Chapter: Chapter Thirty-Eight - Daddy dearestI woke to an empty room. The morning light was gray and thin, filtering through the curtains like water through cheesecloth. Ashley's bed was empty, the sheets tangled, her cat socks nowhere to be seen. Madden's spot on the floor was vacant, her laptop gone, her blanket folded in a neat square. Myles was gone too. I sat up, my heart racing. The floor beside my bed was bare. No blanket. No pillow. No evidence that he'd been there at all. But his jacket was still draped over the foot of the bed. He wouldn't leave without his jacket. I pulled on my shoes and walked into the hallway. --- The common room was empty at this hour. A few students sat in the corners, heads bent over textbooks, earbuds in, lost in their own worlds. The vending machines hummed their fluorescent hymn. The coffee maker in the corner gurgled and steamed. Myles was standing by the window, his back to me, his hands in his pockets. I walked up beside him. “Hey.” Myles turned around, acknowledgi
Last Updated: 2026-06-15
Chapter: Chapter Thirty-Seven – The FrameI didn't stop running until I reached the dorm.My lungs burned. My legs screamed. The cold air sliced through my jacket like it wasn't even there. But I didn't care. I couldn't stop. If I stopped, I would have to think. And if I thought, I would have to face what I'd just seen.The video.It had been altered. Someone had taken footage of me at the lake,probably from the same security camera that had captured Caleb's body,and edited it to make it look like I was pushing him into the water.But I hadn't touched him. I'd found him floating. I'd turned him over. I'd seen his face and run.That was the truth.But the truth didn't matter when someone had evidence.---I burst through the door of my room.Ashley was sitting on her bed, her laptop open, her eyes red. She looked up when I entered, her face crumpling with relief."Alexa! Oh my God, what happened? Are you okay? We've been freaking out for hours."Madden was on the floor, her back against the wall, her arms crossed. She didn't s
Last Updated: 2026-06-10
Chapter: Chapter Thirty-Six - Set-up The room seemed to spin. Ashley grabbed my arm. Myles's hand found mine under the table. "You have the right to remain silent," the officer continued. "Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law. You have the right to an attorney. If you cannot afford an attorney, one will be provided for you." "Wait, wait, wait." Myles stepped closer to the officers. "You're arresting her?" "We're detaining her for questioning. There's a difference." "There's no difference. You just read her Miranda rights." The officer ignored him. His eyes were fixed on me. "Miss James. Please come with us." I looked at Myles. At Ashley. At the students watching, their phones recording, their whispers spreading like fire. "Let me call someone first," I said. "You can make a call at the station." "Alexa, don't go with them," Ashley whispered. "Wait for Detective Cross. She'll….” "Miss James." The officer's voice was harder now. "Don't make this difficult." I stood up. My legs we
Last Updated: 2026-06-09
Chapter: Chapter Thirty-Five – Morning LightI woke to sunlight streaming through the curtains and the sound of Ashley's muffled laughter. Myles was still beside me, his head now resting against the headboard, his hand still loosely holding mine. He was awake, watching me with those dark eyes that always seemed to see too much. "You snore," he said. "I do not." "Lightly. It's actually kind of adorable." I pulled my hand away and sat up, my cheeks warming. Ashley was standing by her bed, her phone raised, a grin spread across her face. "Delete that," I said. "Never." She tucked her phone into her pocket. "This is blackmail material for life." Madden was already dressed, sitting cross-legged on the floor, her laptop open on her knees. She looked up when I stirred, her expression unreadable. "You're both disgusting," she said. But there was no heat in it. Almost a smile. I looked around the room. At Ashley's cat socks and Madden's sharp eyes and Myles's tired smile. At the people who had become my family when I
Last Updated: 2026-06-08
Chapter: Chapter Thirty-Four - The Detective’s homeI couldn't hold it anymore.The tears came fast and hard, choking my throat, stealing my breath. I pressed my free hand against my mouth to muffle the sound, but it was useless. The sobs escaped anyway, raw and ugly and unstoppable."Alexa?" Detective Cross's voice was sharp with concern. "Alexa, where are you? What's happening?""I'm at the chapel," I managed. "The old one. Near the edge of campus.""Stay right there. I'm coming to get you. Don't move."The line went dead.I sank onto the nearest pew, my legs shaking, my breath coming in ragged gasps. The tears kept coming, hot and relentless, soaking my cheeks, dripping onto my jacket. I'd been holding them in for so long. Weeks. Months. Years, maybe.And now they wouldn't stop.---Fifteen minutes later, headlights cut through the darkness outside the chapel windows.I stood up, wiped my face with my sleeve, and walked to the door. Detective Cross's car was parked on the grass, the engine still running, the driver's side door alrea
Last Updated: 2026-06-07
Chapter: Chapter Thirty-Three – The DecisionI stood there in the darkness long after he left.The door swung shut behind him, the chains rattling, the echo bouncing off the stone walls. Then silence. Just the wind through the broken windows and the beating of my own heart.He was gone.Again.Just like he'd always been.I sank onto the nearest pew, my legs suddenly unable to hold me. The wood creaked beneath my weight, dust rising in small clouds around me. I stared at the door, at the place where he'd disappeared, at the space where my father had stood and told me nothing.I already lost Alice. I'm not going to lose you too.Those were the only words that mattered. The only ones that felt true.Everything else,the warnings, the mask, the running,was just noise, because I knew I was never going to stop seeking revenge, fear dressed up as action. Guilt dressed up as protection.He hadn't killed Alice. I believed that. Whatever else he'd done, whatever accidents he'd caused, he hadn't held his own daughter underwater and watched
Last Updated: 2026-06-06
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