The campus café was packed.
Every table was occupied.
Students hurried in and out between lectures, balancing coffee, laptops, and unfinished assignments.
Stacy sighed as she scanned the room.
"...There's nowhere to sit."
Emma pointed toward the corner.
"There!"
Stacy looked.
"...That's one chair."
Emma smiled.
"You can have it."
"What about you?"
"I'll find somewhere."
Before Stacy could protest, Emma disappeared into the crowd.
"...Traitor."
"Looks like we're both unlucky."
Stacy turned.
Noah stood behind her with a tray in his hands.
He smiled sheepishly.
"Mind if I share the table?"
She looked at the single empty chair.
"I don't think either of us has another option."
"Fair enough."
A few minutes later...
The two were eating lunch while talking about classes.
"So..."
"You transferred here?"
Stacy nodded.
"My dad got relocated for work."
"That's a big change."
"It is."
"What do you think of Blackwood so far?"
She laughed softly.
"It's... interesting."
"Interesting?"
"I keep finding myself in strange situations."
Noah grinned.
"I've been here two years."
"Trust me."
"It doesn't get less strange."
Across the café...
Ethan nudged Lucien with his elbow.
"Your table's over there."
Lucien looked up from his coffee.
"What?"
Ethan pointed discreetly toward Stacy and Noah.
"They seem to be getting along."
Lucien glanced over.
Only for a second.
"They're talking."
"Yes."
"People do that."
Ethan struggled not to laugh.
"I know."
Lucien returned to his coffee.
Or at least...
He tried to.
For some reason, his attention kept drifting back toward the corner table.
Noah laughed at something Stacy had said.
She laughed too.
Ethan noticed.
"So..."
Lucien looked at him.
"What?"
"Nothing."
"No."
"You were about to say something."
Ethan smiled innocently.
"I changed my mind."
After lunch...
Stacy and Noah walked toward the Psychology Building.
"You know," Noah said, adjusting the strap of his camera bag.
"I'm covering the university festival next month for the journalism club."
"Oh?"
"We're looking for volunteers."
"For what?"
"Interviews."
"Photos."
"Helping with event planning."
He smiled.
"You'd probably enjoy it."
"I'll think about it."
"No pressure."
Just then...
A football rolled across the walkway.
Before Stacy could react
It bounced toward her.
A little boy, no older than eight, came running after it.
"I'm sorry!"
"I didn't mean to"
Stacy picked up the ball and handed it back.
"It's okay."
The boy smiled brightly.
"Thank you, big sis!"
He ran back toward the nearby park.
Noah chuckled.
"You're good with kids."
"I have younger cousins."
"It shows."
Neither of them noticed someone watching from across the street.
Lucien.
His eyes weren't on Noah.
They were on the little boy.
He frowned.
"...That's strange."
Ethan looked over.
"What?"
Lucien watched the child disappear with his family.
"...Nothing."
But something about that brief moment...
Had felt familiar.
Almost...
Wrong.
Later that evening...
Stacy sat alone in her dorm room.
Her phone buzzed.
Unknown Number
She frowned.
"Who..."
She answered.
"...Hello?"
Silence.
Then...
A calm male voice spoke.
"Miss Bennett."
She immediately sat upright.
"...Who's this?"
"Someone who would like to ask you a few questions."
Her grip on the phone tightened.
"What questions?"
Another pause.
"About what you saw at the lake."
Her heart skipped.
"...Who are you?"
The line went dead.
For several seconds...
Stacy stared at the phone.
Then immediately opened her recent calls.
Unknown Number
No caller ID.
No location.
Nothing.
A chill ran down her spine.
Whoever had called...
Knew exactly where she had been.
At the same time...
Lucien's phone vibrated.
One message appeared.
She has been contacted.
His expression immediately changed.
He stood so quickly his chair scraped loudly across the floor.
Ethan looked up.
"What happened?"
Lucien grabbed his jacket.
"I was too late."
Before Ethan could ask another question...
Lucien was already gone.