Ella
I couldn’t stay in the locker room forever. The air felt suffocating, Nikolai’s words swirling around in my head like a storm.
What was his deal? Did he really suspect something, or was he just messing with me?
I pushed off the bench, grabbed my bag, and slipped out into the quiet hallway. Most of the students had already gone to bed, the halls dimly lit by flickering lanterns. It was the perfect time to sneak out.
The forest was quiet, the kind of quiet that hums with life just out of sight. My pulse quickened as I stepped deeper into the shadows, the dim moonlight filtering through the trees casting eerie shapes on the ground. I clutched the folded letter in my hand, my fingers trembling slightly.
This had to work. It was the only way I could get word to my parents. Th
