CHAPTER 2: THE BOY EVERYONE FEARS
1445 Words
The dining hall remained silent for three long seconds.
Then chaos exploded.
Students stood from their seats all at once, voices crashing together in confusion and panic. Chairs scraped loudly against the marble floor while teachers hurried across the room trying to calm everyone down.
“Where did he go?”
“Did anyone see him leave?”
“The lights were only out for a second!”
Lyra’s heart pounded painfully inside her chest.
At the end of the table, the empty chair still rocked slightly.
Someone had been sitting there moments ago.
Now they were gone.
Sera gripped Lyra’s arm tightly.
“That’s Julian.”
“The guy from the text?”
Sera nodded slowly, her face pale.
“He’s the head boy.”
A teacher hurried toward the table.
“Everyone sit down immediately!”
Nobody listened.
Whispers spread through the hall like wildfire.
“He disappeared.”
“No way.”
“This is just like last year…”
Lyra frowned.
Last year again.
People kept mentioning something terrible that happened before she arrived.
At the far side of the dining hall, Caius Mercer remained seated calmly while everyone else panicked around him.
That bothered Lyra more than anything.
He looked completely unfazed.
Almost… used to this.
His gray eyes lifted toward her.
For a second, she felt trapped under his gaze.
Then he slowly stood and walked toward the exit.
Several students instantly moved out of his way.
Nobody stopped him.
Nobody questioned him.
Lyra noticed it immediately.
Fear.
Real fear.
The students were afraid of Caius Mercer.
Headmistress Aldridge stepped onto the small stage near the center of the hall.
“Enough.”
Her voice cut sharply through the noise.
The entire room slowly quieted.
“There is no reason for panic,” she continued smoothly. “Julian probably left during the blackout.”
A boy near the front laughed nervously.
“In complete darkness?”
The headmistress ignored him.
“Everyone will return to their dorms immediately.”
Sera leaned closer to Lyra and whispered,
“She’s lying.”
Lyra looked at her.
“You think something happened?”
“I know something happened.”
Before Lyra could ask more, the headmistress spoke again.
“And students are reminded not to spread rumors.”
Too late for that.
Rumors were already everywhere.
The moment dinner ended, students flooded the hallways whispering theories to one another.
Lyra and Sera walked upstairs together while groups of students passed them.
“He ran away.”
“No, someone took him.”
“I heard he stole something from The Circle.”
That name again.
The Circle.
Lyra finally stopped walking.
“Okay,” she said. “Someone needs to explain what The Circle actually is.”
Sera immediately looked uncomfortable.
“People don’t really talk about it.”
“Clearly they do.”
Sera lowered her voice.
“It’s supposed to be some secret group inside the academy.”
“A club?”
“Not exactly.”
“Then what?”
“No one knows.”
That answer irritated Lyra.
“There has to be something.”
Sera hesitated.
“My older cousin attended Blackthorne years ago. She told me students connected to The Circle become powerful after graduation.”
“How powerful?”
“Politicians. CEOs. Famous people. Rich families.”
Lyra folded her arms.
“So basically rich kids pretending to be mysterious?”
“I used to think that too.”
Sera’s voice became quieter.
“Until students started disappearing.”
A cold feeling moved down Lyra’s spine.
Before she could respond, laughter echoed from downstairs.
A group of boys entered the hallway carrying drinks and joking loudly.
But the second Caius Mercer appeared behind them, the atmosphere changed instantly.
The boys became quieter.
More careful.
Like soldiers around their commander.
Caius walked toward the staircase without acknowledging anyone.
His dark uniform jacket hung loosely over broad shoulders, and his expression remained unreadable.
Students stared openly as he passed.
Some girls looked fascinated.
Others looked nervous.
Lyra noticed something else.
Nobody touched him.
Nobody even got too close.
Interesting.
As Caius walked past them, Sera suddenly grabbed Lyra’s sleeve.
“Don’t stare.”
“Why?”
“Just don’t.”
But it was too late.
Caius had already noticed.
He stopped halfway up the staircase.
Slowly, he turned toward Lyra.
The hallway became silent again.
Honestly, this school had a serious problem with dramatic pauses.
Caius stared at her for several seconds before speaking.
“You should go back to your room.”
Lyra raised an eyebrow.
“Why? Another student going to disappear?”
Several students nearby inhaled sharply.
Apparently no one talked to him like that.
Caius descended one step slowly.
His expression hardened slightly.
“You think this is funny?”
“I think this school is weird.”
“It’s worse than weird.”
For the first time since meeting him, Lyra heard genuine warning in his voice.
Not arrogance.
Not mockery.
Warning.
Still, she crossed her arms stubbornly.
“Then maybe someone should explain what’s going on.”
Caius looked at her for a long moment.
Then he said quietly,
“You really don’t remember anything, do you?”
Lyra froze.
“What?”
But Caius already turned away.
“What does that mean?” she demanded.
He stopped again without looking back.
“Stay away from the east wing after midnight.”
Then he disappeared upstairs.
The whispers immediately returned.
“Oh my God.”
“Why does he care about her?”
“This is bad.”
Lyra looked at Sera.
“What was that supposed to mean?”
Sera shook her head quickly.
“I don’t know.”
But Lyra noticed the uncertainty in her eyes.
She knew more than she admitted.
Later that night, rain tapped softly against the dorm windows while Lyra sat on her bed scrolling through the academy website.
Blackthorne Academy had existed for over a hundred years.
Generations of wealthy families attended the school.
Famous graduates smiled from every article.
Successful.
Powerful.
Perfect.
Too perfect.
Lyra clicked another page.
Student Achievements.
Another.
School History.
Then something caught her attention.
A photograph from eighteen years ago.
Students standing outside the academy during winter.
Her breath stopped.
One of the girls looked exactly like her mother.
Younger, smiling brightly beside another student whose face had been scratched out of the picture.
“What the hell…”
Lyra leaned closer.
Before she could examine it further, the image suddenly disappeared.
Error Loading Page.
Lyra frowned.
That was strange.
She refreshed the page.
Nothing.
The photo was gone completely.
A chill moved through her body.
Someone deleted it.
Or hid it.
A soft knock interrupted her thoughts.
Sera looked up from her bed nervously.
“Are you expecting someone?”
Lyra checked the clock.
11:47 PM.
“No.”
Another knock echoed.
Three slow taps.
Sera’s face immediately lost color.
“Don’t answer it.”
Lyra stared at her.
“What?”
“Seriously. Don’t.”
The knocking came again.
Slow.
Patient.
Almost gentle.
Lyra remembered Nova’s warning earlier.
If someone knocks after midnight… don’t open it.
Suddenly the dorm lights flickered.
Once.
Twice.
The knocking stopped.
Silence filled the room.
Then—
A whisper came from outside the door.
“Lyra…”
Every hair on her arms rose instantly.
Sera covered her mouth in fear.
The voice sounded female.
Soft.
Almost familiar.
“Lyra…”
Her heartbeat slammed violently now.
That voice.
She knew that voice.
Impossible.
No.
Her mother disappeared six months ago.
This could not be happening.
The whisper came again.
“Open the door.”
Lyra slowly stood from the bed despite Sera grabbing her arm.
“Don’t,” Sera whispered desperately.
But Lyra moved closer anyway.
The hallway outside remained completely silent.
Her hand trembled near the doorknob.
Then suddenly—
A loud alarm exploded through the academy.
Red emergency lights flooded the hallway outside.
Students screamed in distant corridors.
And over the school speakers, a cold automated voice echoed:
“CODE BLACK.”
Silence.
Then again.
“CODE BLACK. ALL STUDENTS RETURN TO THEIR DORMS IMMEDIATELY.”
Sera looked terrified now.
“Oh no.”
Lyra turned toward her.
“What’s Code Black?”
Sera whispered only two words.
“They found him.”
Before Lyra could respond, hurried footsteps thundered past outside the dorm.
Students shouted nervously.
Doors slammed shut.
Then came something worse.
A sound from directly outside Room 217.
A slow scratching noise against the door.
Lyra froze.
Scratch.
Scratch.
Scratch.
And then—
A deep male voice whispered from the other side:
“He knows you’re here now.”
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