Chapter 66 Missing Tessa
The music inside Damian’s victory party pulsed like a second heartbeat loud, relentless, almost dizzying. Lila forced herself to smile whenever someone passed her, waving or nodding like she was actually present, actually having fun. But her mind was not in the room.
Her gaze kept drifting to the front door. To the place where that silhouette, that strange unfamiliar silhouette had slipped out earlier.
She still didn’t know who it was. She wasn’t even sure why it bothered her so much. But something inside her kept tugging and twisting, whispering that someone was watching.
Asher noticed before she even had a chance to pretend otherwise.
He approached her slowly, carefully, as if not to spook her. “Lila?” he said softly. “You look distracted.”
She jolted and forced a smile. “I’m fine. Really.”
His brows lifted the slightest bit. “Are you?”
“Yes,” she said quickly, maybe too quickly. “Just tired.”
Asher didn’t argue, but worry lingered in his eyes. For a second she thought he might ask again, but he stepped back, sipping his drink like he was trying to give her space.
Lila’s heartbeat thudded too loudly. She couldn’t shake the image of the figure leaving, the silence around them, the way her chest tightened the same eerie heaviness she felt when she’d received the last message.
Just breathe, she told herself. You’re imagining things.
But the fear didn’t leave.
Damian eventually returned to the center of the room, though his smile was thinner now, forced. After the public argument with Tessa, a hush had fallen across the party, a sharp, uncomfortable break in the celebration.
People tried to act normal again, crowding around him, congratulating him on the game. But every few seconds, Lila caught someone whispering behind their hand, glancing toward the door Tessa had stormed out of.
Even Damian kept glancing toward it when he thought no one was looking.
The tension made the party feel smaller, hotter, suffocating.
Lila stayed near Asher, letting the chaotic noise blur into the background. But she could feel the weight in her stomach, the slow crawling sensation across her skin.
Every so often, she’d catch herself staring at the door again. Probably waiting and worrying.
She hated it. She hated how scared she was becoming.
They stayed for another hour before Asher gently touched her elbow.
“Come on,” he said, voice calm but firm. “Let’s get you out of here.”
She nodded quickly and followed him, grateful for the excuse to leave. Her legs felt unsteady, her feet cold against the floor despite the heat of the filled room.
When they stepped outside, the night air rushed over her like a bucket of cold water. She hugged her arms around herself, breathing slowly, trying to quiet her racing thoughts.
Asher walked beside her. Not speaking, not pushing. He was just there.
It helped more than she expected.
“Do you want to talk about what’s bothering you?” he asked finally.
Lila swallowed. “Not really.”
“Okay,” he said simply. “Whenever you do, I’m here.”
They walked the rest of the way in silence.
When they reached her dorm, Asher paused under the yellow porch light.
“You’ll be alright?” he asked.
She nodded. “Yeah. Thanks for walking me.”
Asher gave her a long assessing, concerned look but didn’t push. “Goodnight, Lila.”
“Goodnight.”
She slipped inside and shut her door gently.
Then she leaned against it and exhaled shakily.
Why can’t I shake this feeling?Something’s wrong. Something’s so wrong.
She barely slept.
And before she knew it, it was dawn already.
Lila dragged herself out of bed and forced herself to class, her head tired and foggy. She hoped the routine would ground her again but instead, she walked into a storm of murmurs.
“Tessa never showed up to her morning lecture.”
“She texted no one.”
“And she’s not answering calls.”
Lila’s stomach knotted.
Someone whispered, “After last night? She’s probably hiding.”
Someone else said, “Or someone shut her up.”
Lila’s head snapped up sharply. “What?”
A blonde girl shrugged nervously. “I just meant after she caused a huge scene. People say Damian was furious.”
Damian? No. Lila's chest tightened.
Another student added, “I heard Tessa said some nasty stuff about him before she left. Maybe he confronted her after.”
Lila felt cold spread through her veins.
But she shook her head firmly.
“No,” she said. “Damian wouldn’t do anything to her.”
Their expressions said are you sure?
Lila sat down quickly, as far from them as possible.
Her thoughts spiraled.
Damian isn’t perfect, but he isn’t violent. He wouldn’t hurt someone. Not Tessa, not anyone.
She clung to that belief even as fear gnawed the edges of her mind.
By afternoon the whispers had changed shape.
“Her roommate hasn’t seen her since last night.”
“She didn’t even take her phone.”
“She didn’t have a jacket, who leaves without a jacket at night?”
“Campus security’s looking for her.”
Lila’s pulse pounded harder. She tried to text Ruby, out of habit and then froze. Ruby was gone. Ruby was dead.
“This can’t be happening again.” she whispered inside her mind. Not another girl. Not another redhead. Not another death.
She shut her eyes quickly, forcing the intrusive thoughts down.
“Don't spiral. Don’t think about it. Don’t compare.”
But her hands trembled all afternoon.
By evening, the announcement came.
“A student has been reported missing. Please report any information to campus security.”
Lila nearly dropped her phone.
Asher found her sitting stiffly on a bench outside the library.
“It’s confirmed,” he said. “Tessa never came home.”
Lila swallowed hard. “I… I didn’t think so.”
“I know,” Asher said quietly. “None of us did.”
People around them were buzzing with speculation.
“She probably hooked up with someone and stayed overnight.”
“No way. She left furious.”
“Do you think Damian saw her again?”
That name again. That dangerous assumption.
One guy near the fountain said loudly, “Come on, Damian probably wanted to shut her up after she accused him in front of everyone.”
Lila shot up so fast, startling Asher.
“That’s not true,” she snapped.
The guy shrugged. “I’m just saying what everyone’s thinking.”
“Well stop,” she said sharply. “It’s not true.”
Asher put a calming hand on her shoulder, guiding her back. “He’s not worth your breath.”
But Lila felt sick.
The fear wasn’t just for Tessa anymore.
It was for Damian too, who was trapped under suspicion, trapped under whispers he didn’t deserve.
“Please let her be okay.” she begged silently. “Please let this not be another Ava. Another Ruby. Another Serena.”
But dread strangled the hope.
She got back to her dorm, still worried about the rumors, she brought out her phone and tried to call Damian, but she stopped. She would make him feel she believes the rumors.
She slept badly again. Nightmares clung to her skin, dragging her awake every time she drifted off. Shadows in the corners looked too thick, too shaped. Her heart raced all night.
And when dawn finally crept across campus, a pale silver light washing over the fields, Lila stepped outside and immediately sensed something was wrong.
Students were gathering near the athletic complex.
Whispers cut through the air like blades.
“Something’s happening.”
“Why are the cops here?”
“Is that?”
Lila’s steps quickened until she rounded the corner and froze.
Bright yellow police tape stretched across the athletic field, wrapping around the bleachers, blocking off the entire running track.
Officers stood everywhere, pacing the grass, speaking in low voices.
Detective Mara was there too, hair pulled back harshly, face pale with exhaustion as she spoke to a uniformed officer.
The early morning sky was still bruised with gray-blue, giving the scene a cold, eerie stillness.
Lila’s throat closed.
Her palm slapped over her mouth.
Students whispered behind her:
“Oh my God! Did they find her?”
“Damian’s field? That’s… that’s suspicious, right?”
“He must’ve followed her out last night.”
“Maybe the fight wasn’t just a fight.”
Lila spun around. “Stop it! You don’t know anything!”
But they looked back at her blankly, fear and gossip mixing into something ugly.
Asher appeared beside her suddenly, gripping her arm.
“Lila,” he whispered. “Come on. Let’s step back.”
But she couldn’t move.
Her eyes stayed locked on the police tape, on the field where Damian practiced every evening, on the dark shape of officers combing the grass inch by inch.
A cold numbness crept up her spine.
And deep inside, her heartbeat cracked in half.