The Hunted School

CHAPTER 1: The List* My name is Henrietta Solomon, and I should not have returned to Rose Secondary School. The gate man at Rose Secondary School, Sapele Road, Benin City did not greet me when I entered. He just stared at my Ghana-must-go bag. "Hmm. You came back," he said, and locked the gate behind me with two padlocks. It was 4pm. No boarding school locks gate at 4pm. I dragged my bag to the girls' hostel. Rose is boarding and day school. I am boarding. My roommate Blessing ran to me. She looked thinner. "You didn't tell me you were coming today." "My mother said I must resume today or I will repeat SS2," I said. "Where is everyone? The compound is too quiet." Blessing pulled me behind the water tank. "Three girls have run away. Faith from SS3, Miracle from SS2, and Precious from SS1." "Ran away from boarding house? Why?" "They said they ran away. But Henrietta, Faith left her WAEC lesson notes and her phone. Who runs away and leaves her phone?" A bell rang. Not the normal school bell. This one came from the old block — the abandoned block behind the chapel that they told us not to enter since 2019. But I was seeing light. A yellow light in the old block's window. "Blessing, is there class in old block?" Blessing started shaking. "No. No one enters there. Since last term, every Friday by 12 midnight, that light comes on. And every Friday, one girl disappears." That night, I could not sleep. My bed was close to the window that faces the old block. At 12:03 am, the light came on. And then I heard it. A girl's voice crying. "Henrietta... Henrietta..." I ran to the window. In the light from the old block, I saw someone standing. A girl in Rose uniform. Her back was turned. "Faith?" I shouted. The girl turned. Her face was covered with blood. She was holding a paper. She dropped it and ran. I wore my slippers and ran outside. The paper was wet. It was a list. I read it with my phone torch. 17 NAMES. 1. Faith O. - SS3 - GONE 2. Miracle E. - SS2 - GONE 3. Precious O. - SS1 - GONE ... 14. Blessing O. - SS2 - HUNTED ... 17. HENRIETTA SOLOMON - SS2 - NEXT From behind me, a cold hand touched my shoulder. *CHAPTER 2: The Hand On My Shoulder* The hand on my shoulder was cold. "Are you mad? What are you doing here?" I turned. It was Mr. Efe, the Biology teacher. He was wearing a raincoat, even though it was not raining. "Mr. Efe... I... I saw light..." He snatched the paper from my hand and read it. His face changed. "Where did you get this?" "Someone dropped it. From the old block." He tore the paper into pieces and put it in his pocket. "Listen to me, Henrietta Solomon. You did not see any light. You did not see any list. And you were never here tonight. Go back to your hostel now!" I ran back to the hostel. Blessing was at the door, crying. "Blessing, your name is on the list. Number 14. Mine is number 17." At that moment, the hostel mistress, Mrs. Igiehon, entered with a cane. "Henrietta Solomon! Outside after lights out?" "Ma, I can explain..." "No explanation! You and Blessing, you will cut the grasses around the old block tomorrow morning as punishment. 6am!" Blessing whispered, "Henrietta, no one who cuts grass around old block comes back complete." I sat on my bed. My phone showed 12:47 am. In 5 hours, I would be at the old block with a cutlass. And something in that block already knew my name. *CHAPTER 3: The Grass Cutting* By 6am, Benin morning was still dark. The rain had fallen all night on Sapele Road. Blessing and I stood in front of the old block with two rusty cutlasses. The block had not been painted since 2019. The walls were black with mold. Bushes had grown up to the windows. Mrs. Igiehon stood far away, near the chapel. "Cut everything! I want to see the ground! If you don't finish before 8am, no breakfast for you!" She left us. "This place smells," Blessing whispered. "Like dead rat." I started cutting. The grass was taller than us. After 10 minutes, my cutlass hit something hard. Not stone. It was a school sandal. Small. Size for SS1. It had blood on it. "Blessing, look." Blessing screamed. Under the grass, there were more. Three school bags. One was written "Faith O. SS3" with marker. Faith did not run away. She was here. "Henrietta, let's run!" Blessing cried. Before we could run, the window in the old block opened by itself. Bang! Inside, in the yellow light, even though it was morning, we saw desks. And on each desk, a name was carved. Faith. Miracle. Precious. And a new desk. Fresh carving. Henrietta Solomon. Someone was inside the block, carving. *CHAPTER 4: The Principal's Office* We ran straight to the principal's office, still holding the bloody sandal. Principal Mrs. Obaseki was drinking tea. She is a big woman who does not smile. "What is this noise? You two were supposed to be cutting grass!" "Ma, we found this!" I dropped the sandal on her table. "Faith's sandal! With blood!" Her tea cup shook. She stared at the sandal for a long time. "Where did you find it?" "Around the old block, Ma." She quickly wrapped the sandal with newspaper and threw it inside her drawer. "There is no sandal. Do you hear me? There is no blood. Faith ran away to follow a boy. Do you want to be expelled like Faith?" "But Ma, we saw desks inside old block with our names!" Mrs. Obaseki stood up and locked her office door. "Henrietta Solomon. Blessing. I am warning you as a mother. Rose Secondary School has been here for 35 years. Every 10 years, this school must give 17 girls. So that the school will continue to be number one in Edo State. So that we will continue to have light, water, and good WAEC results. It is a sacrifice. Your names have been chosen. Don't struggle." My legs lost power. "Ma, what do you mean... sacrifice?" "Go back to class. And forget what you saw. Or you will make it painful for yourselves." She opened the door. Blessing fainted. *CHAPTER 5: The Midnight Bell* Blessing was taken to the sick bay. I was alone in class. SS2B. At 12 noon, the bell rang for lunch. But it was not the normal bell. The sound came again from the old block. Students looked confused. Mr. Efe, the Biology teacher, looked at me from the window. He shook his head slightly, as if telling me "don't talk." During lunch, I went to the sick bay to see Blessing. The nurse said, "She is sleeping. She had shock." I entered anyway. Blessing was not sleeping. She was writing something fast on a paper, hiding it under her pillow. "Henrietta, if I die tonight, give this to my mother. Number 32, Upper Sakponba." "Blessing, you will not die!" "Listen!" She grabbed me. "I remember now. Last term, Faith told me she was called to the principal's office at midnight. Mrs. Obaseki and Mr. Efe and the gate man were there. They told her she was special. She never returned to hostel that night." "Mr. Efe is part of it?" "Yes! And tonight is Friday." Friday. The day a girl disappears. At 11:55pm, I woke up. The hostel was silent. Blessing's bed was empty. Her slippers were gone. The window facing the old block was open. And the yellow light was on. The bell started ringing. *CHAPTER 6: Blessing Is Gone* "BLESSING!" I shouted and ran outside in my nightgown. The old block door was open. Just a little. And I could hear Blessing crying inside. I entered. Inside was not an abandoned classroom. It was clean. There were 17 chairs in a circle. 14 chairs were occupied by girls. Their heads were down. I could see Faith. Miracle. Precious. Blessing was in the middle, tied to a chair. Mrs. Obaseki, Mr. Efe, and the gate man stood around her, wearing black wrappers. "You are number 14, Blessing," Mrs. Obaseki said. "You saw too much." I shouted, "Leave her!" Everyone turned and saw me. Mrs. Obaseki smiled. "Ah. Number 17 came early. Henrietta Solomon. We were going to call you next week. But since you are here, we can take two tonight." The gate man locked the door behind me. Mr. Efe walked towards me with a rope. I had only one chance. I grabbed the bell on the teacher's table and smashed the yellow light. Total darkness. Blessing screamed, "HENRIETTA, RUN!" I ran. I didn't know where. I hit a wall. I fell on something — a loose floorboard. Under it was a book. A diary. Written "PROPRIETRESS 1989". I took it and ran into the dark. Outside, I could hear Mrs. Obaseki shouting, "Catch her! !!