Chapter 18 Chapter 18

Chapter 18 Chapter 18
EVELYN POV

Morning classes passed in a blur. I attended one lecture, sat through half of another, and left early when whispers grew too loud around me. Everywhere I went, someone was talking. About the meeting. About security last night. About Lila.

I could feel her influence rippling through the campus. Some students defended her. Some questioned her. Others avoided the topic completely, too scared to take sides until the administration released an official statement.

The tension sat heavily in the air, almost like fog.

By lunchtime, I met Daniel behind the science building. He stood leaning against a brick wall, eyes scanning every student who passed. His shirt sleeves were pushed up, and he looked more tired than I had ever seen him.

“You said his roommate will talk,” I said quietly.

“He will,” Daniel answered. “I texted him last night. He told me he is ready.”

“What is his name?” I asked.

“Ethan.”

Maya approached, holding two coffees. She handed one to me. “I cannot believe we are meeting someone who actually saw what happened. Someone who knows what Lila is capable of.”

Daniel nodded. “He was the last person to see Alex alive. And the first person Lila tried to scare into silence.”

“Why didn’t he tell anyone sooner?” Maya asked.

Daniel looked away. “Because Lila threatened him. And because he has his own history with her.”

My stomach tightened. “His own history?”

“Lila tried controlling him first,” Daniel said. “Before Alex. Before me.”

Maya blinked. “She went after him too?”

Daniel nodded. “He was her experiment. The reason she got so much better at hiding her tracks when she targeted Alex.”

A chill crawled down my spine. “Where is he now?”

“Waiting in the old greenhouse,” Daniel said. “No one goes there in the mornings. It is the safest place.”

I followed Daniel and Maya through a path behind the science building. Trees blocked most of the view, and the greenhouse came into sight only when we reached the clearing. The glass was cloudy with dirt, and vines crawled up the sides. It looked abandoned.

Daniel pushed the door open. The hinges creaked loudly.

Inside, the air felt humid and musty. The sunlight filtered through dull glass, casting dim, uneven light across the space. In the far corner, someone sat on a wooden bench.

A boy with messy dark hair, hunched shoulders, and careful eyes.

He stood immediately when we stepped inside.

“Ethan,” Daniel said.

Ethan nodded, though his movements were stiff. He looked at me briefly, then at Maya, and finally at Daniel.

“You came,” Daniel said.

Ethan gave a weak laugh. “I told you I would.”

Maya crossed her arms. “You are Alex’s roommate. You saw everything.”

Ethan swallowed hard. “I saw enough.”

We approached him, and he sat back on the bench. His hands shook slightly as he pressed his palms against his knees.

Daniel crouched down beside him. “Take your time. No one here is going to rush you.”

Ethan nodded slowly. “I want to talk. I just need to find the right place to start.”

“Start with Lila,” I said quietly.

The name made him freeze. His eyes flickered to me, full of a fear I recognized too well. “She is not who people think she is.”

“We know,” I said.

Ethan gave a hollow laugh. “No. I mean… she is worse. Much worse.”

He rubbed his hands together, as if trying to steady his nerves.

“I met her my first semester. We had a class together. She sat next to me, smiled, made conversation. I thought she was being nice. I thought she liked me.” He paused, swallowing. “Then she started texting me constantly. Asking where I was. Asking who I talked to. Asking why I did not sit with her every day.”

Maya’s expression hardened. “She did not like that you had your own life.”

“She hated it,” Ethan said. “It got to the point where she showed up outside my dorm at night. She waited near the stairs. She waited outside classrooms. She asked my RA about me. She told people we were dating when we weren’t.”

I felt my hands curl into fists.

“She does that,” I said. “She invents stories to control people.”

Ethan nodded. “When I tried to cut ties… she snapped. She told me she would destroy my reputation. She said no one rejects her. She said I belonged to her.”

Daniel sighed softly. “She said the same thing to Alex.”

Ethan shook his head. “That does not surprise me. She uses people until she breaks them. Then she moves on.”

“What happened next?” I asked.

“I switched dorms,” he said. “Changed my schedule. Asked to be moved into a different building. I did everything I could to get away from her. And for a while, it worked. She did not look at me. She did not speak to me. It was like I stopped existing.” He paused again. “Until she found someone else. Alex.”

Maya sat down beside him. “Did she go after him the same way?”

Worse, I thought.

Ethan nodded. “At first, she acted like his friend. She helped him with assignments. She complimented him constantly. She picked him out from crowds. It felt harmless. But then… she controlled his schedule. She told him which events to attend. She told him who to avoid.”

“She told him to avoid me,” I whispered.

Ethan’s eyes softened. “He mentioned you once. He said you were important to him. He said you understood him. And Lila… she changed instantly. She became cold. She told him you were distracting him. She told him you were a problem.”

I felt something heavy sink inside me.

“She made him feel guilty for spending time with me,” I said.

Ethan nodded. “She made him feel guilty for everything. If he did not answer her texts, she showed up at the dorm. If he tried to study alone, she found him. If he talked to anyone else, she acted like he betrayed her.” He paused. “He tried to distance himself from her. That is when things got bad.”

I leaned forward. “Tell us.”

Ethan took a slow breath. His hands trembled even more now. Daniel placed a steady hand on his shoulder. Ethan did not pull away.

“It was the night before Alex died,” Ethan said. “Around one in the morning. I woke up because I heard voices in the hallway.”

He paused.

“Two voices. One was Alex.”

“And the other?” Maya asked.

Ethan looked directly at me.

“Lila.”

My breath caught.

“She was whispering at first,” Ethan said. “I could not hear the words. Then Alex said something like, ‘I said no. Stop following me.’ And Lila said, ‘You cannot leave me.’ In this calm voice. Too calm. Like she was telling him a rule.”

Daniel’s jaw tightened.

“I opened the door just a bit,” Ethan said. “I saw Alex standing there with his coat. He looked scared. Really scared. Lila was right in front of him. Blocking him. She reached out and grabbed his wrist.”

My chest tightened painfully.

“What did Alex do?” I asked.

“He pulled away,” Ethan said. “He said he was going to the lake to clear his head. He said he needed space. Lila laughed. She told him he would come back to her. Then she followed him down the hall.”

Ethan’s voice cracked.

“I should have gone after them,” he whispered. “I should have stopped something. But I was scared. She had threatened me before. I thought if I stayed out of it, nothing would happen.”

He rubbed his face with both hands.

“I watched from the window as they walked across the quad. She was right behind him. Close enough to touch. He kept speeding up. She kept matching his pace. Then they reached the trees.” He shook his head. “And they disappeared.”

Silence filled the greenhouse.

The vines hanging above us rustled slightly in the warm air.

I swallowed slowly. “You did not tell anyone.”

“I tried,” Ethan said. “I went to staff. I spoke to a counselor. But the moment I said Lila’s name, everything changed. They told me she was a model student. They told me to stop exaggerating. They told me her father was important. They told me I was probably tired or emotional.”

Maya clenched her fists. “They dismissed you.”

“They silenced me,” Ethan said. “After that, Lila found me. She pulled me aside after class. She told me she knew I saw them that night. And she told me she would ruin my life if I repeated it to anyone.” He looked down. “I believed her.”

Daniel exhaled slowly. “She did the same to Alex.”

Ethan nodded. “I know.”

“What happened after Alex was found?” I asked.

Ethan looked devastated. “I blamed myself. I told myself I imagined the way she looked at him. The way she followed him. I tried to convince myself it was just two people arguing. But when the news came out the next morning… I knew she was involved.”

Tears pooled in his eyes, but he blinked them away quickly.

“And when you started looking into it,” he said, meeting my eyes, “I could not stay silent anymore. I could not let her do the same thing to you.”

A heavy silence lingered.

Daniel finally spoke. “We need you to tell the administration. We need you to make a statement.”

Ethan hesitated. “I am scared.”

“I know,” Daniel said. “But we will be with you. And the officers already have evidence from last night. They will take you seriously now.”

Ethan let out a shaky breath.

“I will do it,” he said quietly. “I cannot stay quiet anymore. Alex deserves the truth.”

I nodded. “Thank you.”

Ethan looked at me with guilt in his eyes. “I am sorry. For not speaking sooner. For letting her get so close to him. For everything.”

“This was not your fault,” I said firmly. “This is hers.”

Ethan nodded weakly.

Before we could say anything else, the greenhouse door creaked open.

All of us turned.

A figure stood in the doorway.

Tall. Calm. Composed.

A soft blue sweater.

Hair tucked behind her ear.

Eyes focused directly on Ethan.

Lila.

Ethan froze.

Daniel stepped in front of us instantly.

Lila smiled gently.

“You should not have come here, Ethan.”

Her voice was soft.

But the threat inside it filled the entire greenhouse.