Chess

The Missing Piece

The bell rang.

Nobody moved.

For several seconds, the cafeteria remained frozen beneath the emergency lights, as though the entire school had forgotten what came after fear.

Then everyone started talking at once. “What was that?”

“Was that a recording?”

“Where's Elena?”

“Someone call the police!”

“Turn the lights back on!”

Teachers tried to regain control, but their voices disappeared beneath the rising panic.

Rui barely heard any of them. His attention remained fixed on the black pawn sitting on the floor. The chess piece looked ordinary.

Small. Smooth. Almost harmless.

Yet somehow it had transformed the entire cafeteria. Rui looked at the folded note in his hand.

FIND THE FIRST MOVE.

He read it again.

Then again.

“Rui.” Jaiko's voice brought him back. She stood beside him, her arms folded tightly around herself.

“Maybe you shouldn't touch that.” Rui looked at her.

“Why?”

“I don't know.” She glanced nervously toward the teachers. “Because whoever left it wanted someone to find it.”

“That doesn't mean I shouldn't.”

“It kind of does.” Rui raised an eyebrow.

Jaiko gave him a small, uneasy smile. “I'm trying to keep you alive.”

“You've known me for four hours.”

“Exactly.”

Despite everything, Rui almost laughed. Then the lights returned.

The cafeteria suddenly became painfully bright.

Everyone flinched.

The speaker above them remained silent. A teacher hurried toward the pawn.

“Don't touch it.”

Rui stood. “You're not going to investigate?”

“We're calling the police.”

“Good.”

The teacher looked at him. “You're Rui Hayes?”

“Yes.”

“You need to return to your classroom.”

“Why?”

“Because this is now an official investigation.”

Rui glanced toward the cafeteria doors. “And Elena?”

The teacher's expression changed. “We don't know where she is.”

That answer stayed with Rui. They didn't know. Nobody knew.

A student had disappeared, and instead of an explanation, the school had received a chess piece and a threat.

As students were escorted back to their classrooms, Rui noticed something strange.

Nobody was laughing anymore. Nobody was talking about homework. Nobody cared about the afternoon classes.

The entire school had changed in less than five minutes.

Jaiko walked beside Rui. She was unusually quiet. “You okay?” he asked.

She nodded.

“I'm fine.”

“You're lying.”

She looked at him. “How do you know?”

“You've been biting your lip since the announcement.” Jaiko immediately stopped.

She hadn't realized she was doing it.

“Oh.”

Rui gave her a faint smile.

“You're scared.”

“A little.”

“You can say it.”

Jaiko looked down. “I don't like things I can't explain.”

“Neither do I.”

“Then we're both in trouble.” They continued walking.

At the end of the hallway, a crowd had gathered around the windows.

Rui approached. “What happened?” A boy pointed outside.

“Police.”

Several patrol cars had stopped in front of the school.

Two officers entered through the main gates. Rui watched them walk toward the administration building. Then he noticed something else.

The principal wasn't meeting them.

He was standing farther away. Watching the north wing. Rui followed his gaze.

The old building stood at the edge of campus. Its windows were dark. One curtain moved behind the glass.

Rui narrowed his eyes. “Did you see that?” Jaiko looked.

“See what?”

“The window.”

She stared for a moment. “I don't see anything.” The curtain moved again. Rui took a step forward.

A hand suddenly caught his sleeve.

Jaiko.

“Don't.”

He looked at her.

“Why?”

She seemed surprised by her own reaction.

“I just…” she hesitated. “I don't think you should go there.”

“It's just a building.”

“Rui.”

Something about her voice made him stop. She looked genuinely frightened.

Not nervous. Not pretending.

Frightened.

“Okay.” Jaiko released his sleeve.

“Thank you.”

Neither of them noticed the student watching them from the end of the hallway. A girl with short blond hair.

She stood beside a classroom door, holding a textbook against her chest.

Her eyes remained fixed on Jaiko. Then she looked toward the north wing and quietly walked away.

Classes were suspended for the rest of the afternoon.

Students were instructed to remain in their assigned rooms until their parents arrived.

Rui sat near the window.

His teacher had spent twenty minutes telling everyone not to speculate.

Naturally, everyone speculated.

“Do you think Elena was kidn*pped?”

“I heard she ran away.”

“I heard she was found in the basement.”

“There isn't a basement.”

“There is.”

“No, there isn't.”

Rui ignored them. He opened his notebook. At the top of the first page, he wrote:

ELENA MARSH.

Underneath: Missing.

Then: North Wing.

Then: Black Pawn.

Finally: First Move.

He stared at the words. There had to be a connection.

Chess wasn't random.

The announcement had specifically said piece.

The pawn had been placed. The note had specifically mentioned a first move.

Rui knew enough about chess to understand what that could mean. A pawn was usually the first piece to move.

But which pawn? And why Elena?

He searched his phone.

Elena Marsh.

Eleven-B.

Sixteen years old.

No social media posts for two days.

Last seen yesterday evening.

Rui frowned. Yesterday?

Then she hadn't disappeared that morning.

She had disappeared before anyone knew.

He opened another page.

Why did school wait until today? He underlined it.

“Are you investigating?” Rui looked up.

Jaiko stood beside his desk. She held two drinks. She placed one in front of him.

“I bought this before the cafeteria closed.” Rui looked at the bottle.

“Thanks.”

She sat beside him. “What are you writing?”

“Nothing.”

“That looks like something.”

“I'm trying to figure out what happened.” Jaiko sighed.

“You really don't know when to leave things alone, do you?”

“No.”

She smiled. “I noticed.”

Rui looked at her. “Do you know Elena?”

Jaiko shook her head. “Not personally.”

“Did you see her yesterday?”

“No.”

“Are you sure?”

Jaiko looked offended. “Are you interrogating me?”

“Maybe.” She crossed her arms.

“Fine. Detective Hayes.”

“Don't call me that.”

“Why?”

“It sounds ridiculous.”

“You're literally investigating a mysterious disappearance involving a chess piece.” Rui couldn't argue with that.

Jaiko leaned closer. “What do you think happened?”

“I don't know yet.”

“But you have a theory.”

Rui hesitated.

“I think someone planned it.”

“You think the disappearance was part of the game?”

Rui looked at her.

“Why did you call it a game?”

Jaiko blinked.

“I…”

She looked toward the window.

“You said someone planned it.”

Rui studied her.

“I didn't say the game.” Her eyes met his. For one second, neither spoke.

Then Jaiko laughed nervously.

“Right.”

She looked down at the desk. “Sorry. I guess I'm still thinking about what the speaker said.”

Rui accepted the explanation.

At least for now.

The classroom door suddenly opened.

Ethan Parker entered. He looked exhausted.

“Rui.”

“What?”

“The police want to talk to you.”

“Why?”

“They found something.”

Rui stood. “What?”

Ethan lowered his voice. “Another chess piece.”

Rui's stomach tightened.

“Where?”

“The north wing.”

Rui looked toward the window. The old building stood in the distance.

Dark.

Silent.

Waiting.

Jaiko stood too. “I'm coming.”

Ethan shook his head. “They only asked for Rui.”

“I know.”

“Then stay here.”

Jaiko looked at Rui. He could see the worry in her eyes. “Be careful.”

“I will.”

Rui walked toward the door. Before leaving, he looked back at her.

She smiled.

A small smile. “Come back soon.”

Rui nodded.

Then he followed Ethan into the hallway. The north wing smelled of dust. The police had blocked the entrance with yellow tape, but Ethan led Rui through a side corridor.

“Are we allowed here?”

“No.”

“Then why are we here?”

“Because you were going to come anyway.” Rui looked at him.

Ethan sighed.

“You have a very obvious face.”

“What does that mean?”

“It means you look like someone who ignores warnings.”

They reached the end of the corridor. An officer stood beside an open classroom.

On the floor was another chess piece. A white knight.

Rui crouched.

Unlike the pawn from the cafeteria, this one had something engraved underneath.

He turned it over.

Two letters.

R.H.

His initials.

Rui's expression changed.

“That's impossible.”

Ethan looked over his shoulder.

“What?”

Rui didn't answer.

The officer stepped forward. “We found it inside the missing student's locker.”

Rui stood.

“Why are my initials on it?”

“We don't know.”

“Who found it?”

“One of the teachers.”

Rui looked inside the classroom. Rows of abandoned desks. Dust-covered windows. A broken clock. Then he noticed something on the blackboard.

A single sentence had been written in white chalk.

THE KING HAS ARRIVED.

Rui stared at it.

Ethan whispered: “Rui…”

Then footsteps echoed from the hallway. Both boys turned. Someone was walking toward them. Slowly.

A familiar figure appeared around the corner.

Jaiko.

Rui's eyes widened. “What are you doing here?”

She stopped.

“I wanted to check on you.”

“You weren't supposed to leave the classroom.”

“I know.”

She smiled apologetically.

“I got worried.”

Rui stared at her.

For some reason, the sight of her made the tension in his chest ease.

She walked toward him. Then her eyes fell on the chess piece in his hand.

“What's that?”

Rui turned the piece over.

“My initials.”

Jaiko stared at it.

“R.H.”

“Yes.”

She reached for his hand. “Then maybe you should give it to the police.”

Rui looked at her.

“Maybe.”

Jaiko squeezed his fingers. “Please.” Her voice was soft. Almost pleading.

He handed the knight to the officer.

Jaiko remained beside him. Her shoulder touched his. Neither of them noticed the small black camera mounted above the classroom door.

Its red light blinked once.

Then twice.

Recording.

And somewhere else inside Blackwood Academy, behind a locked door nobody had entered in years, a chessboard sat beneath a layer of dust.

Two pieces had already been moved.

A black pawn.

A white knight.

And beside the board was a handwritten list of names.

At the top of that list was:

RUI HAYES.

Underneath it, written in smaller letters:

KING: ACTIVE.

Then another name.

JAIKO.

Beside it were two words.

ANOTHER PIECE.