Lucy smiles, shouting, “Hell yeah! She’s an amazing tutor, by the way. She helped me ace Debate the other day.”

“Thank you.” I face Sebastian. “So what’s it gonna be? My offer has an expiration date in about…” I stare at my watch. “Ten seconds. Nine, eight, seven—”

“Fine. Jesus, it’s like you had a personality transplant.”

“I’ll take that as a compliment.”

Lucy, Sebastian, and I part ways inside since we have different classes.

I say good morning to anyone who greets me, and much to my dismay, it still shocks some students, as if something holy has landed in town.

My next class is Sociology. When I walk in, no one is inside. It’s only empty chairs and a screen. I turn around, searching for any human presence.

Was it canceled?

I really need to start checking the college’s website more frequently.

“Is anyone here?” When no one replies, I head for the exit.

The door hisses shut in my face. I try the intercom, but there’s no response.

What the hell?

I grip the handle and pull. Nothing. It’s like it’s made of steel.

“Come on, open—”

The lights go out. The entire room gets swallowed in punishing darkness.

My heartbeat picks up as I lose an essential sense—sight.

“Hello?” I hate how my voice trembles on the word. “This isn’t funny.”

I thrust my hand into my bag, fishing for my phone.

A bang sounds on the wall.

I flinch and my phone drops to the ground. The unmistakable crack of the screen echoes in the air.

“Shit.” I crouch, my hands feeling around blindly.

Light bursts into the projector like an old movie. It shines onto the opposite wall.

I gasp, freezing in my crouched position.

Black words in a bloody font flash on the white walls. They pass so fast as if planning to give me epilepsy. I’m about to close my eyes when the words start registering.

I. Am. Coming. For. You. I. Know. What. You. Did. Blood. On. Your. Hands. Murderer. Murderer. MURDERER.

I cover my mouth with both of my hands as the words repeat on a loop.

No.

This is some sort of a sick joke.

I stumble backward, my heel catching on the ground. I nearly fall, but I pull myself together and slam my palms on the door.

“Help!” I scream at the top of my lungs. “Someone help!”

I hit the door harder and faster until my palms sting and tears well in my eyes.

A ping sounds from near the projector.

I jerk, my hands turning sweaty. Perspiration slides down my temples and my neck and all the way underneath my clothes.

The lights continue flashing and flashing and fucking flashing.

I place both hands on my ears and slide to the floor.

“No, Mommy, no…don’t go…” A sob tears from my throat. “Mom…Rei…”

Darkness grips me by the throat before they can come for me.

There’s nothing more beautiful than seeing her fall.

You know that moment when human beings lose all hope? When doors slam in their face and they just…drop?

That’s what Reina does. Even her fall is graceful. She fought, I give her that. She screamed and wailed. She cried and kicked.

But no amount of tears will get her out of my mind.

She’s already trapped. She’s already done for.

I stand above her unmoving body. She fainted on the ground, eyes screwed shut and some of her mascara smearing over her pale cheeks. Both her hands still cover her ears as if she can stop the voices from barging in.

I crouch beside her and stroke a blonde strand behind her ear. Her lower lip twitches and I give in to the urge to touch those lips, to run my thumb along them.

They’re soft, full, and begging for my dick between them.

As if reading my mind, they slightly part. I groan deep in my throat.

Sex appeal.

Something Reina has in spades and uses to her advantage every chance she gets. I thought I was immune, but I’m not.

Because right now, I want to strip her bare and fuck her raw.

She’s getting under my skin again. She can’t get under my fucking skin.

I place a hand over her closed eyes and the other over her nose and mouth, cutting off her breathing.

Her lifeline.

The only things keeping her in this world.

This could end now.

Everything will be over. I’ll get what I want and she’ll get what she deserves.

Her slender body bucks off the floor due to the lack of oxygen. Her nails claw at my arms and her legs kick with the ferocity of life.

As much as she sometimes hates this life, she sure as fuck fights for it.

She’s a fighter, Reina. A survivor—but that won’t last for long.

Kill her.

Now.

I close my eyes and slowly remove my hand from over her mouth. Her gasp for air is choked and unrestrained, as if she’s been dying and is now coming up for air.

She doesn’t deserve such an easy death.

Not yet.

Her body slumps back down and her arms fall on either side of her.

A commotion comes from the other side of the door.

I stand up and memorize her broken form, committing it to memory.

“It’ll all be over soon,” I say. “It’ll all be over.”

It’ll all be over soon, a sinister voice calls above me. It’ll all be over.

I jolt awake, gasping for air as if I’m being resurrected.

The dark space disappears and buildings sprint past me. Am I in a…car?

My head snaps to the side, expecting to find whoever trapped me in class. He put his hand on my face. He suffocated me. He…wanted to kill me.

Oh, God.

All I remember is a blurry black silhouette as he walked away, but I would know him if I saw him.

He’s engraved in my subconscious like an enormous crow, a larger-than-life Grim Reaper.

My breathing comes down a notch when I make out the driver’s face.

Asher.

He drives with one hand on the wheel, his attention on the road.

It’s mind-boggling how much his presence calms me down. This shouldn’t be, right? Asher isn’t my safe space.

He can’t be.

I stare down at my jeans and camisole. They look intact. I should be fine…right?

Tingles push to my nose and pressure builds behind my eyes, but I hold in the tears…the humiliation, the pain.

When the hell will I stop my life from getting away from me? It just keeps slipping from between my fingers like water.

Realizing I’m awake, Asher throws a glance my way, or more like a stare. He has this thing about digging into my soul with those forest green eyes. It’s like he’s dissecting my insides and dancing on the remains.

He smoothly focuses back on the road. “What happened?”

“What am I doing here, Ash?”

He grinds his teeth. “It’s Asher. And answer my question.”

“Answer mine first.”

He gives me a fleeting glance. “I picked you up.”

I picked you up.

He makes it sound so easy, as if I wasn’t dying in there.

“What happened, Reina?” he repeats in a less patient tone.

“I went to class and…” My fight with tears turns intense. I can feel myself losing to the pull. “Someone trapped me. I…I…”