The File
1568 Words
Chapter 1
The File
At a campus where perfect grades hid imperfect secrets, Nadia learned 2 rules: don’t talk to Adrian, and don’t ask why everyone was afraid of him.
She broke both by Friday.
Because at 2am, Adrian wasn’t supposed to be in the library. And Nadia wasn’t supposed to see him standing under the broken light, staring at the ceiling like he was counting the cracks.
On the table in front of him was a file. Her name was on the cover.
Nadia stopped breathing.
For three seconds, neither of them moved.
Rain tapped against the tall library windows, soft at first, then harder, like impatient fingers against glass. The air smelled of wet concrete and old books. Somewhere behind Nadia, the ancient wall clock clicked loudly enough to make the silence feel deliberate.
She should leave.
That was the sensible thing.
Instead, she took one step forward.
The floorboard creaked.
Adrian's head turned.
His eyes found hers immediately.
Nadia had seen him around campus before, of course. Everyone had. Adrian Vale was impossible to miss even when he seemed determined to disappear. He was always at the top of the academic rankings, always sitting alone, always leaving classrooms before anyone could speak to him.
People said he had once corrected a professor in front of an entire lecture hall.
People also said the professor never taught that class again.
Nadia had never known which stories were true.
She knew one thing for certain.
Adrian was looking at her now.
Not surprised.
Not confused.
As if he had been expecting her.
“You shouldn't be here,” he said.
His voice was quiet.
That somehow made it worse.
Nadia tightened her fingers around the strap of her bag. “Neither should you.”
A faint expression crossed his face.
Not quite a smile.
“Fair.”
Her eyes returned to the table.
The file was still there.
White cover. Black letters.
NADIA RAHMAN.
Her stomach dropped.
“How do you know my name?”
Adrian didn't answer.
Nadia took another step.
He immediately placed his hand over the file.
“Don't.”
There was something different in his voice now.
A warning.
Nadia stopped.
She had always been observant. It was one of the reasons she rarely spoke in class unless she knew the answer. She noticed things other people ignored—the nervous tapping of a lecturer's pen, the missing page in a textbook, the way someone's voice changed when they lied.
And right now, she noticed Adrian's hand.
His fingers were perfectly still.
But his thumb was pressing hard against the edge of the folder.
He was nervous.
Adrian Vale was nervous.
That frightened her more than his reputation ever had.
“What is that?” Nadia asked.
“Nothing.”
“Then why is my name on it?”
Silence.
The lights above them flickered.
Nadia glanced upward.
One of the bulbs buzzed and went dark.
The broken light.
The one everyone complained about but nobody ever repaired.
When she looked back, Adrian was watching her.
“You need to go home,” he said.
“It's two in the morning.”
“I know.”
“You're avoiding the question.”
“I know.”
Something hot and irritated twisted inside her chest.
“You're really annoying.”
This time, the corner of his mouth moved.
Barely.
“I've been told.”
Nadia almost laughed.
Almost.
Then she remembered the file.
She pointed at it.
“Open it.”
“No.”
“Why?”
“Because you don't want to know what's inside.”
The rain grew louder.
Nadia stared at him.
“That's not your decision.”
Adrian's expression changed.
For the first time, she saw something beneath the coldness.
Fear.
Real fear.
Not for himself.
For her.
Before she could ask, footsteps sounded in the corridor.
Both of them froze.
Someone was coming.
Adrian moved instantly.
He grabbed the file, slipped it beneath his jacket, and crossed the distance between them.
Nadia stepped back.
“What's happening?”
“Quiet.”
The footsteps stopped outside the library.
A shadow passed beneath the glass doors.
Nadia's heart began hammering.
Adrian reached toward the lights.
“Wait,” she whispered.
He looked at her.
“What?”
“Who is that?”
His eyes remained on the door.
“I don't know.”
A knock came.
Three slow knocks.
Then silence.
Nadia swallowed.
Adrian moved toward the side door.
“Stay here.”
“Absolutely not.”
“Nadia.”
She stopped.
He knew her name.
She had never introduced herself.
She had never spoken to him.
Not once.
“How do you know my name?” she whispered.
Adrian looked back at her.
For a moment, his carefully controlled expression disappeared.
Then he said something that made the room feel colder.
“I've known your name for three months.”
Nadia stared at him.
“Three months?”
He didn't answer.
The door handle began to turn.
Adrian's eyes hardened.
“Hide.”
“What?”
“Now.”
Nadia looked toward the door.
Then back at him.
Every sensible thought in her head told her to run.
But curiosity had always been her worst weakness.
She ducked behind one of the tall shelves.
Adrian stepped away from her hiding place and stood beside the library entrance.
The door opened.
A man entered.
Nadia couldn't see his face clearly from behind the shelf, but she recognized the dark university coat.
He looked around the room.
Then his gaze settled on Adrian.
“You're late.”
Adrian said nothing.
The man glanced toward the table.
His eyes narrowed.
“Where is it?”
Nadia's hand covered her mouth.
Adrian's voice remained calm.
“I don't have it.”
“You were told to bring it.”
“I changed my mind.”
The man stepped closer.
“You don't get to change your mind.”
Adrian's jaw tightened.
Nadia had never seen anyone speak to him like that.
The man lowered his voice.
“You know what happens if the information gets out.”
Adrian looked toward the library windows.
“I know.”
“And you know who gets hurt.”
A long silence followed.
Then Adrian said quietly,
“That's why you're not getting it.”
Nadia's heart stopped.
The man suddenly turned toward the shelves.
She held her breath.
One second.
Two.
Three.
His footsteps moved closer.
Adrian stepped directly into his path.
“Leave.”
The man stared at him.
Then he smiled.
It wasn't a friendly smile.
“You're protecting her.”
Nadia's eyes widened.
Her?
The man walked away.
Before leaving, he looked at Adrian one last time.
“You should have stayed out of this.”
The door slammed.
Silence returned.
Nadia slowly came out from behind the shelf.
Adrian didn't look at her.
“Who was that?”
“No one you need to worry about.”
“You're lying.”
“Yes.”
The answer came so quickly that she almost forgot what she had asked.
Adrian finally faced her.
“You're very observant, Nadia.”
“How do you know so much about me?”
His eyes dropped briefly to her bag.
A small notebook stuck out of the side pocket. Nadia always carried it. She wrote down things she noticed—names, dates, strange details, questions she couldn't answer.
Adrian looked back at her.
“Because you've been asking questions.”
Nadia's stomach tightened.
“What questions?”
He walked to the table.
Then he pulled the file from beneath his jacket.
He placed it in front of her.
“Open it.”
Nadia stared at him.
A few minutes ago, he had told her not to.
Now he was telling her to do exactly that.
She slowly reached for the folder.
Her fingers touched the cover.
She opened it.
The first page contained her name.
The second contained her photograph.
The third contained information about her classes.
Her grades.
Her schedule.
Her usual library hours.
Her handwriting appeared in one corner of a copied page.
Nadia's pulse raced.
“This is impossible.”
Adrian said nothing.
She turned another page.
Then she saw something that made her blood run cold.
A photograph.
It had been taken outside the library.
Three months earlier.
Nadia stood in the picture, completely unaware that anyone was watching her.
But the date beneath it wasn't what frightened her.
It was the sentence handwritten below the photograph.
Subject noticed the watcher.
Nadia looked up.
“Who was watching me?”
Adrian's expression was unreadable.
“You.”
She frowned.
“What?”
“You noticed him.”
“Who?”
Adrian leaned closer to the file.
His finger stopped on a name printed at the bottom of the page.
Nadia read it once.
Then again.
Her confusion turned into fear.
Because the name belonged to someone she knew.
Someone she had trusted.
Someone who had been smiling at her only that morning.
Adrian closed the file.
“Nadia,” he said quietly, “there's something you need to understand.”
“What?”
“You weren't the person they were watching.”
He paused.
His eyes met hers.
“You were the person they were waiting for.”
Outside, thunder shook the windows.
And somewhere in the dark corridor, the library door slowly opened again.
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