Page 23 of Creeping Lily

LILY

T he next day, I’m crossing campus just as the sun bleeds out behind the tree line, the shadows stretching long across the path.

The air is cooler now, the kind that slips under your collar and makes you want to hurry.

My boots click against the concrete in a steady rhythm—until that rhythm changes.

The hairs on the back of my neck prickle to life, as if they know something I don’t.

At first, I think I’ve tripped over my own shadow. But then I hear it. Another set of footsteps. Close. Matching mine.

A cold rush of adrenaline spikes through my veins, and my biggest fear—the kind I hate admitting—comes roaring back. Not danger itself, but the fear of fear. The kind that steals your breath before anything else can.

I quicken my pace. The other steps quicken too.

My throat feels like it’s closing in on itself, my breaths cutting short and sharp. The urge to run hits me so hard I almost stumble. I can’t go back to that place. I won’t.

With a desperate burst of energy, I break into a sprint.

My bag slides off my shoulder, the strap burning my arm before it drops.

Books spill across the path, the thud and flutter echoing behind me, but I don’t dare stop.

The only thing that matters is reaching my dorm—four walls, a lock, and maybe the illusion of safety.

Maybe coming here was a mistake. Maybe I should’ve chosen a small community college closer to home, somewhere I didn’t have to measure every step or wonder what might be lurking a few paces behind me. Out here, the real world feels a lot bigger—and a lot crueler—than I imagined.

I stick to the path instead of cutting across the grassy knoll, even though it’s shorter. The knoll is darker, quieter. Too much space for someone to disappear into. Too much space for me to be cornered.

I’m almost to the main quad when I slam—full force—into something solid. My momentum rebounds, but strong arms close around me before I can fall. The impact knocks the breath from my lungs, and for one wild second, I’m trapped.

“Lily, hey. Lily, it’s me.”

Justin’s voice slices through the panic, pulling my gaze up to his face. Relief hits so hard it almost knocks me over again. My body collapses against him, the tension breaking, and I realize I’m shaking so badly I can barely stand.

“Hey, hey, hey,” he murmurs, voice low, his eyes searching my face. “What’s wrong?”

“Someone…” I suck in ragged gulps of air. “Someone was following me.”

Justin’s jaw tightens as he glances over my shoulder, scanning the dimming path behind me. His eyes narrow at something I can’t see. When he turns back, his tone is calm but clipped. “There’s no one there, Lily. Come on, I’ll walk you back.”

“I dropped my bag,” I say, the words tumbling out in a mix of embarrassment and doubt. Maybe I imagined it. Maybe I’m overreacting.

We retrace my steps, finding my books scattered across the concrete. Justin crouches to gather them, his eyes still darting toward the shadows like he’s expecting something to move. I kneel beside him, handing over a paperback with a hand that won’t stop trembling.

“There was someone, Justin,” I insist, my voice low. I’m not sure if I’m trying to convince him… or myself.

He nods slowly, lips pressing together like he has something to say but decides against it. Slinging my bag over his shoulder, he takes my hand without asking, guiding me back toward my dorm.

“You shouldn’t be walking alone after dark.”

“It wasn’t dark,” I argue. “It just got dark while I was on my way back.”

His look says exactly what he thinks of that excuse. “You know what I mean.”

“School’s supposed to be safe,” I mutter. “I didn’t come here to be afraid of walking across campus at night.”

“Safe?” His voice hardens. “You’re surrounded by frat boys who think binge drinking is a sport. People do stupid things when they’re drunk.”

Don’t I know it.

I glance at him and find him studying me like I’m a puzzle he already knows the answer to. The weight of his stare slows my steps until I stop completely.

“What are you trying to tell me, Justin?”

He hesitates. Looks off toward the trees before letting out a slow, heavy sigh.

“You’re too pure for this place, Lily. Too good for this world. You might control your own actions, but you can’t control theirs. And that’s the scariest thing…” His gaze locks with mine, voice lo w and final. “You can’t stop a bad thing from happening. Not even when you see it coming.”

“He wouldn’t.”

“You don’t know that.”

“I know Trick.”

The siblings volley the words back and forth, their voices tight, like they’ve been arguing for hours instead of minutes.

Ever since Justin found me sprinting across campus and walked me back to my dorm, they’ve been circling the same debate—whether or not I’m in danger, and if Trick could be behind it.

Bethany’s convinced he’s stalking me. Justin is just as certain that’s impossible, like Trick’s wired differently.

I’m not sure what kind of wiring it takes to stalk someone, but I doubt it’s the kind you’d find on a tidy blueprint. Whatever’s in that mind, it’s not straight lines and labeled circuits—it’s a tangled mess of crossed wires, sparking in the dark.

And all I can think about is the man outside the club. The one who stepped out of the alley like he’d been waiting for me.

The memory comes back sharp: the reek of damp concrete, the way the shadows swallowed half his face.

Could he be the same man who was following me tonight?

The thought itches at the base of my skull, but I force it down.

If I speak it aloud, it becomes real. Saying it out loud means pulling it into the light, making it solid enough for someone else to examine.

And if that happens, there will be questions—questions I can’t answer without exposing just how deep this rabbit hole might go.

I keep the words locked behind my teeth, swallowing the urge to spill them. The truth is dangerous, but so is suspicion. I don’t want to accuse Trick without proof. He’s not perfect, but dragging his name into this without knowing would be the first step toward burning bridges I might need later.

So I keep my voice steady, my face blank, and carry the weight of both possibilities—one man I can’t identify, and another I don’t want to condemn.

“I don’t think he would,” I cut in, my voice steadier than I feel. My fingers curl around my neck, tracing slow lines against my skin like I can iron the panic out of me.

Justin’s eyes flick to mine, surprise flashing there before he turns back to Bethany.

She’s standing stiff, arms locked across her chest, jaw set like she’s daring him to contradict her.

The two of them share a look—silent, loaded.

I’m not invited into whatever conversation is happening between their eyes.

“Guys, come on,” I croak, my voice scraping like sandpaper. “I’m right here. Remember me?”

“Relax, Lily,” Bethany says without looking at me.

Relax. Right. Like my body isn’t strung so tight I can hear my pulse in my ears.

Because I know what I felt tonight. Someone was out there, matching my steps, breathing the same air I was. Watching me. And that thought alone is enough to twist my insides into knots so sharp it hurts to breathe.

The tears come before I can stop them—hot, sudden, blurring everything into streaks of shadow and light. My chest tightens, gasps stutter out of me, and my body jerks with each one until I can’t tell if I’m freezing or burning alive.

It’s that feeling again. The one I swore I’d never let back in.

The feeling of being trapped. Helpless. Caged in a moment you can’t escape, where the walls close in and the air gets thin, and you know—deep in your bones—you’re not getting out untouched. I can’t be that girl again. I can’t live inside that helplessness, waiting for whatever comes next.

“Lily, hey…” Bethany’s voice breaks through the fog.

She kn eels in front of me, her hands wrapping around mine.

Her brow furrows, her eyes trying to catch mine and hold them still.

“Lily, come on. It’s okay. Nothing’s going to happen to you.

I know you’re scared, but you’re okay. We won’t let anything bad happen to you. ”

I shake my head because she doesn’t get it. She can’t.

You can sit in the safest place in the world, lock every door, bar every window, and still…

If something bad wants to find you, it will.

Just like Justin said.