Chapter 18 The Hunt Begins

Chapter 18 The Hunt Begins

IRIS POV

I'm still screaming when the uniforms reach us.

Marcus. My partner. My friend. Dead in the parking lot with an "R" carved into his chest.

"GET THE BUILDING LOCKED DOWN!" I shout through tears. "Nobody leaves! The killer is still here!"

But I know it's pointless. The Student said they can fly. They could be anywhere.

Ronan pulls me back from the edge. "Iris, you can't—"

"This is YOUR fault!" I shove him. "Marcus is dead because of you and your contracts and your MOTHER!"

He doesn't fight back. Just takes it. "You're right. Everything leads back to my family. I'm sorry."

His guilt mirrors mine. I hate that.

"We need to catch this Student before they kill sixteen more people."

I find Captain Cross being processed. She looks broken.

"Detective Hale. I heard about Marcus. I'm sorry."

"Did Marcus have enemies? Was he investigating anything?"

Cross hesitates. "He was looking into cold cases. Unsolved murders from fifteen years ago. Five victims."

Fifteen years. When everything started.

"Which murders?"

She shows me photos. Five victims. Four strangers.

The fifth is my mother.

"No," I whisper. "She committed suicide. I saw the report—"

"Marcus found inconsistencies. Wrong bruise patterns. He thought someone pushed her."

The world spins. "Who?"

"He didn't know. But he was close to proving it."

Now he's dead.

I show Ronan. He goes white. "My mother investigated your mother's death. She ruled it suicide."

Everything clicks. "What if your mother lied? What if someone murdered my mother and she covered it up?"

My phone buzzes. The Student.

Good! You're seeing the truth. Your mother was murdered. Marcus figured it out. That's why he died first.

Want to know who killed her? Solve the next murder before it happens.

Victim #2 dies at midnight. Location: Your old foster home. The victim: Mrs. Sarah Chen, your foster mother. The woman who abused you for three years.

Will you save her? Or let me deliver justice?

You have four hours.

I check the time. 8:47 PM.

"We need to go. Now."

"It's a trap," Ronan warns.

"I know. But I can't let someone die."

Even Mrs. Chen. The woman who beat me. Starved me. Made me feel worthless for three years.

Part of me wants her dead.

That thought terrifies me.

"What are you thinking?" Ronan asks gently.

"I'm thinking maybe she deserves this."

"Is that who you want to be?"

"I don't know anymore." I look at Marcus's body below. "The system failed everyone. What's the point?"

"The point is you're Iris. You save people. Don't let the Student take that from you."

I want to believe him.

My phone buzzes. Three hours and forty-five minutes. Tick tock.

"We're saving her," I decide. "Not because she deserves it. Because I won't become the Student."

We race to my car. Speed toward the foster home. I call for backup.

The drive takes thirty minutes. The whole time I'm thinking—the Student knew exactly what would make me doubt everything.

They're not just hunting victims. They're hunting me.

We reach the house at 9:23 PM. Dark. Empty.

"Backup is ten minutes out," I say. "We should wait—"

A scream cuts through the night.

Mrs. Chen.

I run toward the house, gun drawn. Ronan follows.

The door is unlocked. We burst inside.

Everything looks the same. Same wallpaper. Same closet where she locked me.

"Upstairs," Ronan whispers.

We climb. My heart pounding.

Mrs. Chen stands by her bedroom window. Back to us.

"Mrs. Chen?" I call. "Are you okay?"

She turns slowly.

Her eyes are black. Possessed.

"Hello, Iris," she says in a voice that's not hers. "The Entity taught me possession before it died."

The Student. Speaking through her.

"Let her go!" I aim my gun.

"Why? You hate her. I'm giving you what you want." Mrs. Chen's body walks toward us. "She's screaming inside here. Remembering every child she hurt. Every punch. She deserves this."

"Stop!"

"Or I could let her go. Let her live with the guilt. Your choice, Detective."

"Let her go. Now."

"Fine. But first—" Mrs. Chen's body pulls out a knife. Holds it to her own throat. "She wants to confess. Or I could just end her."

"NO!"

"Then you do it." The Student offers me the knife. "Kill her yourself. Justice from the person she hurt most."

I don't take it.

"I'm not killing anyone."

"Then watch her do it herself."

Mrs. Chen's hand starts dragging the knife across her throat.

I lunge forward, grabbing her wrist. Fighting for control.

The knife cuts shallow. Blood wells up.

"STOP!" I scream. "Just leave her!"

"Will you save the woman who made your childhood hell?" the Student whispers through her lips.

Mrs. Chen's eyes—behind the possession—meet mine. Terrified. Begging.

The monster who hurt me is now helpless.

I make my choice.

I rip the knife away and throw it across the room.

The Student laughs and releases Mrs. Chen.

She collapses, gasping, clutching her bleeding neck. Not fatal.

"Interesting," the Student's voice echoes. "You saved her. Even hating her. You passed the test."

"What test?" I spin around.

"To see if you're worthy. Sixteen victims left. Each one a monster. Each one a test. Save them all, and I'll tell you who killed your mother. Fail even once, and you'll never know."

"Wait—"

But the presence is gone.

Backup arrives. Paramedics treat Mrs. Chen. She's crying, broken.

She'll live. But she'll never be the same.

Ronan finds me outside.

"You did good," he says.

"Did I? Now the Student knows I'll save even people I hate."

"That's not weakness. That's strength."

My phone buzzes.

Victim #3 dies tomorrow at noon. Location: Crimson Hollow Cemetery. A gravedigger who steals from corpses. Will you save a man who defiles the dead?

P.S. - Your mother is buried there. I left you a present at her grave.

I show Ronan.

"A present at my mother's grave," I whisper.

"Only one way to find out."

But I already know.

The Student is going to show me who killed my mother.

And I'm not going to like the answer.