Total pages in book: 153
Estimated words: 148962 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 745(@200wpm)___ 596(@250wpm)___ 497(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 148962 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 745(@200wpm)___ 596(@250wpm)___ 497(@300wpm)
All of that should have been enough of a deterrent for me, but on Sunday, after the fog cleared, the stakes had never been more obvious. Now, it appears I might have even bigger concerns.
The chaplain wraps up the prayer, and the words of a local news correspondent filter through the silence. I don’t catch everything, but I hear enough to piece it together.
Four students are missing, and their boat was found partially capsized after a suspected collision with a pillar. Initial indications suggest alcohol and high speed may have been factors. Volunteer dive teams are currently searching the surrounding area, and police are asking locals to check their security footage…
The rest of the words fade to static as I try to process an onslaught of emotions.
Confusion. Disbelief. Anger. And then, inevitably, fear.
If the police are digging up security footage, I’m sure to be on it somewhere.
I don’t even realize how unsteady I am until Julian braces me with a firm grasp.
“Classes are canceled today,” he says. “Let’s go.”
I’m wondering how he could even know that, since we just arrived, but it doesn’t seem important in the grand scheme of things.
Yesterday, I thought I may have gotten away with my night out, but that hope vanished once I saw Julian. He was angry, and he barely spoke to me at all. I was worried he’d tell Michael, but he didn’t. At least not that I’m aware of.
Now he’s shifted into protective mode, leading me out of the fray and back to the car. It only adds to my confusion when I see the driver never left.
“Why is he still here?” I ask.
“I told him to come back.” Julian opens the door, and I settle onto the backseat.
Once we’re all inside, I glance between him and the driver. Something feels off about this situation, and Julian confirms it.
“You don’t need to worry about the security footage. It’s been scrubbed.”
It takes me a minute to find my voice, and when I do, it comes out hoarse. “How did you know I was with them?”
“It’s my job to know,” he answers vaguely.
“But you weren’t there,” I argue. “So how could you know?”
For one horrifying moment, I wonder if he could be Eros. But then I remember how many times we had Discord conversations when Julian was right beside me.
It can’t be him, but he knows what I did last night and who I was with.
I also thought it was strange that he didn’t hear the elevator when we came back to the penthouse. Or that he chose not to come out of his room to greet me, even though he knew I was gone. The whole series of events doesn’t really make sense.
“We have more resources than you might imagine,” Julian says gruffly. “That’s all you need to know.”
“Does this mean you’re going to tell my stepfather?”
He shifts in his seat, voice dipping low as he replies. “I think it’s better we keep this to ourselves. Just don’t ever run off like that again.”
I nod, even though he can’t see me.
As the city streets pass us by, I can’t shake the feeling that what happened is too convenient. What are the chances all four men would go missing on the same night they tried to hurt me?
It’s possible they went out on the boat after they woke up, but it seems unlikely.
The fact that Julian knows I was with them makes me think he could have something to do with it. In our world, this is how things are handled. Punishments are swift and severe. I guess that could explain why he wasn’t there to greet me when I came home. But something about that doesn’t feel right either.
I know they’ll expect me to let it go, but I can’t. So I just go ahead and blurt it out.
“Did you make them disappear?”
Julian shakes his head, and I’m not sure why, but I believe him.
I sag against the seat and close my eyes, recalling the way Eros left my bed for hours that night and then came back.
He was there. He saw what they did, and he told me Nate would never hurt me again.
If Julian didn’t make them disappear, that only leaves one other possibility.
It was him.
I spend the rest of the afternoon obsessively googling and reading every article on the missing students. Theories are rampant on the university Discord channel—everything from portals to UFOs to speculation that they faked their deaths and ran off to Mexico. However, one comment stands out among the rest.
Violet404: They got what they deserved.
I don’t recognize the username, but there are three reactions to it, all thumbs up. When I check who reacted, every account appears to belong to a woman. But it doesn’t end there. I also find another comment from a different user that reads: Let Imperium burn.