The weekend arrived with a tension that seemed to settle over Antoine's Baptist University like a fog. Everyone else on campus prepared for the Homecoming worship service, but John and Moriah were wrapped in a different kind of anticipation—one filled with fear, caution, and unanswered questions.
John hadn't slept well. Every sound outside his dorm window jolted him awake, and each time, he half expected Damien to be standing there in the shadows again. He knew Moriah slept even less.
He knocked on her dorm door at 9 a.m.
Moriah opened it slowly.
She looked exhausted.
"Morning," John said softly.
She forced a small smile. "Morning."
He stepped inside, closing the door behind him. Her room was neatly organized—not like her usual scattered rhythm but rather the overtidiness of someone trying to keep their mind busy.
"I didn't want you to be alone today," he said, sitting on the edge of her bed.
She sat beside him, fingers twisting together.
"John… I'm scared he's going to do something crazy."
John gently lifted her hand. "We're going to talk to campus security again. And the dean."
But even he didn't sound confident.
Later that afternoon, they met with Dean Harris, a tall man with a calm demeanor and a voice that could settle a storm most storms, anyway.
Harris listened carefully as Moriah recounted everything Damien had done: the calls, the unexpected appearances, the threats hidden behind sweetness.
When she finished, the dean folded his hands.
"Ms. Bennett, we take these matters very seriously," he said. "I'll issue an official notice order for Damien. If he steps foot on this campus again, he'll be arrested."
Moriah exhaled shakily.
John squeezed her shoulder.
But as they left the administrative building, John noticed something—a figure leaning against a tree across the courtyard.
Watching.
Damien.
John froze.
"Moriah… don't look."
"Why?" she breathed.
"Because he's here."
But she looked anyway.
Her breath hitched. "John"
Damien pushed off the tree and began walking toward them.
Not running.
Not hiding.
Just coming.
"Hey, babe," Damien called out casually.
Moriah grabbed John's arm, fear flooding her face.
"Damien, you need to leave," John said firmly.
But Damien just smiled a slow, dangerous smile.
"The dean can't keep me away," he said. "Nobody can. Moriah knows that."
John stepped forward. "You don't scare me."
Damien raised an eyebrow. "You should be scared."
And then so fast even John couldn't react—Damien reached behind his back and pulled out something metallic.
Moriah screamed.
John froze.
But the object wasn't a weapon. It was a phone.
Damien smirked. "Relax. I'm not stupid." He lifted his phone and snapped a picture of Moriah. "But I like reminders."
Something inside John snapped.
"Delete it."
"Make me," Damien taunted.
John lunged.
Campus security came running from across the quad, but not before John slammed Damien against the tree.
"Leave her alone!" John shouted.
Damien laughed in his face.
Security pulled them apart.
Damien, still smirking, slipped the phone into his pocket.
"This isn't over," he said quietly.
Moriah trembled violently, tears streaming down her face.
Security escorted Damien away.
But as he was led off campus, he turned back, eyes locked on Moriah.
A silent promise.
A chilling warning.
And John knew… the worst hadn't happened yet.