Chapter 2 WHAT EVERYONE SAW
RILEY’S POV
The scream hadn’t even finished echoing before the whole room fractured.
Music died mid-beat. Laughter cut off like someone had flipped a switch.
For one breathless second, everyone stood frozen—then the crowd surged toward the doors, shouting, shoving, tripping over heels and streamers.
Jade’s hand clamped tight around my wrist. “Riles—what was that?”
I didn’t answer.
My feet were already moving, shoving through bodies, shoulders hunched, eyes fixed on the balcony railing I’d left only minutes before.
I didn’t know what I expected to see. I just knew it couldn’t be what I thought.
When I finally reached the edge and looked down, my throat closed up.
Selena lay crumpled on the concrete below, her gold dress splayed out like spilled sunlight, one shoe kicked a few feet away.
People were already gathering around her, screaming, pulling out phones.
Someone was shouting for an ambulance.
“No—no, no, no!”
A boy shouldered past me so hard I stumbled.
Marcus Hale—Selena’s ex, broad-shouldered, face white as paper—grabbed the railing, his whole body shaking as he stared down.
“She wouldn’t do this! She was fine ten minutes ago! She was laughing—”
“Marcus, step back.” Two security guards caught his arms, but he fought them, voice cracking.
“You don’t know her! She wouldn’t—she would never—”
“Calm down, son.” Professor Lang appeared beside him, hand resting gently on his shoulder.
His face was pale, eyes glassy, but his voice was steady, the kind of calm that made everyone listen.
“We’re all hurting. But we need to let the police do their job.”
By the time the first squad cars pulled up, red and blue lights painting the walls in jagged streaks, rumors were already spinning through the crowd like wildfire.
“I saw her climb up there. She was crying.”
“She said she couldn’t take it anymore.”
“Everyone saw her lean over. It was suicide.”
I stood off to the side, half-hidden by a pillar, and listened.
No one mentioned the man on the balcony. No one mentioned the tattoo.
No one said she’d been terrified, whispering about secrets that could ruin them both.
By sunrise, the official story was everywhere.
The university sent an email to every student account.
The local news posted it front and center: PROM NIGHT TRAGEDY: SELENA VOSS, CAMPUS ICON, DIES IN APPARENT SUICIDE.
The campus radio played it on repeat—somber voices, tearful tributes, old interviews of Selena talking about her dreams to study law, to travel, to change things.
Everywhere I went, people were crying.
Huddling in hallways, lighting candles by the main gates, posting photos of her with captions like too beautiful for this world and we’ll never forget you.
I sat in the back of my first class that morning, staring at my blank notebook, and my mind kept replaying everything I’d heard.
If they find out, they’ll ruin us both.
Just meet me tomorrow night.
Don’t let them win.
That wasn’t someone who’d made up her mind to jump.
That was someone who was scared.
Someone who was planning to meet someone, to talk, to fix things.
But what was I supposed to say? I saw her talking to a stranger with a dragon tattoo on his back?
I was Riley Quinn—the girl who sat in the corner, who fixed laptops instead of going to parties, who most people didn’t even know existed.
If I opened my mouth, they’d call me crazy.
They’d say I was making it up for attention.
They’d tell me I’d misread what I saw.
At lunch, Jade slid into the seat across from me, pushing a tray toward me I hadn’t asked for.
“You haven’t eaten since yesterday. Please, Riles. You’re shaking.”
“I can’t stop thinking about her,” I said quietly. “About what she said.”
Jade glanced around fast, lowering her voice.
“Don’t. Not here. Everyone’s already made up their minds. If you start talking about some secret guy… they’ll turn on you too.”
“But it doesn’t make sense, Jade. She was scared. She was making plans for tomorrow. People don’t do that if they’re going to jump off a ledge an hour later.”
“Maybe you didn’t see everything.” Her voice was soft, but her eyes were worried.
“Maybe it was just a fight. Maybe she was upset about Marcus, or her grades, or something we don’t know about.”
I wanted to believe her.
I really did.
But every time I closed my eyes, all I saw was that dragon coiled around a dagger, and the way Selena’s voice had broken when she said they’ll kill us both.
Later that evening, I lay on my bed, scrolling mindlessly through my phone while Jade slept beside me.
The radio was still playing tributes through the wall, quiet and sad.
I was about to turn it off and put my headphones on when a new upload popped up at the top of my feed, trending already, thousands of plays in just an hour.
ShadowCast: Episode 1 – THE LIE THEY CALLED SUICIDE
My breath caught.
The description was short, sharp, and sent a chill straight down my spine:
They want you to believe she was broken.
They want you to believe she
gave up.
But Selena Voss didn’t jump. And I’m going to prove it.
