mirror shattering. A voice whispering, "You are not who you think you are."
Kai catches her wandering the quad barefoot at 3:00 a.m.
"Bee," he says, gently, pulling her back to herself. "Where were you just now?"
She stares at her own hands like they're foreign.
"I don't know."
She doesn't tell him that in the dream, she wasn't Bee Rivera.
She was Brielle Kingston.
And someone was cutting pieces of her out.
---
Flashback fragments. Nosebleeds. Blackouts.
Bee used to control everything.
Now she's holding it all together with duct tape and eyeliner.
But she refuses to fall. Not when the stakes are this high. Not when she's this close.
They broke Hailey.
But Bee? Bee is the glitch in their machine. The unpredictable variable. The girl with claws and a vendetta.
And if they think they can rewrite her memory?
They'll learn too late—
She already wrote her legacy in blood.
---
Gala night arrives.
The Ridgewood auditorium has been transformed into a palace of lies. Red carpet, crystal chandeliers, live jazz, and high society oozing corruption in sequins.
Bee enters in a stolen black velvet dress with a slit that could cut throats.
Kai's beside her in a suit that says "clean-cut honor student," but his eyes flash with rage.
Zuri's working the tech booth with Serena, hacking feeds and whispering code like a language of war.
Everything is perfect.
Until Bee sees her.
Elara Voss.
Crowned in diamonds. Laughing with board members. Toasting to "a brighter Ridgewood."
And Bee realizes that the woman who ordered Project REM-C… the one who drugged Hailey and orchestrated brainwashing protocols…
Is looking directly at her.
Smiling.
Like she knows.
---
Everything after that moves fast.
Too fast.
Bee's signal starts glitching. Her earbud goes dark.
Zuri's voice—cut off mid-sentence.
The files on Elara's tablet—encrypted.
Security descending like a hive of suits.
And then—
The power cuts out.
The stage goes black.
A siren blares.
The gala screams.
And Bee hears one sentence in her own voice, broadcast over the speakers—but she never said it.
> "Subject B. Rivera entering terminal stage. Execute REM override."
---
Her knees buckle.
Kai catches her.
But Bee's eyes are distant. Glazed. Flickering with panic.
> "I know this place," she whispers. "I've been here before. In the dark. On the table. Screaming."
> "Bee?" Kai's voice shakes. "Look at me. Stay with me. Don't let them take you."
But it's too late.
Because in the blackout chaos of Ridgewood's most prestigious night...
The Red Queen rises.
And Bee Rivera is gone.
---
End Teaser.
Let me know if you want the full Chapter 24 written out next or want to explore Kai's POV during this chaos!
Here's a 1000+ word, spicy and suspenseful teaser for Chapter 24: "REM Protocol: Red Queen Rising" of Queen Bee Reloaded. It's written like the back cover of a gripping thriller—layered with suspense, drama, danger, and intensity, while keeping the tone true to Bee's evolution as a vengeful queen on the rise.
---
Teaser – Chapter 24: REM Protocol: Red Queen Rising
The night after The Infiltration wasn't quiet.
It was chaos, wrapped in silence.
Bee Rivera couldn't sleep. Not because of the nightmares—but because she was too afraid they'd feel like memories.
That folder in the filing cabinet of the Ridgewood basement—the one labeled Project REM-C: Subject H. Emerson—wasn't just a file.
It was a weapon.
A ghost.
A ticking time bomb wrapped in redacted pages and biochemical horror.
And it changed everything.
Because if the school board was experimenting on students…
If Hailey's erratic behavior wasn't just grief, or breakdown, or trauma—but programming…
Then Bee's whole war wasn't just about justice anymore.
It was about survival.
And the worst part? The file didn't end with Hailey's name.
It ended with one line.
> "Phase Two successfully initiated. Subject B. Rivera responsive. Transfer underway."
Bee read it three times before she allowed herself to scream.
She had gone to war with ghosts, but now the ghost was inside her.
The REM Protocol wasn't dead. It was alive. It was evolving. It had moved on—from Hailey Monroe to her.
And Bee was next.
---
The girls didn't know. Not yet.
Kai sensed something, of course. He always did. His hands lingered too long when he passed her water. His voice lowered when they spoke in private. His eyes scanned her like a soldier checking for cracks in armor. But Bee had learned to fake strength the way she used to fake smiles.
So when Serena asked, "What's next, General?"
And Zuri added, "Do we burn down the system, or just expose it?"
Bee didn't flinch.
She looked at them both with fire in her eyes and said, "We do both. But first—we crash the Gala."
---
The Ridgewood Gala of Legacy.
A glittering, exclusive, invite-only, school-board-funded spectacle. A gathering of the richest donors, the oldest alumni, and the most corrupt gatekeepers in the city.
The perfect cover for Elara Voss.
And the perfect trap for Bee.
The plan was insane. Suicidal, even.
Infiltrate the gala using forged student media passes. Hack the encrypted donor servers. Extract the REM Protocol's active logs. And expose every name involved—every teacher, board member, scientist, and puppet master.
The Red Queen was rising. And she would not wear her crown quietly.
---
But as the Gala draws closer, the world around Bee begins to shift.
Madison Reyes—ex-Queen, current traitor—is silent. Too silent.
Logan Cruz is watching Bee again, with the kind of haunted look that doesn't come from regret, but recognition.
And Principal Harrow?
He's vanished.
Word on the encrypted server is that he's "on sabbatical." But Bee knows the look of someone taken out before they could talk.
It wasn't a sabbatical.
It was cleanup.
---
And then there were the dreams.
Flashes of needles. Screaming. A girl crying. A mirror shattering. A voice whispering, "You are not who you think you are."
Kai catches her wandering the quad barefoot at 3:00 a.m.
"Bee," he says, gently, pulling her back to herself. "Where were you just now?"
She stares at her own hands like they're foreign.
"I don't know."
She doesn't tell him that in the dream, she wasn't Bee Rivera.
She was Brielle Kingston.
And someone was cutting pieces of her out.
---
Flashback fragments. Nosebleeds. Blackouts.
Bee used to control everything.
Now she's holding it all together with duct tape and eyeliner.
But she refuses to fall. Not when the stakes are this high. Not when she's this close.
They broke Hailey.
But Bee? Bee is the glitch in their machine. The unpredictable variable. The girl with claws and a vendetta.
And if they think they can rewrite her memory?
They'll learn too late—
She already wrote her legacy in blood.
---
Gala night arrives.
The Ridgewood auditorium has been transformed into a palace of lies. Red carpet, crystal chandeliers, live jazz, and high society oozing corruption in sequins.
Bee enters in a stolen black velvet dress with a slit that could cut throats.
Kai's beside her in a suit that says "clean-cut honor student," but his eyes flash with rage.
Zuri's working the tech booth with Serena, hacking feeds and whispering code like a language of war.
Everything is perfect.
Until Bee sees her.
Elara Voss.
Crowned in diamonds. Laughing with board members. Toasting to "a brighter Ridgewood."
And Bee realizes that the woman who ordered Project REM-C… the one who drugged Hailey and orchestrated brainwashing protocols…
Is looking directly at her.
Smiling.
Like she knows.
---
Everything after that moves fast.
Too fast.
Bee's signal starts glitching. Her earbud goes dark.
Zuri's voice—cut off mid-sentence.
The files on Elara's tablet—encrypted.
Security descending like a hive of suits.
And then—
The power cuts out.
The stage goes black.
A siren blares.
The gala screams.
And Bee hears one sentence in her own voice, broadcast over the speakers—but she never said it.
> "Subject B. Rivera entering terminal stage. Execute REM override."
---
Her knees buckle.
Kai catches her.
But Bee's eyes are distant. Glazed. Flickering with panic.
> "I know this place," she whispers. "I've been here before. In the dark. On the table. Screaming."
> "Bee?" Kai's voice shakes. "Look at me. Stay with me. Don't let them take you."
But it's too late.
Because in the blackout chaos of Ridgewood's most prestigious night...
The Red Queen rises.
And Bee Rivera is gone