The abandoned science building at Westview High had always been the kind of place students whispered about but rarely visited.
After Zoe Collins died there, the rumors only grew darker.
Some said the rooftop was haunted.
Others claimed you could still hear footsteps echoing in the empty halls late at night.
Chloe Bennett didn’t believe in ghosts.
But as she stood at the rusted gate surrounding the condemned building, staring up at the cracked windows and faded brick walls, a chill still crept down her spine.
The place looked exactly like what it was—forgotten.
Yellow caution tape fluttered weakly in the wind. The campus lights barely reached this corner of school grounds, leaving most of the structure swallowed in shadow.
Her phone buzzed in her hand.
Jasper’s message.
Roof access through the east stairwell. Camera used to face the back parking lot.
Chloe slipped her phone into her pocket and pushed the gate open.
It groaned loudly.
She winced.
“Great,” she muttered. “Not creepy at all.”
Inside, the air smelled stale—dust and old wood and something faintly metallic.
Her sneakers crunched on broken glass as she stepped into the hallway.
The building had clearly been stripped after the accident. Lockers hung open, classroom doors were gone, and wires dangled from the ceiling like exposed nerves.
Chloe forced herself to keep moving.
You wanted answers.
Here they are.
The east stairwell wasn’t hard to find.
The door hung half off its hinges, and the staircase beyond was dimly lit by a narrow window near the top.
Every step creaked as she climbed.
Her heart pounded louder with each level.
Second floor.
Third.
Then finally—
The roof door.
Chloe paused with her hand on the handle.
This was where Zoe Collins died.
A year ago.
Her stomach twisted.
Then she pushed the door open.
Cold night air rushed over her.
The rooftop was bigger than she expected, surrounded by a low concrete barrier and scattered with old ventilation units.
The city lights of Westview shimmered in the distance.
For a moment, Chloe simply stood there.
Trying to imagine the scene.
Zoe standing near the edge.
The fall.
The police report had called it a tragic accident.
But Jasper’s message had planted a different possibility in her mind.
What if she hadn’t been alone?
Chloe stepped closer to the edge.
The ground below looked terrifyingly far away.
Her chest tightened.
“How did you fall?” she whispered to the empty rooftop.
The wind answered with silence.
She turned and began scanning the area.
If something happened here, there had to be traces.
Something everyone else missed.
Minutes passed.
Just when she was about to give up, something metallic glinted beneath a rusted vent pipe.
Chloe crouched.
Her fingers brushed cold metal.
A ring.
Her pulse spiked.
It was almost identical to the one she’d seen fall from Tristan’s pocket at the party.
Silver.
Simple.
But engraved on the inside were two letters.
Z.C.
Zoe Collins.
“What the hell…”
Why would there be another one here?
Her mind raced.
Two rings.
One in Tristan’s pocket.
One on the rooftop where Zoe died.
Chloe slipped the ring into her jacket pocket.
Then she noticed something else.
A scrap of paper wedged beneath the vent.
It looked torn.
She carefully pulled it free.
The paper had clearly been ripped from something larger.
But the remaining words were still visible.
…Zoe found out about our secret.
She said she would expose everything.
Below that, two signatures.
Tristan Hale.
Luna Garcia.
Chloe’s breath caught.
Her heart pounded violently against her ribs.
This couldn’t be real.
But the ink looked old.
Faded.
Like it had been here a long time.
Then her eyes dropped to the bottom of the page.
There was a third name.
But only part of it remained.
The paper had been torn right through the middle.
Only the first few letters were visible.
—man
Chloe stared at it.
“…What secret?”
Footsteps suddenly echoed from the stairwell door.
Chloe’s head snapped up.
Her instincts screamed.
Someone else was here.
The rooftop door creaked open.
A familiar figure stepped out.
Luna Garcia.
Her dark hair whipped in the wind as she stepped onto the rooftop.
For a moment, neither girl spoke.
Then Luna sighed.
“I was wondering when you’d come here.”
Chloe’s stomach dropped.
“You followed me?”
Luna shrugged.
“You’re not exactly subtle.”
Her eyes flicked to Chloe’s hand.
“To find anything interesting?”
Chloe stood slowly.
“Why were you here the night Zoe died?”
The question hung in the cold air.
Luna’s smile vanished.
“You shouldn’t ask things like that.”