Chapter 3 Birthday Gossip
The Omega house was more than just a regular home; it felt like a grand mansion from a movie. Mia stood on the beautifully maintained green lawn, feeling the beat of the music from inside thumping through her old sneakers. She adjusted her simple black dress, which was the fanciest outfit she had, purchased on sale three years ago—and felt every thread reminding her of its discount-store origins.
She took a deep breath. She wasn’t here to make friends. She was here for answers.
The moment she stepped through the double doors, the smell hit her—a mix of expensive perfume and spiked punch. Beautiful, polished students were everywhere, laughing easily. Mia grabbed a red cup and filled it with plain Coke. She needed to stay clear-headed tonight.
She found a spot near a large group sprawled across a white leather couch. Pretending to scroll through her phone, she moved close enough to listen.
“…what an awful way to start the year,” a girl with a perfect blonde bob said, waving her wine glass. “A dead body in our lake? It’s so unpleasant. My mother almost fainted when she heard.”
A guy in a varsity jacket shrugged. “Why would the cops care? Sullivan was just some scholarship kid from town. Probably got drunk, went for a midnight swim and drowned like an idiot. His own fault.”
Mia’s stomach turned. She squeezed her cup so hard it nearly crumpled. Ethan. His name was Ethan. She forced herself to take a slow drink, keeping her face blank even though she was burning up inside.
“I heard something different,” another girl said, leaning in like she had a secret. “My roommate’s boyfriend said Ethan and Silas had a huge fight at the student union. Like, a screaming match. The day before Ethan died. And it was about Elara.”
The name ‘Silas’ stuck in Mia’s mind. Elara’s boyfriend.
Varsity Jacket laughed. “So what? Silas Voss starts fights for fun. Doesn’t make him a murderer.”
“Doesn’t mean he isn’t one,” Blonde Bob shot back. “With his reputation? If anyone on this campus would push someone into a lake and sleep like a baby afterwards, it’s Silas Voss.”
Mia leaned forward slightly, keeping her voice casual. “Wait, who’s Silas? And what happened exactly?” She needed to seem curious but not too interested, just another student drawn into juicy gossip.
Jessica’s eyes lit up, clearly thrilled to have a fresh audience. “Silas Voss…Elara’s boyfriend. He's a total psycho, honestly. Word is he and that Sullivan kid got into it about something, and then boom, next day the guy’s floating in the lake.”
“That’s horrible,” Mia said, her voice carefully measured. “Do people really think he…?”
“Let’s just say it wouldn’t be his first violent incident,” Blonde Bob said knowingly. “Remember that Charles guy last spring—”
Before she could finish, a familiar warm voice cut through the gossip.
“There you are! I was starting to think you’d changed your mind.”
Elara appeared, linking her arm through Mia’s like they were best friends. She smiled at the group on the couch, but the expression didn’t reach her eyes. “Talking about old news, Jessica? I thought you had better things to do.”
Jessica’s face went red. “We were just—”
“I’m sure you were,” Elara said smoothly, pulling Mia away. “Ignore them. They create drama where there isn’t any.”
As they moved through the crowd, Mia’s eyes searched the room. She needed to see him. This Silas Voss.
She saw him almost right away, and her heart skipped a beat.
He was leaning against the far wall, completely separate from the party. Dark messy hair, a black jacket that probably cost a fortune, and a look of pure boredom on his face. His grey eyes scanned the room like he was better than everyone in it.
He looked dangerous. Beautiful in the way sharp things were beautiful.
Then, as if sensing the attention, Silas pushed off from the wall and started walking toward them. Elara’s grip on Mia’s arm tightened almost imperceptibly. The crowd seemed to part naturally for him, people stepping aside without even seeming to realize they were doing it.
“Silas, stop hiding in the corner,” Elara said as he approached. “You’re scaring the freshmen.” Her voice was light, but Mia felt the tension underneath. “This is Mia Torres. She’s new. She just heard Jessica’s crazy stories about you.”
Silas Voss’s cool and unsettling grey eyes shifted from Elara to Mia. He looked her over thoroughly, noting everything from her cheap shoes to her white-knuckled grip on the cup. His expression remained unreadable.
“They were telling her you murdered that boy,” Elara said, almost casually. “The one from the lake. Ethan Sullivan.”
Mia’s breath caught at hearing his name. Her hand trembled, and she forced herself not to react visibly.
Silas didn’t smile. Didn’t frown. He just stared at Mia with an intensity that felt like it could see right through her. The conversations around them had started to die down, people sensing something was happening. Slowly, deliberately, he reached into his jacket, pulled out a cigarette, and lit it.
He took a long drag, then blew the smoke out between them.
“Yes,” he said, his voice flat and emotionless, loud enough that people nearby turned to stare. “I did it. I pushed him into the lake and held him under until he stopped struggling. You should probably call the police.”
The air left Mia’s lungs. Around them, the party sounds, the music, the laughing, the talking…seemed to fade into a dull buzz. A girl holding a wine glass froze mid-sip. The guy who’d been telling a story let his sentence trail off, mouth still hanging open. Everyone within earshot stared, their expressions ranging from shock to morbid amusement.
Everything narrowed to this moment, this confession, this stranger admitting to murder like it was nothing.
He was joking. He had to be joking.
Was this a confession disguised as arrogance? Or a sick joke to scare the new girl?
But his face was completely serious, his cold grey eyes locked onto hers, daring her to react, to break, to give him something to mock. Mia felt her nails digging deeper into her palms, and the plastic cup in her hand creaked softly. Her heart raced so hard that she was sure—so sure everyone could hear it.
He took another long drag from his cigarette, his eyes never leaving hers. Just staring. Then a slow, mean smile crept onto his lips, but his eyes remained cold.
And for the first time since she'd arrived, Mia felt truly afraid. It wasn't just a fear of what he might have done. It was the fear that he could see right through her act, as if he knew exactly why she was really there.