Chapter 7: The Envelope
702 Words
For a few seconds, nobody spoke.
Ethan stared at the piece of paper in his hands, reading the message over and over again.
> You should have left after the first call.
The words seemed to press down on the room.
Noah was the first to break the silence.
"Okay... that's not funny anymore."
His voice had lost its usual playful tone.
Grace folded her arms tightly across her chest.
"Whoever left that knew exactly where to find you."
Ethan nodded slowly.
"And they knew my name."
Noah looked toward the open doorway.
"I didn't hear anyone walking away."
"I didn't either," Grace said.
The corridor outside was silent.
A few minutes earlier, someone had knocked on the door.
Now it was as if no one had ever been there.
---
Ethan turned the paper over, hoping to find something else.
Nothing.
Just a rough pencil sketch of the old hostel.
His eyes settled on one window.
Room 13.
A dark figure stood behind the glass.
It wasn't detailed enough to make out a face.
Just a person...
Watching.
"You think this is supposed to scare us?" Noah asked.
"It already has," Ethan admitted.
Grace took another look at the drawing.
Then something caught her attention.
"Wait..."
She pointed to the bottom corner of the page.
"There's something written here."
The writing was so faint Ethan hadn't noticed it.
He held the paper closer to the desk lamp.
Only four words.
Check the old records.
They looked at each other.
"The university archives," Grace whispered.
"My brother used to spend a lot of time there."
---
The next afternoon, the three of them walked across campus together.
None of them talked much.
Every now and then, Ethan found himself glancing over his shoulder.
He hated that he was doing it.
But after the phone calls...
The messages...
And now the envelope...
He couldn't shake the feeling that someone was keeping an eye on them.
"You've looked behind you six times," Noah said quietly.
"Have I?"
"Seven now."
Ethan gave a small, embarrassed smile.
"I'm trying not to think about it."
"Then stop counting shadows."
"I wish it were that easy."
Grace, who had been walking a few steps ahead, suddenly stopped.
"The archives are downstairs."
She pointed toward the oldest building on campus.
Unlike the newer lecture halls, it looked untouched by time.
Tall wooden doors.
Dusty windows.
Stone walls stained by years of rain.
"It doesn't look like anyone's been here in ages," Noah muttered.
"That's because most students don't even know it exists," Grace replied.
She pushed the heavy door open.
The smell of old books and paper filled the air.
An elderly librarian looked up from behind a desk.
His glasses rested low on his nose.
"Can I help you?"
Grace smiled politely.
"We're looking for newspaper records from about ten years ago."
The old man studied them for a moment.
"What for?"
Ethan answered before anyone else could.
"We're researching the history of the university."
The librarian didn't look convinced.
But after a long pause, he slowly nodded.
"Follow me."
---
He led them through rows of tall shelves until they reached a small reading room.
Stacks of old newspapers sat neatly inside wooden cabinets.
"You'll find what you need here," the librarian said.
"But the archives close in one hour."
As he walked away, Noah let out a quiet breath.
"I thought he was going to throw us out."
Grace smiled.
"He almost did."
They began searching through old newspapers, carefully turning the fragile pages.
Most of the articles were ordinary.
Sports competitions.
Graduation ceremonies.
Scholarships.
Then Ethan froze.
"I found something."
Grace and Noah hurried over.
The headline read:
SECOND STUDENT DISAPPEARS FROM WESTBRIDGE HOSTEL
Ethan frowned.
"Second?"
Grace's eyes widened.
"My brother wasn't the first."
He continued reading.
Another student had disappeared...
Two years earlier.
Same hostel.
Same floor.
The article ended with one chilling sentence:
> Both students were last seen near Room 13.
Before anyone could say another word...
The lights in the archive room suddenly went out.
The room fell into complete darkness.
Then...
Someone whispered from the other side of the shelves.
"...You should have stopped looking."
End of Chapter 7
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