Page 24 of Cruel Riches

“Oh.” She paused for a few seconds. Then she let out a light, tinkling laugh. It sounded forced to me. “I’m watching a horror movie, and one of the characters just got killed by the zombies. You must’ve heard that,” she said. “I’ll turn the volume down. I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to worry you.”

“It’s fine. I’m just a little paranoid, I guess.”

“I get it. Thanks for checking on me,” Claire replied. “Anyway, I’ll let you get back to bed.”

She smiled as she spoke, but there didn’t seem to be any mirth or friendliness in it.

Unease crept up my spine as I smiled back at her. There was something off about this whole situation. Something that made me want to stay and keep my new friend talking, even though she said everything was fine.

A split-second later, I realized what was bothering me. It wasn’t just Claire’s strained tone, or the too-long pauses and forced laughter. It was the way she was refusing to open the door more than a few inches, as if she couldn’t stand for me to see inside.

Perhaps she was just a private person… but that didn’t square with what I knew of her from our earlier hangout session. At dinner, she was an open book. Candid, extroverted, and friendly. Now she was being cagey and evasive.

Her eyes weren’t the same, either. There was something new and unfamiliar flickering in the pretty hazel depths. Anxiety? Sadness? I couldn’t quite tell.

Then it finally struck me. The way her eyes darted right for a split-second earlier… there was someone next to her. Someone I couldn’t see through the tiny gap in the door.

You idiot,I told myself as my shoulders slumped with relief. It was so obvious now.

At dinner earlier, Claire told me that she’d recently matched with a fellow Blackthorne student on Tinder. She must’ve invited him over, and that was why I heard what sounded like a moan or shriek coming from her dorm. It wasn’t a fearful sound. It was a sound of pleasure.

The knock I heard a few minutes ago also made sense now. That must’ve been when Claire let the guy in.

“Have fun with your movie. I’ll see you tomorrow,” I said with a little wave.

I returned to my dorm, feeling awkward as hell. God, no wonder Claire was so cagey with me. She was trying to hook up with someone, and I’d interrupted them like an annoying, overbearing weirdo.

How embarrassing.

I climbed back into bed, internally cringing at my social ineptness. I still felt like I’d done the right thing in the end, though. Sure, I looked a bit silly, because the possible intruder I was concerned about turned out to be a guy—probably a half-naked guy, given the way he was hiding behind the door—but at least I’d gone and checked. I would never forgive myself if something terrible happened to Claire while I lay in bed doing absolutely nothing.

Besides, it wasn’t totally out of the question that something terrible could happen here. After all, even though no one had been attacked or killed on this campus for a very long time, that didn’t change what I considered to be an unassailable fact.

Whoever the real Blackthorne Butcher was… he was still out there.

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