ARIA'S POV
Damien's text comes at 8:47 PM: "Emergency. Can't meet tonight. Victoria suspects something. Stay away from me for a few days."
My heart stops. I call him immediately. It goes straight to voicemail.
I try again. Again. Again.
Nothing.
Something's wrong. Very wrong.
I'm pacing my dorm room, phone clutched in my hand, when Victoria walks in. She's humming. Actually humming like she's happy.
"Oh, Aria! You're still awake." She smiles at me, and it makes my skin crawl. "I thought you'd be asleep by now."
"Just studying." I close my laptop quickly. "You're in a good mood."
"I am! Damien and I had the most wonderful evening together." Victoria sits on her bed, that creepy smile still plastered on her face. "He told me something very interesting about you, actually."
My blood turns to ice. "What do you mean?"
"He said you tried to steal him from me. That you asked him out at that café." Victoria's voice stays sweet, but her eyes go cold. "Poor thing. He rejected you, of course. He loves me."
I force myself to look embarrassed. "I'm sorry. I didn't know you two were that serious."
"We're very serious. We're forever." Victoria stands and walks toward me slowly. "So I need you to understand something. Damien is mine. If you try anything like that again, you'll regret it. Just like the last person who tried to come between us."
"Last person?" My voice shakes.
Victoria's smile grows wider. "Goodnight, Aria. Sleep well."
She goes to her bed and turns off her lamp. Within minutes, she's breathing deeply, apparently asleep.
But I can't sleep. Not with Damien's strange message. Not with Victoria's threat. Not with the way she said "last person" like it was a joke.
I grab my phone and text Maya: "Need help NOW. Emergency hacking job."
Maya responds in seconds: "I'm here. What do you need?"
"University files. Daniel's research records. Everything about his final project."
"Give me 20 minutes."
I sit at my desk, watching Victoria's sleeping form. Is she really asleep? Or is she pretending, just like Damien pretends to drink her drugged wine?
My laptop pings softly. Maya's sent me access to the university's student database. My hands shake as I type in Daniel's name.
His file appears on my screen, and suddenly he's real again. His photo stares back at me—that smile I loved, those kind eyes. I have to bite my lip to keep from crying.
Focus, Aria. Do this for him.
I click on his academic records. There it is: his final research project from last semester. "The Psychology of Obsessive Love and Violence."
My heart pounds as I open the file.
The project partner listed makes me want to scream: Victoria Ashford.
I scroll through Daniel's research notes. The first entries are normal—meeting times, research questions, bibliography notes. But then, three months before he died, the tone changes.
"V showing up at my apartment unannounced. Says she was 'just in the neighborhood' but I live 30 minutes from campus. This is the fourth time this week."
"V texted me 47 times yesterday. I stopped responding after the first two. She called my phone 15 times during class."
"Found V sitting outside my apartment at 2 AM. She said she was worried about me and wanted to make sure I got home safe. How did she know what time I'd be coming home?"
"V brought me lunch today. I didn't eat it. Something feels wrong. She watched me the entire time, waiting for me to take a bite. When I said I wasn't hungry, she got angry. Really angry. Her whole face changed."
"I need to end this research partnership. V is becoming dangerous. Every time I try to talk to her professionally, she acts like we're dating. We're NOT dating. I have a girlfriend I love. But V won't accept that."
"V knows about Aria. She asked me about her today, smiling that weird smile. She said, 'Your girlfriend is very pretty. It would be terrible if something happened to her.' I'm scared. Not for me—for Aria."
The last entry is dated two days before Daniel died:
"V says if I try to get a new research partner or report her behavior, she'll hurt herself. She showed me pills and said she'd take them all. I don't know what to do. Professor Winters says I have to work it out with V or we'll both fail. But I can't keep doing this. Tomorrow I'm going to Damien Cross. He lost his mother to a stalker. If anyone will understand, it's him."
Tears stream down my face. I'm reading the last words Daniel ever wrote, and they're about getting help. He tried. He really tried.
I photograph every page, my hands shaking so hard I have to take some pictures twice.
Then I dig deeper into Victoria's records. If she did this to Daniel, maybe she's done it before.
Maya helps me access Victoria's previous university—Westmont College, two hours away. It takes an hour of searching, but finally I find it.
A news article from three years ago: "Westmont Student Dies in Tragic Drowning."
The victim's name is Marcus Chen. He was twenty-one years old. According to the article, he'd gone swimming alone at night in the campus lake and drowned. His body was found the next morning.
But there's something else. A smaller article from the week before: "Student Obtains Restraining Order Against Ex-Girlfriend."
Marcus had filed a restraining order against someone. The name is redacted for privacy, but the details match Victoria perfectly: following him, excessive texting, showing up at his home uninvited.
Two weeks after the restraining order was filed, Marcus was dead.
I search for more information. Find Marcus's social media profiles, still active in memorial. His friends and family posting memories, saying how much they miss him.
One post from his sister catches my eye: "Marcus was terrified of water. He never went near the lake. I don't care what the police say—my brother didn't go swimming that night. Someone made him go in that water."
My whole body goes cold.
Victoria killed Marcus when he tried to leave her.
Then she came to Blackwood University and killed Daniel when he rejected her.
And now Damien is her boyfriend. Damien, who helps me investigate. Damien, who knows the truth.
Damien is next.
I grab my phone and call him again. Still nothing.
I text: "Answer me RIGHT NOW or I'm calling the police."
No response.
I'm pulling on my shoes, ready to run to his apartment, when my laptop pings. An email from an address I don't recognize.
The subject line reads: "You wanted evidence? Here it is."
I open it with shaking hands.
It's a video file. I click play.
The video shows Victoria's apartment. The camera angle is low, like it's hidden. Victoria walks into frame, talking to someone off-camera.
"—can't let you leave me, Damien. And I definitely can't let that girl take you from me."
My blood freezes.
The camera shifts slightly, and I see him. Damien, lying on the couch. Not moving.
Victoria pulls out a rope. Duct tape. And a syringe filled with clear liquid.
"So I'm going to make sure we're together forever," Victoria says, moving toward him. "Just like I planned."
The video cuts off.
The email has one line of text below the video: "Sent from Damien's hidden camera. If you're reading this, I'm already dead. Save the evidence. Make her pay. —D"
I'm on my feet, running for the door, when Victoria sits up in her bed.
"Going somewhere, Aria?" she asks.
She wasn't asleep. She was never asleep.
Victoria stands, and in the moonlight from the window, I see what she's holding.
A syringe. Just like the one in the video.
"You know," she says, walking toward me slowly, "I really hoped you'd mind your own business. But you just couldn't help yourself, could you? Just like Daniel. Always digging. Always questioning."
"Where's Damien?" I demand, backing toward the door.
"Don't worry. You'll see him soon." Victoria smiles. "You'll both be together. Forever. Just like you wanted."
She lunges at me with the syringe.
I grab my laptop and swing it at her head. It connects with a sickening crack. Victoria stumbles backward, blood running from her temple.
I run.
Out the door, down the hallway, down the stairs. My phone is in my hand, dialing 911 as I run.
"911, what's your emergency?"
"She's going to kill him! Victoria Ashford is going to kill Damien Cross! Send police to—"
Something hits me from behind. Hard. I fall forward, my phone skittering across the pavement.
Victoria pins me down, her weight on my back. I feel the needle pierce my neck.
"Shh," she whispers in my ear. "It'll all be over soon. Then it'll just be me and Damien. Forever."
The drug works fast. The world blurs. Sounds fade.
The last thing I see before everything goes black is Victoria's smile.
And the last thing I think is: I'm sorry, Damien. I'm so sorry I couldn't save you.