~~ Chapter Nine ~~
677 Words
The port was louder than Janessa expected.
Cranes groaned as they lifted containers from ships, trucks rumbled past, and workers shouted instructions across the loading yard. The class followed the professor through a narrow lane between towering stacks of cargo containers.
“Stay together,” he reminded them. “And don’t wander too far.”
Janessa walked beside Riley, scribbling notes in her notebook.
“This place is huge,” Riley whispered. “You could hide an entire city here.”
A few rows behind them, Enzo’s attention was nowhere near the lecture.
He was scanning the area.
Watching.
His phone vibrated.
He slipped it out just enough to read the message.
UNKNOWN NUMBER:
You picked an interesting day to visit the port.
Enzo’s stomach tightened.
---
The professor divided the class into small groups.
“Ten minutes,” he said. “Observe the loading patterns around you.”
Janessa and Riley moved toward a stack of blue containers.
“Look at the tracking codes,” Riley said, pointing. “Each one shows where the shipment came from.”
Janessa leaned closer to read the numbers painted on the metal door.
Then.........
BOOM.
The ground shook.
A loud explosion thundered from somewhere deeper in the container yard.
Students screamed.
“What was that?!” Riley shouted.
A second blast echoed seconds later, followed by the sound of metal collapsing.
Workers started yelling. Forklifts stopped. Alarms began blaring across the port.
“Everyone back to the buses!” the professor shouted.
Students panicked, rushing toward the main road.
Janessa grabbed Riley’s arm and ran with the crowd.
Smoke rose between the container rows behind them.
People were shouting directions. Port security vehicles sped past with flashing lights.
“What is happening?” Riley gasped.
“I don’t know!” Janessa replied, heart racing.
---
Several rows away, Enzo stood frozen.
He had seen the men earlier.
He knew exactly what this was.
A deal gone wrong.
Something had been triggered too early.
His phone buzzed again.
UNKNOWN NUMBER:
That wasn’t supposed to happen while you were there.
Enzo’s jaw tightened.
Across the yard, he saw Janessa running toward the buses with the other students.
Relief hit him when he saw she was safe.
---
Twenty minutes later, the students sat inside the buses while police and port security surrounded the area.
Everyone was shaken.
The professor spoke to the class once the buses started moving.
“Due to the incident at the port,” he said seriously, “the university has decided to suspend classes for the next two days while authorities investigate.”
Students murmured nervously.
“Wait… are we in danger?” someone asked.
“No,” the professor replied quickly. “But the situation needs to be handled carefully.”
Janessa leaned back in her seat, still trying to calm her racing heart.
“That was terrifying,” Riley said.
Janessa nodded slowly.
Across the aisle, Enzo stared out the window.
Smoke still rose above the port cranes in the distance.
His phone buzzed one more time.
UNKNOWN NUMBER:
Looks like your quiet life just got complicated.
Enzo didn’t reply.
But he knew one thing for certain.
This wasn’t an accident.
And somehow, his past had followed him straight into Janessa’s world.
- Writer
