The post went viral overnight.
By morning, "#BlackmereFiles" had made it to TikTok, Reddit, and three student-led university exposé accounts.
We weren't the only ones watching anymore.
But that didn't mean we were safe.
Security increased across campus.
Plainclothes officers patrolled dorms. Admin staff started "random wellness checks." Professors who once smiled now looked at me like I was a virus they couldn't quarantine.
One even dropped my paper without reading it.
Another told me my "tone needed adjusting."
But none of that mattered.
Because the files were out.
And people were asking questions.
The kind that don't get forgotten.
Killian and I met at the greenhouse again.
Our unofficial war room.
He looked more exhausted than usual — dark circles under his eyes, lips tight with something between worry and restraint.
"You're trending in Germany," he said, handing me his phone.
I blinked at the headline.
"American University Exposed for Student Psychological Surveillance"
Under it: My name. My face. Lila's photo.
Killian sat on the stone bench beside me, exhaling hard.
"They're not going to sue," he said. "That would confirm everything. But they are going to retaliate."
"They already have," I muttered.
He looked at me. "What happened?"
"My email got shut down this morning. My campus ID card deactivated. They're trying to make me invisible."
He nodded once. "That's what they did to Lila, too. Cut her off from her systems. Her access. Her friends."
"So we're following the same script?"
"For now."
I turned to him.
"What would happen," I asked slowly, "if we exposed the rest of it? The council. The donors. The alumni connections. The—"
"They'd come for us," he said. "Harder."
"Let them."
He looked at me — really looked at me — like he was trying to memorize the version of me before everything snapped.
"Zara," he said quietly. "I don't want to lose you."
I should've felt safe hearing that.
But I didn't.
Because in the pit of my stomach, something had already started to unravel.
That afternoon, I found Jules waiting outside my dorm.
She looked pale. Shaking.
She held a flash drive like it burned her fingers.
"I remembered something," she said. "Something Lila said the day before she died."
I took the drive.
"Lila told me if anything ever happened to her, there was one file they couldn't delete. One person who knew everything."
"Who?"
Jules licked her lips.
"Dr. Elise Marrin."
The therapist.
Again.
"She kept copies," Jules whispered. "But they weren't hers. They belonged to the Board."
"The Board?"
Jules nodded.
"Private. Donor-funded. The ones who really run this place."
That night, I broke into Dr. Marrin's office alone.
I didn't tell Killian.
Didn't bring backup.
I had to know what Lila meant.
I found the cabinet behind a fake wall panel — a magnetic lock disguised as a book spine.
The flash drive fit perfectly.
The drawer opened.
Inside: a black binder labeled "Patient X."
And a single video file on a monitor.
I played it.
The footage was grainy. Low quality.
But I recognized the girl sitting in the chair immediately.
Lila.
She looked tired. Defensive.
Her voice trembled:
"They think they can break me. But they can't. I'm not crazy. I'm not imagining things. I see what they're doing."
"The cameras. The meetings. The tests. It's all real. I don't know who else to tell."
"But if someone ever finds this—if you're watching this—I didn't fall."
Her eyes locked on the camera.
Dead serious.
"They pushed me."
I couldn't breathe.
Couldn't blink.
Because she said it.
Said the words I'd buried for months under grief and guesses and half-memories.
She didn't fall.
She was pushed.
I left the office with the video on a copy drive.
By the time I got back to my dorm, an email was waiting for me.
From an encrypted address.
Subject: You've gone too far.
And attached?
A photo.
Of Killian.
Sitting across from Dean Soren.
Smiling.
I stared at it for a long time.
Hands trembling.
Mind spiraling.
The date stamp was three months before I transferred.
Before I knew what PRAXIS was.
Before Killian ever said a word about wanting to help.
I texted him:
Z: Where were you three months before I came to Blackmere?
Z: Be honest.
The reply came instantly:
K: I can explain.
But he didn't get the chance.
Because the next morning, Killian Vale was gone.
No class. No texts. No footprints.
And on the bulletin board in the student lounge, someone had scribbled across a printed article:
"This is what happens to traitors."
[Creator's Note – this is not a drill 😭🖤]
ZARA FOUND THE VIDEO.
LILA SAID THE WORDS.
"They pushed me."
AND NOW KILLIAN IS GONE???
Y'all... I'm unwell.
Who sent that photo? Was Killian really working with Soren the whole time?
And what's the Board planning next?
Drop your theories. Because Chapter 12 is going to SHATTER you.
xoxo
Smith_10