Chapter 78 Another red-haired death
The scream tore through the courtyard so sharply that the birds startled from the trees. Students froze mid-step. Conversations died blade-clean. A ripple of dread spread across campus like a stain.
Lila, who had just stepped out of her morning lecture, felt her stomach tighten instantly.
Not again.
She didn’t need to be told what the scream meant. Everyone knew. Everything on campus had been split into before the murders and after, and that sound belonged to the latter.
Students began moving slowly at first, then faster toward the parking lot behind the faculty building. Murmurs rose, frantic and jagged.
“Who screamed?”
“Is someone hurt?”
“Oh God, not another one. Please, not another one.”
“It’s the killer, isn’t it? It has to be.”
Lila found herself walking too, her legs heavy but automatic. Each step made her heartbeat thud harder in her ears. She followed the growing crowd, the air tightening around her like invisible hands.
By the time she reached the lot, police cars were already pulling in, lights flashing red and blue across the pavement. Students gathered at the edges, a trembling semicircle around what lay near the back row of cars.
Lila pushed forward and then instantly wished she hadn’t.
Near the rear bumper of Professor Beckett’s car, a girl lay motionless on the ground. Her red hair, unmistakable even under the morning light, had been dyed recently. The dye hadn’t taken well, leaving faint streaks of copper still visible.
But it was too late for her.
Her body was arranged almost neatly, arms at her sides, palms facing up. Her expression was calm, eyes closed, like she had drifted into sleep. There were no bruises on her arms, no defensive wounds.
Just one terrible, unmistakable detail: A thin, dark mark circling her neck,clean, precise, the signature of the killer.
Silence strangled the crowd.
Lila’s breath hitched. For a moment, she thought she might faint. Her knees weakened, and she gripped the cold metal of a nearby bike rack to steady herself.
Not again. Another girl, another red-haired girl.
Someone whispered nearby, “She dyed it too late. The killer must’ve already seen her.”
Another voice said shakily, “She was in line last night at the salon I saw her. She was crying because there was a long wait.”
“Oh God, she tried. She tried to get rid of the red.”
“Not fast enough,” someone else murmured.
Lila’s stomach twisted.
Detective Mara arrived next, moving quickly, her expression grim and exhausted. She ducked under the police tape as officers secured the scene. When she saw the girl, her jaw clenched tight, so tight a small muscle near her cheek twitched.
One of the officers crouched, examining the body.
“No signs of struggling,” he said. “Just like Tessa.”
“And like Serena.” someone whispered behind Lila.
She flinched at her sister’s name, though she kept her eyes fixed on the ground. Hearing it said so casually, so carelessly made something inside her pull taut with pain.
Mara was speaking to an officer now. “Time of death?” she asked.
“Likely late last night or early morning,” the officer answered. “No scratches, no broken nails, no fight. Quick strangulation.”
Mara’s lips tightened. “Then he’s adapting. Getting faster.”
A wave of shudders swept through the crowd.
Lila felt her throat tighten. Her heart pounded so hard she thought her ribs might crack from the pressure.
Then her phone buzzed.
Once.
Twice.
Three times in quick succession as if someone knew exactly where she was, exactly what she was seeing.
Her shaky hand lifted the phone.
A new message from an unknown number glowed on the screen.
“You’re safe, my darling red. I’m always with you.”
Her vision blurred for half a second, whether from fear or dizziness, she couldn’t tell. Her fingers went cold. Her breath caught on the edge of panic.
Then another buzz. “You don’t need to be afraid. Not when you have me.”
A third buzz vibrated in her palm. “I love you, Lila.”
A trembling whisper escaped her lips. “No…no..no.”
Asher wasn’t beside her this time. No one was. She was surrounded by dozens of students, but somehow she had never felt more alone. The killer had texted at the scene. While the body was still cold. While detectives hovered over it.
He’s here. The thought hit her so hard her chest squeezed.
He was watching her. Watching the dead girl. Watching the fear spreading like wildfire.
Her hands shook violently. The phone slipped from her grip and clattered to the pavement.
A few students turned, but no one reached out. No one asked if she was okay. They simply watched her with wide, frightened eyes as if her red hair made her radioactive.
He’s here. He sees her. He knows she's the only one left.
Lila wrapped her arms around herself, trying to breathe, trying not to collapse as another wave of panic choked her throat.
A voice cut through the suffocating silence.
“Lila.”
She turned.
Roy stood behind her, shoulders tense, hands shoved into his pockets. His eyes scanned her face, then the trembling in her hands, then the phone lying at her feet.
He didn’t reach for it. He didn’t ask what happened.. He didn’t need to.
“Are you okay?” he asked softly.
She swallowed hard. “I… I don’t know.”
Roy’s gaze flicked toward the body, toward the crowd of detectives and officers circling it before returning to Lila with something dark and unreadable in his eyes.
“I figured you’d be here,” he said quietly. “You’re always near the center of everything lately.”
“I don’t want to be,” she whispered.
“I know.”
She bent to pick up her phone. Her hand shook so badly she dropped it once before managing to hold it again.
Roy watched her carefully. “You got another message, didn’t you?”
She didn’t answer. Her silence was an answer.
Roy sighed and stepped closer not invading her space, not touching her, but close enough that she could feel his presence.
“Listen,” he said softly, “everyone’s trying to protect themselves. Dyeing their hair, hiding, running.” His eyes drifted over the crowd, girls wearing hats, hoods, scarves, some with hair so poorly dyed it looked like they had dipped it in paint. “Fear changes people.”
She nodded weakly. “I know.”
“But you.” Roy’s gaze dropped to her hair, glowing like fire under the morning sun, making her stand out like a beacon in a sea of washed-out colors. “You didn’t change.”
He paused. Then said something she wasn’t expecting. “Don’t be like them.”
She blinked. “What?”
“Don’t let fear turn you into someone you’re not.”
Tears stung Lila’s eyes not from his words, but from the exhaustion, the fear, and the pressure that had been building inside her.
Roy continued, his voice steady. “You’re different, Lila. And maybe that scares people. Maybe it even puts you in danger. But don’t erase yourself because someone wants you to.”
Her throat tightened. She forced herself to breathe.
Roy looked at her directly,calm, serious. “Being different isn’t a weakness. It’s a warning.”
“A warning to who?” she whispered.
“To the person who thinks he owns you,” Roy said.
The words sank slowly into her skin, into her nerves, settling like cold water in her veins. She couldn’t tell if his tone meant he was concerned or something else.
But before she could ask, he took a small step back.
“You should head to your dorm,” he said. “The crowd’s going to get worse.”
The police were photographing the body now. Mara was questioning students. Officers were pushing people back.
Lila nodded faintly, but she didn’t move yet.
Roy gave her one last look, steady and unreadable. “Stay smart, Lila. Not scared.”
Then he turned and walked away, blending into the shifting crowd, leaving her with her pounding heart and her glowing red hair.
Lila stared down at her phone again.The last message pulsed softly on the screen.
“I love you, Lila.”
Her stomach twisted as she realized something horrifying:
The killer didn’t just know she was at the scene.He knew exactly when she saw the body.Exactly how she reacted.
And he wasn’t done with his killing spree.
Not even close.