Chip is right behind me as we run through the halls of the girl's dormitory. Girls stop and stare at him, and some even ask what we're doing, but we just continue to run. I dart up the stairs to the second story and run down the hall to get to Stassi's door. 

I knock and she opens it almost instantly. She raises her eyebrows in surprise when she sees Chip and me standing at her door. "Elena, sneaking a boy into the dorms? I'm impressed. That's so...me!" she giggles. 

She doesn't open the door all the way as she stands inside the tiny gap between the hall and the dorm room. "You have to wait until everyone is asleep though before you try this next time. I wouldn't want you to get in trouble for breaking the rules-" 

"Cut the shit, Stassi," I say as I hold up the piece of paper from the art building. Stassi's face pales when she sees her name scrawled across the paper. She tries to close the door, but Chip slams his body into the door and we both pile into her room and slam it behind us. 

"Get away from me!" Stassi screams. "Help! Somebody help!" 

I slap her across the face and she stares at me shocked as I push her down onto her bed. She tries to get back up, but I push her down again and sit on top of her torso so she can't move. "You killed Victoria!" I say to her harshly.

"No!" Stassi says as tears begin to well up in her eyes. "No, I would never! She was one of my best friends!" She begins to hyperventilate and sob as her body shakes. 

"Then why were you burning this?!" I ask her as I hold the paper up to her face. "Why are you burning a piece of paper that had your name on it? The only thing tying the motive to you?!" 

"I didn't kill her," she says in between sobs as she convulses under me. "I just helped move the body." 

My body slacks and I feel my reality start to crumble as I realize the implications of what Stassi just said to me. There isn't just one killer at Riverorak Preparatory. There are two. 

"Oh my god," Chip whispers to himself. 

"Oh my god," I say. "Stassi who is the other person involved?" 

Stassi pushes me off her and sits up on her bed. She curls her legs up to her chest and shakes her head. "No," she whispers. "No, no, no. I can't say anything else. I can't. They're going to kill me. They're going to kill me and pin the whole thing on me. I can't." 

"Stassi, yes you can!" I tell her. "Do it for Victoria. We can call the police right now and turn them in. You can tell them what you know. Your friend can get justice for her murder!" 

"What?!" Stassi says shocked. Her breathing finally returns to normal. "No, absolutely not. I'm telling the police nothing. You think I'm going to end up in prison for the rest of my life as they look to make an example out of the pretty rich girl?" She kicks me in the chest and I fly back into her roommate's bed. The air instantly leaves my lungs, and it feels like a boulder is resting on my chest. 

She jumps up and tries to maneuver around Chip, but he blocks her and wraps her into a bear hug. 

"Let me go!" she screams as she swings her leg backward and hits him in the groin. 

Chip topples over and even though I can't breathe I force myself up and run after Stassi as she disappears into the bathroom. She locks the door, and I can hear her frantic movements throughout the room. 

"Stassi, what do you think is going to happen here?" I call into the bathroom. "We know what happened. We know what you did. There's only one way out of this. You can tell the police. Maybe they'll make a plea deal with you. Maybe you can get immunity for testifying against whoever the killer is. We need you to tell us though. Please." 

"They'll kill me," she calls. I hear what sounds like a window sliding open, and my heart begins to beat faster as I slam my body into the door as hard as I can. I ram the cheap wood over and over again, and when it finally gives way I rush into the bathroom to see Stassi crawling out of her bathroom window. 

"Stay back," she says demanding. 

Shouts are being heard from outside the window, and I run over to her and try to pull her back into the bathroom. "Stassi you can't do this to yourself! Taking yourself out of the situation only lets the killer get away with this!" I scream. 

"I'm not killing myself, you dumbass," she says swatting my hands away. "I'm trying to get out of the building and make a run for it!" 

She wiggles against my hands, and Chip appears in the doorway of the bathroom. He walks over and attempts to pull her back in, but Stassi's wiggling is restless as she keeps escaping our grasp over and over again. 

"Shit!" she screams and I watch in horror as she slips out of the window. Chip leans over and grabs her hand. He manages to grab her wrist, but she continues to wiggle against him. "Let me go, Chip!" she says with tears returning to her eyes. "I can't do this anymore!" 

"Stassi! Please don't do this!" I beg from inside the bathroom as Chip continues to struggle to pick her up. "Please just tell us who it is." 

"Fuck you," she says. 

She begins to throw her body downward, and Chip begins to grunt as he tries to pull her back to the dorm. A ton of people are outside watching the events unfold. She continues to throw her body, and Chip gasps and curses under his breath as Stassi screams from outside the building. I look out the window and see her sitting on the grass screaming in pain as she clutches at her leg. 

"It's broken!" she screams. "Look how it's bent! Call an ambulance!"

Chip and I run out of the bathroom when my phone rings. I look down at the message and pale at the words that are written on the screen.

Now. Meet at the arts center. 

"Chip! We have to go to the arts center!" I tell him showing him the message. 

"Elena, you need to call the cops or something. This could be their chance to get them once and for all," Chip says urgently. 

"Chip with what proof?! Stassi is the only person who can give us any information and she'd rather jump out a second-story window than give us anything. This is our chance to know exactly who it is behind the hood." 

I don't wait for a response. Instead, I run out of Stassi's room and down the stairs. When we get down to the lobby no one is in there anymore as they all crowd around Stassi outside of the girl's dormitory. She is wailing in the center of the crowd begging someone to call her father. 

"Elena!" Chip says grabbing onto my arm. 

"Chip! We don't have time!" I say. "We leave now and catch this bastard and we can finally feel safe in our school again." 

Chip takes a deep breath. I can tell that he's completely against this idea, but like always he takes a deep breath and nods. "Fine," he says. "We take this on together." 

I smile gratefully as we run back toward the art building. When we arrive at the building the door is unlocked, and I look at Chip one more time as he gives my hand a reassuring squeeze. I walk into the building, and it's pitch black. I pull my phone out and turn on the flashlight as we make our way through the lobby and toward the auditorium. 

"Do you know where they are?" Chip asks. 

I can hear the fear in his voice as he asks that. Every move of this killer will be concealed in their dark pants and black hoodie. They easily have the element of surprise on us. "No, they just said the art building." 

We walk to the large double doors that lead to the auditorium. With trembling hands, I reach out grab the handle, and walk into the room. The only light in the auditorium comes from the stage as a violet-colored stage light shines on the maple wood. 

Footsteps instantly start moving around us in the auditorium, and my heart fills with fear as I whip around and look over my shoulder. I see a dark figure standing by the doors to the auditorium, and they're holding up their arms pointing something at us. 

"GUN!" I scream right as a loud blast fills the auditorium. I grab Chip and try to pull him down to the ground in a row of seats. We dive into the row, but he lets out a grunt of pain. His blood splatters on me, and I begin to panic when he grips his shoulders and screams in pain. A dark pool of blood starts to fill around us on the floor, I'm not a doctor, but it looks like more blood than he should be losing. 

"Elena," he whispers in a strained grunt. "Run!" 

"I'm not leaving you!" I say.

Footsteps get closer and closer to where we ducked into the row. I throw myself over Chip and squeeze my eyes shut as I wrap my arms around his chest. The footsteps stop when they're right in front of us, and I hear the click of the gun as they get ready to fire again. 

"Get up, Elena," the figure says.

I look up from the ground and meet the face of the killer who's been taunting me since I got to Riveroak. 

"Oh my god," I whisper.