Episode 5: "The Arsonist"

Crestwood Dormitory | 3:17 AM
Lila jolted awake to the screech of smoke alarms. Orange light flickered under her door. The smell of gasoline burned her nostrils.
Lila Evans
Lila Evans
(coughing) "Chloe, get up!"
She dragged her roommate into the hallway. Flames licked up the stairwell. Through the smoke, a black Omega Phi symbol glistened on the wall—spray-painted in fresh paint.
Campus Security Guard: (grabbing them) "Move! The whole wing’s going!"
Outside, fire trucks wailed. Lila scanned the crowd for Damien. Instead, a sleek silver car pulled up. A woman in a tailored suit stepped out, her eyes the same storm-gray as Damien’s.
Elena Black
Elena Black
(grabbing Lila’s arm) "Where is my son?"
Campus Police Tent | 3:45 AM
Lila Evans
Lila Evans
"You’re Damien’s mother?"
Elena Black
Elena Black
(Ignoring the question) "This is what happens when you dig up the past. They tried to burn Vanessa’s things too." She slid a photo across the table—a younger Vanessa, her dorm room vandalized with the same frat symbol.
Lila Evans
Lila Evans
"Noah did this."
Elena Black
Elena Black
"No. His father did. Just like he paid off the coroner to call Vanessa’s death an ‘accident.’" She leaned in. "And if you keep pushing, you’ll end up like her."
A commotion outside. Damien shoved past officers, his shirt singed.
Damien Black
Damien Black
(to Lila) "You okay?"
Elena Black
Elena Black
(coldly) "She will be. Once she walks away."
Motel 6 | 6:00 AM
Damien kicked the broken AC unit.
Damien Black
Damien Black
"I told you not to trust her. She left Vanessa to die."
Lila Evans
Lila Evans
"She hid Vanessa. For six years."
Damien Black
Damien Black
"And never told me." His voice cracked. "My sister’s in a Swiss hospital, Lila. Comatose. Mom let me think she was dead."
Lila reached for him. He flinched.
Damien Black
Damien Black
"Reed’s gonna use this. He’ll say I’m unstable. That I set the fire to frame him."
Lila Evans
Lila Evans
"Then we find proof first."
His phone buzzed. A news alert:
**"Breaking: Arson Suspect Named. Damien Black Wanted for Questioning."**
Highway Rest Stop | 8:30 AM
They ditched Damien’s bike for a stolen sedan. Lila scrubbed soot from her face in the grimy bathroom. When she stepped out, Noah leaned against the car.
Noah Reed
Noah Reed
(smirking) "Running away? Smart."
Lila Evans
Lila Evans
"You framed him."
Noah Reed
Noah Reed
"I have an alibi. Dad’s country club party. 200 witnesses." He tossed her a burner phone. "Keep it. I’ll call when I’m done with Black."
Damien emerged from the snack bar, saw Noah, and charged.
Damien Black
Damien Black
"You torch her dorm, you coward?"
Noah Reed
Noah Reed
(laughing) "Prove it." He peeled out just as cops arrived.
Abandoned Barn | Midnight
Lila bandaged Damien’s split knuckles.
Lila Evans
Lila Evans
"We need Vanessa. If she wakes up—"
Damien Black
Damien Black
"She won’t. The doctors said—"
Lila Evans
Lila Evans
"Then we make Noah confess." She played the burner’s voicemail: Noah’s drunken slur to a frat brother—*"Should’ve burned the evidence with the girl."*
Damien Black
Damien Black
(grinning) "Goldilocks, you’re brilliant."
***

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