Chapter 1

It was one in the morning when I was jolted awake by a knock at the door. "Open up."

"Open up." Emily Lopez's voice cut through the door.

I knew she never bothered to open the door herself when she returned to the dorm.

But the moment I got out of bed and opened the door, a sharp blade pierced right through my heart. Everything went black, and I passed out completely.

When I opened my eyes again, the sound of knocking and Emily's voice came from outside the door.

This time, I picked up my phone and called 911.

*****

After hanging up, I let out a sigh of relief.

The next moment, a figure darted across the space beside my bed.

It was Jessica Moore. Her hand was already gripping the doorknob, ready to let Emily in.

My heart skipped a beat. I quickly sat up in bed and shouted to her, trying to stop her. "Jessica, don't open the door."

Jessica, who was already annoyed about having to open the door, instantly blew up when she heard my voice.

She shot me a sideways glance and sneered, "Wow, Sophie, your bed's closest to the door, but you're pretending to sleep so you don't have to let Emily in?

"Seriously, that's so petty. We're all supposed to be friends. What's the big deal about opening the door?"

The big deal? Whoever opened that door was dead meat.

"The person outside has a knife. If you open that door, she's going to stab you to death." I couldn't let Jessica open that door. If she did, this place could turn into a bloodbath.

Jessica's face went pale for a moment, but she shook it off almost instantly.

She twisted the doorknob, looking at me like I'd told the world's funniest joke. "Murder? Seriously? Come on, it's the 21st century. You've watched way too many thrillers. You're being paranoid."

I knew Jessica wasn't going to listen to me, no matter what I said.

Ever since we started living together, she had always had a grudge against me.

She had her eye on my bed, but I refused to let her have it.

I was ranked first in the class, and she was second. She always believed I snatched the top scholarship right out from under her nose.

"Open up." From outside the door came Emily's repeated voice, hollow and mechanical.

I gave it some thought, and then looked at Jessica. "How do you know for sure it's Emily out there?"

Honestly, I had no clue who stabbed me at that moment.

All I remember was the second I opened the door, the knife flashed straight at me. It was pitch black outside, and before I could even make out their face, I was already gone.

"What do you mean by that?" Jessica said, and then leaned against the door, pressing herself close as she peered through the peephole.

After confirming it was Emily outside, Jessica scoffed, spun around with her arms crossed, and gave me a look. "Sophie, quit acting like a paranoid freak. It's Emily out there."

Seeing Jessica stubbornly trying to open the door, I rushed over, yanked her away, and planted myself in front of the door. "Absolutely not. If you really want to open it, at least wait for the police to show up first."

Jessica refused to back down and started arguing with me. "We all pay for this place. What makes you think you can keep Emily out?"

Without thinking, I peered through the peephole. The sight that met my eyes made my heart skip a beat.

Emily was outside, her skin an eerie bluish tint, eyes rolled back and white. Her lips stayed perfectly still, yet she kept repeating, "Open up."

My lips quivered as I whispered, "Does Emily look normal right now?"

Jessica always had to argue with me. Whatever I said, she'd fire back ten times harder. "What's so abnormal about it? Emily puts on a bit more foundation, that's all. Who are you to say she looks like a ghost?"

She locked her eyes on me. "You think everyone's got your good complexion?"

Her glare was so sharp as if she wanted to rip my face right off.

"What's going on here?" Just then, Grace Harris's voice cut through the tension.

She was sitting up in bed, rubbing her sleepy eyes, looking totally lost at what was happening.

Jessica, spotting a teammate for her side, tugged Grace over to back her up. "Grace, be the judge here. Sophie won't let Emily in. Do you think that's right?"

Grace looked at me, then at Jessica.

She hesitated for a moment, and then locked her eyes on me, her face suddenly serious. "Sophie, open the door and let Emily in."

I glanced over at Grace.

Out of everyone in our four-person dorm, she was my closest friend. We were practically joined at the hip, always in class and eating together.

But this time, she didn't even bother to ask what was happening and sided with Jessica.

Seriously? After three years of being best friends, this was what I got?

Grace noticed my stare, shook her head innocently, and stepped back, her lips trembling slightly. "It's not that I don't trust you, Sophie. But Jessica makes more sense."

Jessica made more sense? It was ridiculous. Grace didn't even ask why I wouldn't let Emily in and assumed Jessica was right.

Normally, Grace never voiced her opinions and kept a low profile. But I now realized she wasn't weak-willed. She was shrewd. Every choice she made kept her from being resented.

I stepped aside, making room, and shot Grace a smile, waving her over. "Why don't you open the door then, Grace?"

With that, I dragged Grace over to the door and put her hand right on the doorknob.

But her hand started trembling, her face full of uncertainty. In the end, she pulled her hand back, too scared to open the door.

Suddenly, it all made sense. She had been pretending to be asleep.

Grace had secretly listened in on everything Jessica and I said, and she knew opening that door was basically getting someone killed.

"What's the matter?" I said, a sly smile on my face as I stared Grace down, exposing her scheme. "You won't open it because you're scared the person outside will kill you."

At my words, Grace's gaze flickered, and she quickly hid behind Jessica, shaking her head nonstop. "No, that's not it."

Emily's voice outside went silent.

Jessica immediately tried to threaten me. "Fine, if you won't let me open the door, then send me all the scholarship money you got these past three years. Do that, and I won't open the door tonight."

Grace immediately chimed in, "Yeah. You only got those scholarships because of all of us. Why should you get to keep it all?"

When I saw my roommates of over three years show their true colors like this, my heart kept sinking.

Whenever I won a scholarship, I'd treat them to feasts three times.

But their greed knew no bounds. They never appreciated a thing. All they cared about was getting their hands on my scholarship money.

"You guys are delusional. I earned that money with my hard work. You didn't lift a finger for it," I shot back.

The same steady knocking echoed from outside the door again. I felt myself tense up once more.