The Rica Academy Chronicles: Book 1 – Flora Faye and the Secret of Rica Academy

✧The Silver Key✧

For a moment, nobody spoke.

The lantern light flickered against the stone walls, casting long shadows across the narrow corridor. Flora stood frozen, the silver key resting in her palm as the elderly woman waited for an answer.

"Miss Faye?" the woman repeated.

Flora swallowed.

"I found it on the floor."

The woman's eyes narrowed slightly.

"On the floor?"

"Yes," Flora replied. "Right here, near the door."

The woman looked unconvinced.

She stepped forward and examined the key without touching it.

Beside Flora, Rocky shifted nervously.

"Are we in trouble?" he asked.

The woman glanced at him.

"That depends."

Rocky immediately regretted asking.

The woman straightened and sighed.

"My name is Professor Elowen Graves. I teach Academy History."

Flora recognized the name. It had been mentioned during orientation earlier that day.

Unlike most teachers, Professor Graves looked as though she belonged in the academy's oldest photographs.

Her silver hair was neatly tied back, and her sharp eyes missed nothing.

"You three should be in bed," she said.

"Technically, we were trying to get back to bed," Rocky said.

Kira turned to him.

"No, we weren't."

Rocky paused.

"Fair point."

To Flora's surprise, Professor Graves almost smiled.

Almost.

Then her attention returned to the key.

"May I see it?"

Flora hesitated before placing it in the professor's hand.

The moment Professor Graves touched it, something strange happened.

The symbols engraved along the key's surface shimmered faintly.

Just for a second.

Then they vanished.

Flora's eyes widened.

"Did you see that?"

Professor Graves looked up sharply.

"See what?"

"The symbols glowed."

Rocky and Kira exchanged confused looks.

"We didn't see anything," Kira said.

Professor Graves remained silent.

Too silent.

Flora had the unsettling feeling that the professor wasn't being entirely honest.

The professor slipped the key into her coat pocket.

"Thank you. I'll take this."

Flora blinked.

"What?"

"I'll take the key."

"But I found it."

"And now I'm taking it."

"That's not how finding things works."

Professor Graves raised an eyebrow.

"Miss Faye, are you arguing with a teacher on your first day?"

Flora considered it.

"A little."

Kira buried her face in her hands.

Rocky looked impressed.

To Flora's disappointment, Professor Graves did not return the key.

Instead, she walked toward the ancient wooden door.

For several seconds she simply stared at it.

Her expression became unreadable.

Almost sad.

As though she were remembering something she wished she could forget.

Then she turned back to the students.

"Have any of you seen this door before tonight?"

All three shook their heads.

"No," Flora said. "But we found another strange door upstairs."

The professor's gaze sharpened immediately.

"What other door?"

"The one at the end of the hallway," Flora explained. "The students call it the Forgotten Door."

A strange look crossed Professor Graves's face.

Not surprising , Not confusion but Recognition.

"You should stay away from both doors," she said quietly.

Flora frowned.

"Why?"

"Because some mysteries exist for a reason."

The answer only made Flora more curious.

Beside her, Rocky groaned softly.

"Oh no."

"What?" Flora asked.

"That's exactly the kind of thing that makes you investigate harder."

"Maybe."

"Definitely."

Professor Graves seemed to agree with Rocky.

She studied Flora carefully before speaking.

"Curiosity is a dangerous thing, Miss Faye."

Flora folded her arms.

"It's also how people discover things."

For the first time, Professor Graves smiled.

A real smile this time.

"Yes," she said. "It is."

For a brief moment, the professor looked as though she wanted to say more.

As though she had changed her mind about something.

Then footsteps echoed from above.

The sound snapped her attention away.

Someone else was in the building.

Someone awake at this hour.

Someone moving quickly.

Professor Graves's expression darkened.

"Back to your dormitories. Now."

Before Flora could protest, the professor extinguished her lantern.

Darkness swallowed the corridor.

A second later, the professor was already moving up the stairs.

Following the sound.

Following whoever had been there.

The three friends stood in silence.

"What just happened?" Rocky whispered.

"I have no idea," Kira admitted.

Flora stared at the staircase.

Something felt wrong.

Very wrong.

Professor Graves had recognized the key.

She had recognized the door.

And she had definitely recognized the symbol.

Yet she hadn't explained any of it.

Which meant she knew more than she was willing to tell them, A lot more.

As they turned to leave, something caught Flora's eye.

There, near the bottom of the ancient door, was a tiny scratch in the wood.

At first glance it looked ordinary.

Then she noticed the shape.

Someone had carved a single letter into the door.

A letter so small it could easily be missed.

A.

Flora stared at it.

A.

Who had carved it?

And why?

Before she could think about it further, Rocky called from the staircase.

"Flora, are you coming?"

She looked back at the letter one last time.

Then followed her friends upstairs.

But the image remained in her mind.

The silver key.

The ancient door.

And the mysterious letter carved into the wood.

For some reason, she couldn't shake the feeling that all three were connected.

And that this mystery had begun long before she arrived at Rica Academy.