Skylar's POV
We're on the fifth floor when Riley grabs my arm and yanks me into an empty classroom.
"What are you doing?" I whisper-yell. "We only have seven minutes left!"
"Shut up and listen." Riley pulls out her phone, her hands shaking. "I just got an email. From James."
The world stops spinning.
"That's impossible. James is—"
"Dead. I know." Riley's face is white. "But look at the timestamp. This email was scheduled to send six months after his death. He set it up as a safety measure."
She shows me the screen. The sender is James's old email address. The subject line reads: IF YOU'RE READING THIS, I'M DEAD.
My knees almost give out. "Open it."
Riley clicks the email. James's words fill the screen:
Skylar and Riley (because I know you two won't give up on me),
If you're reading this, it means I didn't make it. I set this email to send automatically if I didn't log in to cancel it within six months. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry for everything.
I know who's been stalking me. It's Damon's girlfriend, Celeste Morgan. She's been following me for weeks, sending me messages, showing up everywhere I go. I told her to leave me alone, but she won't stop.
Yesterday she cornered me in the library. She said if I told Damon about her "obsession," she'd make sure I disappeared. She said her family has lawyers who can make anyone disappear.
I'm scared. I'm going to tell Damon everything tomorrow, no matter what she threatens. He deserves to know the truth about her.
But if something happens to me before I can tell him, you need to know: Celeste is dangerous. And she's not working alone.
I found files on her laptop (long story, don't ask). She's been working with someone at the university. Someone with access to security systems and student records. Someone who's been helping her stalk me.
The files are hidden in a cloud account. The login information is attached to this email. Get the files. Expose her. Don't let her get away with this.
And tell Damon I'm sorry. I should have told him sooner.
Love you both. Stay safe.
- James
Tears blur my vision. James knew. He knew she was going to kill him, and he tried to warn us from beyond the grave.
"The attachment," I choke out. "Open the attachment."
Riley's fingers fly across her phone screen. "It's login credentials for a cloud storage account. And—oh my God."
"What?"
"There are hundreds of files. Photos, videos, documents. This is everything." Riley's eyes go wide as she scrolls. "Skylar, James documented everything Celeste did. Every time she followed him, every creepy message, every threat. This is enough evidence to put her away for life."
Hope explodes in my chest. "Send it to Detective Kim right now!"
"Already doing it." Riley types frantically. "But there's something else. A folder labeled 'The Partner.' James figured out who's been helping Celeste."
"Who?"
Riley opens the folder. Her face goes completely pale.
"No. No, that's impossible."
"Riley, who is it?"
She turns her phone toward me.
The folder contains photos of a man meeting with Celeste in secret locations. Coffee shops. Parking garages. Empty classrooms.
The man is Marcus Webb. Damon's teaching assistant friend.
"Marcus?" My voice comes out strangled. "But he's been helping us investigate! He gave us information about Celeste!"
"He gave us information he wanted us to have," Riley says slowly. "Think about it. He's the one who told us the security footage was deleted. He's the one with administrator access to the university's systems. He could have erased the footage himself."
My stomach turns over. "And he's Damon's friend. Damon trusts him completely."
"Which means if Marcus is waiting on that roof right now—"
"Damon's walking into a trap set by his own friend."
We stare at each other in horror.
"The text," I gasp. "The warning text Damon got. It said 'It's not Celeste waiting for you. It's someone worse.' It was trying to warn him about Marcus!"
"We have to get to that roof. Now." Riley shoves her phone in her pocket and runs for the door.
We explode into the stairwell and race upward. My legs burn. My lungs scream. But I push harder.
Sixth floor. Almost there.
"Wait." Riley skids to a stop so suddenly I almost crash into her.
"What? We don't have time—"
"Listen."
I hold my breath and listen.
Voices. Coming from above us. On the seventh floor, right below the roof access.
"—don't understand why we're doing this." That's Marcus's voice. "We should have just let Celeste handle it."
"Celeste is sloppy." A woman's voice. Cold and sharp. "She got emotional with James and almost ruined everything. We can't afford mistakes."
"Who is that?" Riley breathes in my ear.
I shake my head. The voice sounds familiar, but I can't place it.
"What about the girls?" Marcus asks. "They have copies of the recording."
"Let them have it. Audio can be dismissed as fake. But if they make it to this roof, if they see what we have planned for Damon..." The woman laughs. It's a terrible sound. "Well. Three bodies falling from a roof during a confrontation with a disturbed student? Much cleaner story."
My blood turns to ice.
"You're going to kill all three of us," Marcus says quietly. "That's the plan?"
"Don't get squeamish now. You're the one who erased the security footage. You're the one who gave Celeste access to the building that night. You're already an accessory to murder."
"I didn't know she was going to kill him! I thought she just wanted to scare James into silence!"
"And yet you helped cover it up afterward. Which makes you just as guilty." The woman's voice turns hard. "Now stop whining and get into position. The girls will be here any minute, and when they are—"
A door opens above us. Footsteps on the stairs leading to the roof.
"That's Damon," the woman says. "Right on schedule. Remember, when I give the signal—"
Riley's phone buzzes. Loud. Way too loud in the silent stairwell.
The voices above us stop.
"Did you hear that?" Marcus whispers.
"Someone's down there." The woman's footsteps start moving. Coming toward the stairs. Coming toward us.
Riley and I look at each other in pure terror.
We're trapped. Caught between the sixth floor and wherever this mystery woman is coming from above.
"Run!" Riley hisses.
We bolt down the stairs, taking them three at a time. Behind us, the footsteps speed up.
"Stop!" the woman shouts. "You can't escape!"
We hit the sixth floor landing and Riley yanks open the door. We race down the hallway, desperate for somewhere to hide.
"In here!" I pull Riley into a janitor's closet and slam the door shut. We press our backs against the wall, breathing hard, trying to stay silent.
Footsteps pound past our door. Keep going. Don't stop.
They stop.
"I know you're on this floor," the woman calls out. Her voice is closer now. Right outside our door. "You can't hide forever."
Through the crack under the door, I see her shadow. She's standing right there. One foot away from us.
Riley's hand finds mine in the darkness. We squeeze tight.
"Fine," the woman says. "Hide like cowards. But you should know—Damon just reached the roof. And in about thirty seconds, he's going to fall. Just. Like. James."
No. No, no, no.
"Unless you come out right now and surrender, he dies. Your choice, girls. Ten seconds. Nine. Eight..."
Riley looks at me in the darkness. I see my own fear reflected in her eyes.
If we stay hidden, Damon dies.
If we come out, we all die.
"Seven. Six. Five..."
I reach for the door handle.
Riley grabs my wrist and shakes her head violently.
"Four. Three..."
My hand hovers over the handle. Every second that passes is another second Damon is in danger.
"Two..."
I turn the handle.
"One."
I throw open the door.
The hallway is empty.
The woman is gone.
"It was a trick," Riley gasps. "She wanted to flush us out—"
A scream echoes from above us. From the roof.
Damon's scream.
Then a sickening thud that shakes the entire building.
"No!" I'm running before I can think. Back to the stairwell. Up, up, up toward the roof.
Riley's right behind me. "Skylar, wait! It could be a trap!"
I don't care. If Damon is hurt, if he's—
I burst through the roof access door.
The roof is empty. No Damon. No Marcus. No mysterious woman.
Just blood. A pool of it near the edge.
And Damon's phone lying in the middle of the blood, screen cracked and dark.
"Oh God," Riley whispers beside me. "Did he fall? Did they push him?"
I run to the edge of the roof and look down.
My heart stops completely.
There's a body on the ground below. Surrounded by police cars and flashing lights. People running toward it. Screaming.
But it's too far away to see who it is.
"Is it Damon?" Riley's crying now. "Is it him?"
My phone buzzes.
A text from an unknown number:
Wrong roof, girls. While you were hiding like cowards, we moved the party to the science building next door. Check the news in five minutes. You'll see what happens to people who try to stop us.
P.S. - Your friend Detective Kim sends her regards. Oh wait, she can't. She's a little tied up right now. Literally.
I grab Riley's arm. "We have to get to the science building. Now."
We race back down the stairs, but we're too late. We've always been too late.
Behind us, sirens wail louder.
And somewhere in this campus, Damon is either dead or dying.
And it's all my fault.