Chapter 4: Don’t Open the Door
1291 Words
Saturday nights at Blackridge were apparently a big deal.
By eight o’clock, the entire campus looked different. Music blasted from dorm buildings, expensive cars lined the front entrance, and students walked around dressed like they were heading to fashion shows instead of college parties.
Lena stood in front of her mirror questioning all her life decisions.
“I still don’t understand why I’m going,” she said.
“Because you’ve been locked in this room studying for three straight days,” Maya replied while fixing her eyeliner. “And because college students are legally required to make bad decisions sometimes.”
“That doesn’t sound right.”
“It’s spiritually right.”
Lena laughed softly and pulled on a black jacket over her outfit.
The party was being held at one of the off-campus mansions owned by some rich student whose parents were probably never home.
Very normal.
Very safe.
Definitely not suspicious at all.
“You look hot, by the way,” Maya added casually.
Lena rolled her eyes. “Relax.”
“No seriously. If Ethan Blackwood sees you tonight, that man is finished.”
Lena nearly dropped her phone.
“Can people stop making everything about him?”
Maya smirked. “So you’ve thought about him.”
“No, I haven’t.”
“That pause says otherwise.”
Before Lena could defend herself, someone knocked on their dorm door.
Maya opened it immediately.
A guy Lena recognized from economics class stood there.
“Party bus is downstairs,” he said.
Maya grabbed her purse dramatically. “Time to make regrettable memories.”
The mansion was insane.
Lena noticed it the second they arrived.
Huge pool. Loud music. Lights everywhere. People dancing on tables for reasons she genuinely couldn’t understand.
“How are these people real?” Lena muttered.
“They’re rich,” Maya replied. “They’ve never experienced consequences.”
Fair point.
At first, things were actually fun. Lena relaxed a little, drank soda because she didn’t trust strangers with alcohol, and watched Maya flirt shamelessly with a guy wearing sunglasses indoors.
Then she noticed something.
People kept looking toward the staircase.
Whispering.
Murmuring.
Like they were waiting for someone.
A few seconds later, the room shifted.
Not loudly.
Not dramatically.
But enough for Lena to feel it.
Ethan had arrived.
He walked downstairs wearing a black jacket with his hands in his pockets, completely unbothered by the attention around him.
A girl immediately tried talking to him.
He ignored her.
Another guy nodded respectfully as he passed.
Weird.
Very weird.
Lena looked away before he could notice her.
Too late.
“Why are you pretending not to see me?”
His voice came from directly beside her.
Lena jumped slightly. “You appear out of nowhere like a serial killer.”
Ethan glanced around the crowded room. “And yet you came here willingly.”
“I was forced.”
“You don’t look forced.”
Lena crossed her arms. “You seem very judgmental for someone attending the same party.”
“I’m not here for the party.”
Something about the way he said it made her pause.
Before she could ask what he meant, a tall guy approached Ethan quickly.
“There’s a problem upstairs.”
Ethan’s expression changed immediately.
“What happened?”
The guy glanced briefly at Lena before lowering his voice.
“I’ll explain upstairs.”
Lena noticed it again.
That tension around him.
Like people treated him differently from everyone else.
More carefully.
Ethan looked back at her.
“Go back to your dorm early tonight.”
Lena stared at him. “You can’t keep saying mysterious things and expecting me not to ask questions.”
“Then stop asking.”
“That’s not how humans work.”
For a second, he almost smiled.
Then his phone buzzed, and whatever softness was there disappeared instantly.
“I’m serious, Lena.”
Without another word, he walked upstairs with the other guy.
Lena watched them disappear.
Okay.
Now she was curious.
Very curious.
“That man is obsessed with warning you,” Maya said, suddenly appearing beside her with two drinks.
“He’s weird.”
“You like him.”
“I barely know him.”
“That wasn’t a denial.”
Lena ignored her and glanced toward the staircase again.
Something felt off.
The energy in the house had changed after Ethan arrived. A few people looked nervous now. Others kept checking their phones.
And maybe it was her imagination—
—but she could’ve sworn she saw blood on the sleeve of the guy who came downstairs earlier.
Her stomach tightened slightly.
“Hey,” Maya said, noticing her expression. “You okay?”
“Yeah.”
But honestly?
Not really.
About an hour later, Lena decided she wanted air.
The music had become unbearable, and the house suddenly felt too crowded.
She slipped away from the party and stepped into a quieter hallway upstairs.
Bad idea.
Very bad idea.
The hallway was dark and almost empty. Most of the doors were closed, but one near the end stood slightly open.
Voices came from inside.
Arguing.
Lena frowned slightly.
She should leave.
Obviously.
But then she heard Ethan’s name.
“…Blackwood’s losing control—”
“We can’t trust him anymore.”
“You think he doesn’t know already?”
Lena froze.
Another voice spoke.
“If his father finds out—”
A loud crash interrupted the conversation.
Silence followed.
Then footsteps.
Coming toward the door.
Panic hit her instantly.
Lena looked around quickly before slipping into the nearest empty room and shutting the door quietly behind her.
Her heart pounded loudly in her chest.
Okay.
Maybe this school actually was Gotham City.
She waited silently.
Footsteps passed outside.
Voices faded.
After a few seconds, Lena exhaled slowly.
Then—
“Interesting hiding spot.”
Lena nearly screamed.
Ethan stood near the window inside the dark room, watching her calmly.
“What is wrong with you?” she whispered aggressively. “Why are you always just there?”
“You’re in my room.”
That shut her up.
Lena looked around properly for the first time.
Of course.
Of course she accidentally hid in Ethan Blackwood’s room.
Perfect.
“I can explain.”
“You were spying.”
“I was surviving.”
Ethan walked closer slowly, his expression unreadable again.
“What did you hear?”
The question instantly changed the mood.
Lena swallowed slightly.
“Nothing important.”
“That’s probably not true.”
His voice stayed calm, but something about it made her nervous.
For the first time since meeting him, she understood why people found him intimidating.
Not because he yelled.
Because he didn’t.
“I wasn’t trying to listen,” she said honestly.
A few quiet seconds passed.
Then Ethan sighed softly and ran a hand through his hair.
“You need to stop getting involved in things you don’t understand.”
“There it is again,” Lena muttered. “The mysterious warning speech.”
“This isn’t a joke.”
His tone made her look up properly.
He actually looked worried.
Not angry.
Worried.
And somehow, that felt worse.
Lena frowned slightly. “Ethan… what’s going on?”
He looked at her for a long moment before answering.
“Nothing you want to be part of.”
Then voices echoed outside the room again.
Ethan’s expression hardened instantly.
He walked toward the door.
“Stay here.”
“What?”
“Don’t open the door unless I come back.”
“Ethan—”
But he was already gone.
Leaving Lena alone inside the dark room with one terrifying realization sitting heavily in her chest.
Something was seriously wrong at Blackridge University.
- Writer
