CHAPTER TWENTY FOUR

The man lingered in the hallway, listening to the woman's voice drone on and on in the classroom. He checked his watch—class was almost over.

He felt like a caged animal, growing more restless by the second. Cassandra and her pack of wannabes had served their role, distracting the police from him, but that would only last so long. Eventually, they would come knocking on his door…

But would they really suspect him, an unassuming university teacher with no history of violence?

You're safe, he reassured himself. Stop worrying.

He just needed to get to Laura Simmons. If he could just perform the ritual on her, he would feel so much calmer, so much more like himself. All he had to do was wait for her class to end, then find a way to isolate her.

Besides…she deserved it. He'd heard her talking about the murders, saying how the person responsible must truly be a psycho if he believed the stars were telling him what to do. She had laughed about it—actually laughed —and the sound had taken the man back a few decades, to when he was just a helpless little boy ridiculed for ideas.

All his life he'd been bullied and maligned for his beliefs, beliefs that had taken root when his grandmother had introduced him to the ancient art of astrology. She had told him stories of cosmic signs and divine intervention, instilling in him a faith that was as unshakeable as it was misunderstood. He'd been ridiculed, ostracized, and even feared for his beliefs. But he hadn't cared. He knew the truth.

And now, he was taking revenge on those who dared to mock his sacred beliefs. Cleansing the world, one ignorant soul at a time.

Just as the man was losing himself in his thoughts, the bell rang, startling him from his reverie. He looked up to see Laura Simmons leaving the classroom, her friends trailing behind her like a flock of cackling geese. She was laughing, her face aglow with youth and ignorance .

His heart pounded in his chest as he fell into step behind them, blending easily with the crowd of students making their way toward the cafeteria.

He followed Laura, keeping his distance but never taking his eyes off her. She was flanked on either side by her friends, their heads bowed together as they laughed and whispered amongst themselves.

The man's eyes narrowed on the young woman. He'd heard her ridiculing the ideas he held so dear, laughing about the power of the stars. She was exactly like all the others. Unworthy. Ignorant. Ripe for the reckoning she so deserved.

"Hey, Laura!" a voice called down the crowded hallway, causing her to turn back. A tall, athletic boy with sandy hair was jogging toward her, a football tucked under his arm.

The man's eyes narrowed further as he watched the scene unfold. Laura waved back at the boy, a wide smile splitting her rosy face.

He knew that boy. That was Chad Rutherford, the senior quarterback and one of the most popular boys in school. He had his arm around Laura's waist now, laughing at something she said.

Anger surged within the man like a tempest. Here were two people who got everything they wanted—popularity, acceptance, admiration—laughing at those less fortunate, blissfully ignorant of their looming fate.

He would make them pay, all of them. And it was Laura's turn next.