All Chapters of I'm the serial killer's next target: Chapter 11 - Chapter 20

Quinn barely slept after the message.Even hours later, the photo still sat open in her mind like a wound someone had quietly reopened. The grainy school corridor. Her younger self standing near the staircase completely unaware someone had been watching her from far away.And the message beneath it.Ask Elena what really happened that night.Morning light slipped through the hotel curtains while Quinn stood near the window holding a cup of coffee. Behind her, Damian sat against the headboard watching her carefully, unusually quiet for once.“You’ve been staring at the same wall for ten minutes,” he finally said softly.Quinn exhaled slowly. “I’m thinking.”“You’re spiraling.”That made her glance back at him briefly.Damian looked unfairly attractive this early in the morning, hair still messy from sleep, shirt half-buttoned, expression softer than usual now that the sarcasm had faded. It annoyed Quinn how quickly the sight grounded her lately.Damian watched her for a second longer b

Nobody spoke for a second after that.Even the apartment itself felt quieter somehow, like the walls had been waiting for someone to finally say it out loud.Quinn stared at Elena carefully, trying to read whether this was fear, guilt, or something worse. “What do you mean somebody died?”Elena’s fingers tightened around the blanket in her lap. “I mean exactly that.”Mark stepped closer immediately. “Why was this never reported?”Elena laughed softly then, but the sound carried no humor. “Because people with money make problems disappear.”That caught everyone’s attention.Damian moved slightly beside Quinn now, quieter than usual but visibly focused. “You’re talking about the senior group.”Elena looked toward him slowly. “You already figured that out?”“We figured out they were connected,” Damian replied. “We haven’t figured out why.”Elena swallowed hard before looking back toward Quinn again. “Do you remember the old science building behind the gym?”A faint image flashed through

Elena had barely placed the camera onto the table when the apartment door suddenly opened again.Everyone turned immediately.A man stepped inside looking visibly out of breath, rainwater still clinging to the shoulders of his dark coat while one side of his shirt hung slightly torn near the sleeve. He looked around quickly until his eyes landed on Elena sitting on the couch.“There you are,” he breathed out.Elena stood almost instantly. “Ethan.”The tension in her face disappeared the second he reached her. She wrapped her arms around him tightly while he pulled her close without hesitation, one hand moving protectively against the back of her head like he was checking she was actually alive.Quinn watched carefully from across the room.Ethan finally looked up toward the others after a moment, still keeping one arm around Elena’s waist. “Sorry,” he said quickly. “I came as fast as I could. My flight landed twenty minutes ago.”Mark stepped forward slightly. “You were out of town?”

A second later, the lights flickered back on.Both of them blinked against the sudden brightness while rain continued crashing loudly outside the apartment windows.Damian let out a breath. “Okay. Storm. Cool. I was mentally preparing for a serial killer standing behind the shower curtain.”Quinn laughed softly, her forehead resting briefly against his shoulder. “You watch too many horror movies.”“I profile murderers for fun, Quinn. My brain isn’t healthy.”The warmth between them returned almost instantly after that. Easier now somehow. Familiar.Damian brushed wet hair back from her face carefully before kissing her again, slower this time, like neither of them were rushing anymore. The storm outside only made the bathroom feel smaller, more private, steam curling around them while Quinn forgot for a while that dead bodies and cryptic messages were waiting outside this room.For the first time in days, she stopped thinking. Stopped carrying everything, stopped trying to solve somet

“Why can’t I remember anything clearly...?” Quinn whispered.Nobody answered immediately.The rain outside filled the silence instead, soft against the windows while the low music continued somewhere in the apartment. Elena looked down at her wine glass like she regretted bringing any of this up at all.Then Damian’s hand brushed lightly against Quinn’s knee beneath the table. Quinn hated how much the touch steadied her lately.“You were under a lot of stress back then,” Elena said quietly after a moment. “After graduation everything happened so fast. You left the city almost immediately, your mom was dealing with everything at home, and you...” She hesitated slightly. “You stopped talking to almost everyone.”Quinn frowned faintly. “That still doesn’t explain missing memories.”“Actually,” Damian spoke calmly beside her, “it kind of does.”Everyone looked toward him.He leaned back slightly in his chair, his expression softer now that he had shifted into profiler mode again. “Trauma