Something Wicked ✅ (Excerpt)

Chapter 8

Daisy glanced around the hallway, seeing other students walking to their dorms, laughing, chatting and all that. No one seemed to notice her as she made her way to Ashley's room. She cleared her throat and then knocked, worried that she should have called or texted before just dropping by. But she was desperate to get some answers and had been running around non-stop all day, not even getting the chance to shoot off a quick text.

The door opened and Ashley looked surprised to see her there, though her appearance was a bit better than earlier in the week. She was dressed in jeans and a t-shirt, her hair still in a messy bun, though she appeared to have put on some makeup. Or at least had stopped crying so much.

"Daisy, what are you doing here?" Ashley asked, a confused look on her face.

"I'm so sorry to stop by without warning, but I was wondering if I could ask you a few more questions. Off the record," Daisy said quickly, praying that Ashley said yes.

The other woman gave her a strange look, but then stepped back, motioning for her to come in.

"I'm not sure what else I can tell you," Ashley said as she sat down on the couch and Daisy returned to the chair she had sat in last time.

"Well, I know that this could be a bit sensitive, but, guess I'll just get into it... was Tara involved with someone? Maybe at Alpha Psi?" Daisy asked.

Ashley narrowed her eyes, then glanced towards the shut door that led to Tara's room.

"There's been reports that she was arguing with someone over there the night of her death," Daisy continued. "Another person said that she was arguing with Eric Campbell, the fraternity president. Do you know anything about that?"

Ashley began to chew on her bottom lip, reaching for a throw pillow that she wrapped her arms around.

"I already told you that I didn't know she was going to that party that night," Ashley said.

She then looked at the floor and Daisy immediately saw the hesitation. She knew more than she was saying. The question was, how much more?

"Ashley, was Tara having issues with someone? A guy? Why would she be upset at the party?" Daisy asked. Ashley looked up, meeting her eyes. "I'm just trying to understand why someone might want to hurt her."

Ashley sighed and looked back down at the ground.

"Something was going on, but she didn't talk about it. It started at the beginning of this semester, though she's been... different... since first semester last year. Every so often I would catch her on the phone... and she didn't sound happy," Ashley said. "I don't know who it was or what it was about, but last time she said something like... 'We both know what happened that night.'"

Daisy's stomach dropped slightly. That didn't sound good. Especially if she was speaking to Eric or any of the other guys in Alpha Psi. Dear God, Daisy hoped it wasn't what it sounded like. Tyler seemed worried she was hooking up with someone at the frat, but from the sound of this... it was something different.

"Why didn't she want to talk about it?" Daisy asked. Ashley shrugged.

"I don't know. Whatever it was, she didn't want to talk about it with me, though I tried to push her on it. She just... said it wasn't anything to worry about and she was taking care of it," Ashley said. "I told the police all this..."

"And you're absolutely sure you have no clue who she was talking to on the phone?" Daisy pushed. Ashley shook her head again, her eyes starting to fill with tears.

"I'm supposed to be her best friend and she didn't feel comfortable telling me about this," she whispered as tears started to fall down her cheeks. "I should have pushed harder. Then maybe... maybe she wouldn't..."