CHAPTER SEVEN: Unveiled Secrets
644 Words
Days passed.
Slowly, carefully, like everyone was pretending nothing had happened.
St. Alderidge began to feel almost normal again. Classes resumed, laughter returned in small, cautious bursts, and the hallway where the girl had died was scrubbed clean—too clean, like the memory itself was being erased.
Emilia and Tessa kept their promise.
No mirrors.
No reflections.
They avoided windows, turned their eyes from polished floors, and walked different paths just to escape anything that could reflect their faces. And strangely… it worked.
Nothing followed them.
No whispers.
No delayed movements.
No shadows acting out of place.
But Emilia couldn’t relax.
Because silence like this didn’t feel safe.
It felt like something gathering strength.
And her thoughts kept returning to one person,
Naomi.
Had she found anything?
Was there an explanation?
Or something worse?
By the next day, Emilia couldn’t wait any longer.
“We need to find her,” she said to Tessa.
Tessa nodded immediately. “I was thinking the same thing.”
They found Naomi that afternoon, standing near the back of the old school wing a place students rarely visited. The corridor was dim, the air heavier, like it held secrets no one spoke about.
Naomi turned as they approached.
Her face alone told them everything.
“You found something,” Emilia said.
Naomi nodded slowly. “More than I expected.”
Tessa crossed her arms. “Okay… please don’t tell me this is about ghosts.”
Naomi didn’t smile.
“This place wasn’t always a school,” she said quietly.
Emilia felt her chest tighten.
“What was it?” she asked.
Naomi hesitated, then said—
“An orphanage.”
Silence.
“But not a normal one,” she continued. “The records I found were hidden… incomplete. But enough to understand what happened here.”
Her voice dropped.
“The children weren’t cared for.”
Tessa’s expression changed.
“They were abused,” Naomi said. “Some were beaten to death. Some… were used in ways no child should ever be. Some were forced into things… until they died.”
Emilia felt her stomach twist.
“And others,” Naomi added quietly, “were kept only to have children. Over and over. Until they couldn’t survive it.”
“No…” Tessa whispered.
Naomi nodded. “Most of them died within these walls.”
The corridor felt colder.
“Heavier.”
“And no one ever spoke about it?” Emilia asked.
“It was covered up,” Naomi replied. “Buried. Forgotten.”
A pause.
Then she said the words that made everything worse
“But not by them.”
Emilia’s breath caught.
“You mean…” she whispered.
Naomi’s eyes darkened. “The spirits of those children never left.”
The silence that followed felt alive.
“They’re still here,” Naomi said,
“Then they want revenge,” Tessa finished, her voice barely steady.
Naomi didn’t deny it.
Before Emilia could speak
A scream tore through the air.
Sharp.
Distant.
But real.
All three of them froze.
“What was that?” Tessa whispered,
A loud thud echoed from outside.
They rushed toward the window instinctively,
Then stopped.
Mirrors.
Reflections.
Their rule.
But the noise…
It was too much.
Carefully, Emilia glanced toward the courtyard below.
And her world shattered again.
A body lay on the ground.
Twisted.
Still.
Students were already gathering, panic rising.
“Who is that?” Tessa asked, her voice shaking.
Naomi’s face went pale.
“That’s…” she swallowed. “Mrs. Smith.”
The teacher.
Police were at the crime scene carrying out investigation and questioning both students and Tracy.
Emilia’s heart pounded violently.
“She jumped,” Naomi said faintly. “From the rooftop…”
Silence fell again.
Heavy.
Unforgiving.
And as Emilia stared,
A single thought settled deep inside her mind.
This was just the beginning.
- Writer
