Page 27 of The Library

“He’s dead.” Anna’s words hit like a punch to the gut, knocking the breath out of me. “Lily, they found him this morning. The police said it was an overdose.”

An overdose.

I blink, my mind scrambling to make sense of what she just said. Derek? Dead? Overdose?

The room spins, and I grip the sheets tightly, trying to steady myself. “What? No… How?”

“I don’t know all the details yet, but they found him in his car a few miles from his apartment.” Anna’s voice is shaky now, as if she’s struggling to believe it herself. “They said it looked like an accidental overdose. But… Derek? He’s never touched anything like that. I mean, we’ve known him for years. It doesn’t make any sense. He’s always partied, but nothing like this. Did anything crazy happen after you guys left the party last night?”

“No… not at all,” I say, shocked and feeling some sort of guilt, “I passed out as soon as he brought me into my apartment and then he left.”

My heart races, and I feel a chill creeping up my spine. An overdose. But I know better. It wasn’t an accident. It wasn’t a random death.

It was him.

Sebastian.

The realization hits me like a freight train, and suddenly, everything falls into place. The way Sebastian looked at me last night, the way he said he would keep me safe. The way Derek’s hands had felt on me, the way fear and disgust had mingled in my chest when he wouldn’t stop. And now, Derek’s gone.

He did it. I know he did.

“Lily?” Anna’s voice pulls me back to the present, her words edged with concern. “Are you okay?”

I swallow hard, forcing myself to focus, trying to push down the whirlwind of emotions bubbling up inside me. Guilt, relief, fear—all swirling together. “Yeah, I’m… I’m fine. Just… I can’t believe this.”

“I know,” she says softly, her tone shifting to something more sympathetic. “I thought you’d want to know. We should meet up, talk about it… And everything that happened last night.”

I nod, even though she can’t see me. “Yeah, okay. Brunch?”

“Brunch,” she confirms. “We’ll figure this out together, okay? See you soon.”

We say our goodbyes, and I hang up the phone, staring at the screen for a long moment. My hands are shaking, and I feel like the air has been sucked out of the room. Derek is dead. Sebastian killed him. And I can’t tell anyone.

I drop the phone onto the bed, my mind swirling with thoughts and emotions I can’t untangle. My body feels heavy, weighed down by the events of last night and the hangover still lingering in my system. I lean back against the pillows, closing my eyes, trying to breathe, trying to make sense of this.

But then, as I glance back at my phone, I notice it—a single notification already sitting there, sent sometime during the night, unnoticed until now.

A text message.

From Sebastian.

My heart skips a beat as I reach for the phone, dread and anticipation mixing in my chest. I open the message, and my stomach tightens as I read the words on the screen.

Sebastian:If anyone ever tries to touch you or hurt you, I will kill them.

I stare at the message, my breath catching in my throat. There it is. The confirmation I already knew but didn’t want to face. He did it. He killed Derek. And now, he’s telling me, in nouncertain terms, that he’ll do it again. That he’ll kill anyone who dares to come near me, who dares to hurt me.

My fingers tremble as I hold the phone, rereading the message over and over again. Part of me is horrified. Someone is dead because of me. Someone I’ve known for years. And yet… I can’t shake the feeling of relief. Relief that Sebastian was there. Relief that Derek is gone.

A strange sense of security washes over me, and I hate myself for it. I should be scared. I should be running as far away from this as possible. But instead, I feel… protected. Safe.

Because Sebastian isn’t just anyone. He’s dangerous, yes. Deadly, even. But he’s made it clear that no one will ever hurt me as long as he’s around.

And in a twisted way, that’s comforting.

I clutch the phone tighter, the weight of the situation pressing down on me. I should call the police. I should tell Anna everything. But I won’t. I can’t. Because admitting the truth means facing it. It means acknowledging that I’m in this now, tangled up in something far darker than I ever imagined.

Sebastian is dangerous, and I know I should stay away. But I can’t. He’s pulled me in, and I’m not sure I even want to escape.

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