Chapter 3
1132 Words
The knocking stopped.
Silence settled over the hallway so suddenly that it made Wren question whether she’d imagined it.
She glanced at Lily.
Her roommate hadn’t moved. She was still clutching Wren’s wrist with surprising strength, her eyes fixed on the door as though expecting it to burst open.
“Who do you think it is?” Wren whispered.
Lily swallowed.
I don’t know.
You sounded like you did.
I said I don’t know.
The words came too quickly.
Too sharply.
Another metallic click echoed outside.
This time, it came from farther down the corridor.
One door.
Then another.
Like someone was trying every lock in the girls’ dormitory.
Click.
Click.
Click.
The sound crept closer.
Wren’s heartbeat matched the rhythm.
Click.
Click.
Click.
Then…
It stopped directly outside their room.
Neither girl breathed.
A shadow appeared beneath the narrow gap at the bottom of the door.
Someone was standing there.
Wren slowly reached toward the doorknob.
Lily grabbed her arm again.
No.
“What if someone needs help?”
“What if they don’t?”
Before Wren could answer, the shadow disappeared.
Footsteps drifted away.
Not hurried.
Slow.
Deliberate.
As though whoever had been outside wanted them to know they had left.
The hallway fell quiet again.
Five long minutes passed before Lily finally released her grip.
“Don’t open it,” she whispered.
“I’m just checking.”
“No.”
“What are you afraid of?”
Lily looked away.
“I’ll tell you another time.”
Wren waited.
But the explanation never came.
The next morning, Kingsley Preparatory Academy looked as flawless as ever.
Sunlight spilled across polished stone walkways.
Students crossed the courtyard in immaculate uniforms, laughing over cups of expensive coffee.
If Wren hadn’t been awake the night before, she would have believed nothing unusual had happened.
She and Lily walked toward the dining hall.
Lily was quieter than usual.
She barely touched her breakfast.
Halfway through eating, her phone vibrated.
She glanced at the screen.
The color drained from her face.
She rejected the call immediately.
A few seconds later…
It rang again.
Same number.
She declined it.
Again.
“Spam?” Wren asked.
Lily forced a smile.
“Probably.”
But you didn’t block it.
I forgot.
The phone rang a third time.
This time Lily switched it off completely.
Wren frowned.
Whoever was calling clearly wasn’t giving up.
Their first class was Advanced Literature.
Mr. Holloway, an elderly teacher with silver hair and a reputation for never smiling, began taking attendance.
One by one, names echoed through the classroom.
Adams.
“Here.”
Bennett.
“Present.”
Hart.
“Here.”
Ashby.
“Present.”
The lesson began.
Twenty minutes later, a boy sitting near the window raised his hand.
“Sir?”
Mr. Holloway looked up.
“Yes?”
My older sister said there used to be another dorm building near the east wing.
The classroom grew strangely still.
What about it?
“She said a student disappeared from there years ago.”
Silence.
The teacher placed his marker down.
I suggest your sister spends less time believing gossip.
“But…”
There has never been a disappearance at Kingsley.
His tone ended the conversation.
No one spoke again.
Yet Wren noticed something odd.
The teacher’s hand trembled ever so slightly as he turned back toward the board.
During lunch, curiosity got the better of her.
She searched the school’s digital archive using one of the library computers.
Kingsley had decades of yearbooks available online.
She typed:
Missing student.
No results.
She tried:
Transfer.
Hundreds.
One name caught her attention.
Emily Carter.
Transferred three years ago.
Something about the entry bothered her.
There was no destination school listed.
No farewell article.
No graduation record.
Nothing.
Just…
Transferred.
Wren clicked on Emily’s class photograph.
Every student’s face smiled back at her.
Except one.
The image was damaged.
A strange white blur covered the girl’s face.
Not pixelated.
Not corrupted.
Almost…
Scratched away.
Wren leaned closer to the screen.
What are you looking at?
She jumped.
Lily stood behind her.
When Lily saw the photograph…
Her expression changed instantly.
She slammed the laptop shut.
“So that’s why you’ve been acting strange,” Wren said quietly.
You know who she is.
Lily shook her head.
“No.”
“You just recognized her.”
“I didn’t.”
“Lily.”
“Drop it.”
Her voice cracked.
Not with anger.
With fear.
Before Wren could press further, Lily hurried from the library.
The afternoon dragged on.
Chemistry practical.
History.
Calculus.
Yet Wren couldn’t focus.
Everywhere she looked, little things felt…
wrong.
Two security guards whispered with a teacher before everyone immediately fell silent when students approached.
A girl accidentally mentioned Emily Carter’s name during Biology.
Three students stared at her until she apologized.
Apologized.
For saying someone’s name.
When classes finally ended, Wren found Lily sitting alone behind the old chapel.
She hugged her knees to her chest.
“You’ve been avoiding me.”
I’ve been thinking.
“About Emily?”
Lily looked around before answering.
“So you’ve heard the rumors.”
“I don’t believe they’re just rumors.”
For several seconds, Lily said nothing.
Then she slowly rolled up the sleeve of her cardigan.
Purple bruises wrapped around her wrist.
Not one.
Not two.
Several.
Finger-shaped.
Wren’s stomach tightened.
“Lily…”
“What happened?”
Lily immediately pulled her sleeve back down.
“I bumped into something.”
“Don’t lie to me.”
“I’m not.”
“You are.”
Another silence.
Then Lily whispered…
“Promise me something.”
“What?”
“If anything ever happens to me…”
Wren laughed nervously.
Nothing’s going to happen.
Lily didn’t smile.
“Promise.”
“…I promise.”
“And don’t trust….”
Her phone rang.
Again.
Same unknown number.
Lily stared at it.
This time…
She answered.
She didn’t say a word.
She only listened.
The longer she listened…
The paler she became.
Finally, she whispered,
“…I understand.”
The call ended.
“What did they want?” Wren asked.
Lily stood abruptly.
“I have to go.”
“Go where?”
“I’ll explain later.”
“Lily!”
But she was already walking away.
Not toward the dorms.
Not toward the main campus.
Toward the old science building.
The one students rarely used after sunset.
Wren hesitated only a second before following her.
Keeping several yards behind.
Lily reached the building.
Looked over her shoulder.
Then disappeared inside.
The front doors slowly swung shut behind her.
Wren hurried across the courtyard.
She reached the entrance just in time to catch it before it closed completely.
The hallway beyond was dark and empty.
Then a piercing scream erupted from inside the abandoned building…
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