I made my way slowly to his room. I had to compose myself before facing him again. I honestly didn't know what I was going to say to him. I was not sure what I was feeling right now. I knocked on the door before turning the handle and entering. He changed into a t-shirt and shorts and was staring out of the bedroom window on to the snowy road outside.

"What do you think?" He asked without even turning to face me.

"I don't know what to think anymore, to be honest. I don't know what to believe and what not to." I said, exhausted by all the guessing games I've been playing since Mitchell's death.

"You know deep down I didn't do it, Naina. That's why we are not having this conversation in a police station." Noah said, turning to me at last, "You didn't even bring your weapon."

I knew he was right. I did believe somewhere he didn't do it. But I had still one question to ask.

"Why did you come here, Noah? If you didn't have anything to do with this, you could have just gone away from all this mess. Why did you choose to come, live here?" I asked genuinely confused.

He raked his fingers through his hair in thought.

"I know I may sound like a horrible person to you but I don't think Kevin had murdered Mitchell. I've seen and heard how much he loved her. He couldn't do it. I could not let him get punished for something he didn't do. I thought if I came here, I could find some proof of who did that. To help Kevin." He finished.

That was what I thought too. With every passing minute, I was getting sure Noah was innocent. In fact, he was doing the same thing I was doing.

"I thought about you too. How horrible Mitchell's roommate must be feeling and how she could be in grave danger? But I had no idea you were the girl from the blind date." He said, trying to lighten the mood.

Now, that I was not seeing him as a murderer, I slowly approached the bed and sat on the edge dropping the contents he gave me on it. He looked at me but didn't say anything.

"So, the book about the cults is also about this, right?" I asked. He nodded his head yes.

"Seeing that video clip made me think that this has to do some cult thing. So, I decided to study it."

Wow, he fed me with lies all these days and I believed all of them like a five-year-old.

"But not everything between us is a lie," He said with softness and seriousness I had never heard from him before, "Last night, what we had at the party was not a lie. The chemistry we had between us, that was not a lie,"

I thought the same until the photo. But I was not so sure anymore. He was a great liar and I didn't wanna be with one. I was thinking of what to answer him when my phone rang, saving me from answering him.

"I've to take it." I got up and walked out of the room. My phone was on the coffee table and I picked it to see who was calling me. It was Harry from college. He was my classmate. He was sort of a geek and we got together to study sometimes. I wondered why he was calling me now. We didn't have any study plans.

"Hello, Harry," I answered the phone.

"Hello Naina," He said. He sounded weird. It was his voice alright. But he sounded like he was high. Harry was not the type to get high on the early morning of Christmas Eve. So, I ruled out drunk calling.

"Naina, you remember how we are trying to get Dr.Richardson to give us a seminar?" He asked.

"Yeah. Of course." I said, suddenly becoming alert. Dr.Richardson was a renowned scientist in our field and Harry and I had sent many requests to him to give us a seminar at the university but in vain.

"He's here at the university, if you come fast we can catch him and talk him into the seminar," Harry said. So, that's why Harry had sounded weird. He was excited.

"Perfect. I'll be there in ten minutes. Stall him." I said running into my room to get dressed properly.

"Noah, I have to go to the university immediately. We can talk later." I hollered at him and without waiting for him to respond I bounded towards the elevator.

********

I drove like a madwoman to the university. Parking the car, I got out of it and called Harry to know his current location.

"He is in the seminar hall near the school, talking with the head," Harry said into the phone, his voice still weird, "Come fast if you hope to catch him."

"Fine," I said and hung up heading towards the seminar hall. The university was almost deserted owing to the beginning of the holidays. There was a twinge of dread in the air that is characteristic of winter. I idly wondered what Harry was doing on the campus on a holiday. But I didn't dwell on that. After another minute of walking I came to the seminar hall Harry told me about.

It was one of the largest and oldest buildings of the university. Rows upon rows of red, plush seats are there which can seat five hundred people easily. There is a small wooden stage with a screen for presentation. It was usually always locked. But today it was not. I pushed the door open causing the sunlight to stream into the dark hall. But why was it dark? There were people supposed to be here. Maybe I was late. I started to turn around to call Harry when a sound of whimpering started to echo through the wall.

I stopped short and stepped into the hall, squinting to see where the sound was coming from. At a distance, on the stage, I could see a figure writhing with its hands and legs bound.

"Harry?" I said shocked and stepped into the hall to release him. The whimpering grew and I noticed his mouth was shut by a plaster. I ran through the deserted hall, the sunlight as my only source of light. I bounded up the stage and approached him. It was Harry alright. But he looked horrible. He was pale and his eyes were bloodshot and half shut. His hands and legs were tied behind his back with a thick rope. His glasses were a few feet away on the ground. The scene was right out of a horror movie.

"Harry, what happened?" I said ripping the plaster on his mouth frantically trying to undo the knots which were definitely tied by a professional.

"Get out of here, Naina," Harry spoke, "He's after you."

I was shocked by his words but I didn't budge.

"I can't leave you here. I'm gonna call 911." I said and took out my mobile to call. At the same moment, the whole hall had plunged into darkness as the main door was shut with a creaking noise.